072. Chapter 13 - Further Campaigns

Chapter 13 - Further Campaigns Matthew 9:27-34;Matthew 13:54-58;Mark 6:1-6 Campaign Methods When the excitement became so intense in one locality as to prevent careful reflection on His spiritual teaching, Jesus quietly changed His location. Thus He thwarted those who would seize control of His movement. Usually He accomplished these changes by leaving in the boat, as He had done on the day He delivered the great sermon in parables At times He would disappear in the night, and the multitude, overexcited and self-seeking, would be kept from following Him (Mark 1:35-39).

All three Synoptics indicate that Jesus now carried on a wide-sweeping evangelistic campaign: “And Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness” (Matthew 9:35). All three place the commission that sent the twelve apostles forth at about this time. Matthew and Mark show that a second effort to win the people of Nazareth occurred. Matthew tells of the healing of two blind men (Matthew 9:27-31). The Blind Men As in the case of the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter, there was general knowledge in the community of the appeal of the blind men and a further effort by Jesus to keep down the excitement afterwards. As Jesus walked along the highway, two blind men followed, crying out to Him for a miracle of healing. Two things made their appeal most exciting: (1) They declared their faith that Jesus could heal their blindness. (2) They saluted Jesus openly as the Messiah: “Thou son of David.” By refusing to halt and accede immediately to the request, Jesus tested their faith. He also finally performed the miracle in an atmosphere of calm and peaceful faith without the presence of any raucous curiosity mongers. Just how far and how closely these blind men were able to follow Jesus would depend upon the rate of speed Jesus used, the physical vigor of the two blind men, and any assistance they had from friends. The text suggests they were close enough to continue their appeal as Jesus walked forward unheeding. He later tested the faith of the Syro-Phoenician woman in the same manner. Their Faith When Jesus went into the home (undoubtedly of some faithful disciple), the blind men boldly followed. Jesus now addressed them. He did not ask them to explain or defend their public declarations that He was the Messiah. Such open discussion would come later in His ministry. He now concentrated on the proposition of their faith in His divine power: “Believe ye that I am able to do this? They say unto him, Yea, Lord” (Matthew 9:28). They had already given abundant proof of this faith by their refusal to turn away in despair when He had refused to halt and grant their first appeals, and by their boldness in entering the home to present themselves before Him. But it was good for their souls to give a direct confession of their faith. If there were present in the home those who had not heard their appeals on the highway, it would add confirmation for them. His Mercy

Just as Jesus had taken hold of the hand of Jairus’ daughter lying still in death, so now Jesus touched the eyes of the blind men. This contact was not necessary. Many times Jesus healed with a word, without such a gesture, or even at a distance from the person healed. There is a gentleness and mercy about the manner of Jesus that wipes away what to these two blind men might have seemed a hardhearted refusal to hear their agonized cries by the roadside. When Jesus touched their eyes, He touched their hearts. They never forgot the gentle manner of Jesus; this was that for which they had prayed: “Have mercy on us.” Their Disobedience A refrain in these miracles is Jesus’ requirement of faith on the part of those seeking a miraculous blessing: “According to your faith be it done unto you” (Matthew 9:29). Again Jesus commanded them not to go out and carry on a publicity campaign concerning the miracle. Their disobedience is not hard to comprehend. All those who had known them would demand how they were healed. Their gratitude would lead them to overlook the specific command of Christ. But Jesus consistently followed the policy of keeping the miracles from creating so much excitement the people would not be able to hear His teaching. At Nazareth In the midst of this wide-sweeping evangelistic campaign Matthew and Mark record a second attempt of Jesus to win the people of Nazareth (Matthew 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-6). Only Luke tells of the first visit to Nazareth, which had ended in the violent attempt to cast Jesus from the brow of the precipice outside the village (Luke 4:16-30). While some hold that we have here three variant accounts of a single visit to Nazareth, the differences in time and details are so great as to preclude such a view. The dramatic climax of the first visit, which ended in a riot and attempted assassination, is sufficient in itself to prove these were two different campaigns. Nothing could harmonize more completely with the divine character of Jesus and the incredible patience and mercy shown in His entire ministry than that He should return for a second effort to win the people of Nazareth. There is no indication that the disciples were present on the first visit, but they are specifically mentioned as being present at this second visit.

