Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these miraculous powers?

Matthew 13:47-14:12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; ⁴⁸ and when it was filled, they pulled it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous, ⁵⁰ and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes.” ⁵² And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure new things and old.”

⁵³ When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. ⁵⁴ And He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these miraculous powers? ⁵⁵ Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is His mother not called Mary, and His brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶ And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man acquire all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not dishonored except in his hometown and in his own household.” ⁵⁸ And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded John as a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ And after being prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and his dinner guests. ¹⁰ He sent word and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Most of the messages in the church today focus on the blessings of faith and on the grace of God. Indeed, the blessings are many and God’s grace is amazing. Ephesians 1:3 says: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. In today’s text Jesus says: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they pulled it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Some people would argue that Jesus spoke more about Hell than He did about heaven. While that probably isn’t true, Jesus was quite clear that there is both a heaven and a Hell. There are blessings of faith and grace and there are also consequences for evil, unrighteousness and unbelief. The world says that what goes around comes around. Karma is the idea that a person will get what they have coming, either good or bad, depending on their actions. Yet many who believe in karma, say that a loving God should not have consequences for those who choose immorality, darkness and evil in this life. In Isaiah 5:20 God says: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  It may not be that the consequences will be experienced here and now, but the woe of eternal judgment will come to those who are evil and love darkness.

The text says: When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. And He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is His mother not called Mary, and His brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man acquire all these things?” And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not dishonored except in his hometown and in his own household.” And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.  Many people focus on and try to model themselves after the way Jesus lived as a man. It’s not enough though to know Him only as a man. Our faith needs to be in Jesus who is God. It was not the humanness of Jesus that performed miracles. It was not His humanity that suffered and died for our sins. No man could pay that price, only God in flesh could be the perfect sacrifice.   In Matthew 16:13-19 it says: Now when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  The church that Jesus builds is not established on those who know Jesus as a man. It is built upon the revelation that Jesus is the Christ; that He is the Son of the living God, that He is God. If we want to see the miracles that Jesus did and will do, if we want to stand against the gates of Hell, we need to know God as He is. In John 4:24 Jesus says: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”  It is not enough to know and worship God in our humanness. It is not enough that we have an intellectual knowledge of God and what He said. We need to know and worship Him in the Spirit. We need to abide in the heavenly realm with Him. We need to be those who would both pray and be part of the answer to the prayer that Jesus taught us.

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.  Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, the Three in One God, who abides with me and in me. Amen.