Preaching in the synagogue, which was His usual method in every town and village, was the main effort in both visits to Nazareth. Instead of the excited violence that was stirred by His first sermon, there was now stolid indifference and unbelief. The ground on which they based their rejection of Jesus as the Christ is now openly stated: “He is not our kind of messiah. He is not the messiah promised in the Old Testament. The messiah is to be a king and reign over all the nations in great glory. This man has no crown, no throne, no court, no army, no worldly power or prestige. He is even a member of one of the most obscure families of this obscure village.” They could not deny that Jesus spoke in such marvelous fashion that they were astonished and filled with awe. They could not deny that many mighty miracles had been attributed to Him. But they felt all this was overshadowed by the fact that He had been reared in a humble home in their midst and that members of His family were still present.

Mark and the Virgin Birth

Matthew, who has stated carefully the facts about the virgin birth, reports one line of attack: “Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?” (Matthew 13:55, Matthew 13:56). Mark had begun his narrative with the ministry of John the Baptist. Here he now guards against any misunderstanding in regard to the virgin birth, which he has not recorded, by quoting some of those who said, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?” (Mark 6:3). The Attacks In these criticisms there is no attack upon the character of Joseph and Mary and no slurs that Jesus was of illegitimate birth. From early Jewish writings, which are so full of bitter hatred of Jesus and the Christians, we know that this was one of the favorite lines of slander used by the Jews. We cannot be sure whether the absence of any reference to such slander in the New Testament means that this was not being attempted at this time or whether the inspired evangelists felt this line of attack was too low to deserve mention.

It is most significant that no charges of sin or folly are made against Jesus. Here was the village where He had spent thirty years of His life. Was all that could be said against Him that He lacked worldly appurtenances of royalty in His origin and His present campaign? We are reminded of the absolute failure of the trials of Jesus to bring forth any wrongdoing in His life. All that could be said against Him as He was dying on the cross was, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” On both occasions the charge was the same: “This man a King? What a king!” The Brethren

We are moved to wonder how many sisters Jesus had. “And his sisters, are they not all with us?” The sisters’ names are not given, but the word alt (feminine gender) in Matthew 13:56 suggests that there were at least three of these sisters. The four half brothers of Jesus are named both by Matthew and Mark. It was only when the worship of the virgin Mary began to arise in the apostate church of Rome that the Christian writers began to conjure up some means of denying that these were the children of Joseph and Mary. Early writers, such as Tertullian, Victorinus of Pettau, Origen, and Helvidius, plainly state that these are the children of Joseph and Mary (J. H. Ropes, I.C.C. on James, pp. 53-74; especially p. 54; T. Zahn, Forschungen, VI, p. 309; especially p. 319). Later writers tried to imagine that Joseph had been married twice and that these were the children of the former marriage or that these were children of a sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. In order to affirm the perpetual virginity of Mary, they had to deny the plain references to the half brothers and such clear statements as Matthew 1:25 and Luke 2:7.

James

John 7:5 informs us that these brothers of Jesus did not believe on Him. When Jesus appeared to James after the resurrection the brethren of Jesus became believers and were present in the devout company of disciples awaiting the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost. James became a great leader of the Jerusalem church and the author of the Epistle of James.

Rejection

Jesus’ reply to their sneers at His lowly origin was to cite the proverb, “A prophet is not without honor save in his own country….” It is significant of the unbelief of His brethren that both Matthew and Mark quote Jesus as adding, “and in his own house.” Thus they both confirm what John tells of their unbelief. The demand for faith as a necessary prerequisite for those seeking a miraculous blessing is strongly underscored in both accounts: “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58); “And he could do there no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief” (Mark 6:5, Mark 6:6). This was not because Jesus lacked the miraculous power, but because it was not God’s divine program to force miraculous blessings upon the unbelieving. We pause to wonder how hard it must have been for the apostles to witness and endure this callous rejection of Jesus in His own home and community. What impression did the apostles have of the half brothers of Jesus and vice versa at this time? The growing faith of the apostles had many obstacles to overcome. The grief in the heart of Jesus in these rejections at Nazareth surpasses our imagination.