Jesus at Nazareth - Renewing Your Mind

Renewing Your Mind Podcast Summary Episode: Jesus at Nazareth
Release Date: May 25, 2025
Host/Author: Ligonier Ministries

Introduction

In the "Jesus at Nazareth" episode of Renewing Your Mind, Dr. R.C. Sproul delves into the pivotal moment in Jesus' ministry when He returns to His hometown, Nazareth. This episode serves as the culmination of a short sermon series exploring the power of Christ, drawing heavily from the Gospel of Mark.

Context of Jesus' Ministry Transition

Dr. Sproul begins by situating Jesus' ministry geographically and culturally. Up until this point, Jesus had been predominantly active around the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum. However, His return to Nazareth marks a significant shift.

"Now the location for his ministry shifts as Jesus moves away from Capernaum and from Galilee and goes home." (01:14)

Nazareth was a small, obscure village with fewer than 500 inhabitants, constructed primarily from rocky hillsides covering approximately 60 acres. This intimate setting meant that Jesus was well-known among the townspeople, who were familiar with His humble background as a carpenter.

Jesus' Teaching in the Synagogue

Upon arriving in Nazareth, Jesus begins to teach in the synagogue on the Sabbath, which astonishes the local believers.

"He began to teach in the synagogue. And many of the people were astonished." (01:14)

The astonishment stemmed from several factors:

Lack of Formal Education: Unlike other rabbis of the time, Jesus had no formal theological training or rabbinical credentials.
Humble Occupation: Known as a carpenter—or possibly a stonemason—Jesus' profession was not considered prestigious, making His role as a teacher unexpected.
Profound Wisdom: Despite lacking formal training, Jesus demonstrated remarkable wisdom and depth in His teachings, leading to further astonishment among the listeners.

Dr. Sproul emphasizes that the townspeople were not just surprised by Jesus' teachings but were also offensive to Him due to His association with them.

"They were offended at him. … They were profoundly offended. They did not want any identification with him because he embarrassed them and he ashamed them." (10:45)

Family and Social Rejection

A significant point of contention was Jesus being referred to as "the son of Mary," which was unusual and suggested skepticism about His legitimacy.

"Isn't he the carpenter, the son of Mary?" (08:30)

This title implied that the townspeople doubted His paternity, possibly suspecting an illegitimate birth. Additionally, Jesus' brothers and sisters were present, none of whom were believers at that time, further contributing to the rejection.

"We know the Greek word here, skandalizomai. It's a form of that verb from which the noun is skandalon, which comes right over into the English language as the word scandal." (15:20)

The Concept of Scandal and Rejection

Dr. Sproul explains the Greek term skandalizomai, translated as "scandalized," highlighting that the people of Nazareth found Jesus to be a stumbling block—a rejected cornerstone essential for God's building.

"The stone which the builders rejected became the chief cornerstone of the building of God." (18:50)

This imagery underscores the profound irony that the very foundation of the Christian faith was deemed disgraceful by those closest to Him.

Jesus' Astonishment and Human Reaction

Despite His divine nature, Jesus expressed amazement at the depth of unbelief and hostility He encountered in His hometown.

"Jesus knew what was going on. And so he said to them, borrowing an ancient Semitic adage, a prophet is not without honor except in his own country, except among his own relatives, except in his own house." (20:10)

Dr. Sproul relates this to personal experiences of rejection, drawing parallels with figures like Muhammad Ali to illustrate how public perception can dramatically change over time.

The Necessity of Jesus in Our Lives

Transitioning from the historical narrative, Dr. Sproul addresses contemporary listeners, emphasizing the essential need for Jesus in everyone's life.

"There is nothing on this earth you need more desperately than Jesus. Because if you don't have Jesus, you have no hope in this life or in the world to come." (22:45)

He challenges listeners to reflect on their relationship with Christ, urging them to recognize that rejecting Him leads to a hopeless existence.

Conclusion: Learning from Nazareth

Dr. Sproul concludes by urging believers to learn from the rejection Jesus faced in Nazareth. He warns of the dangers of allowing Christ to be a source of embarrassment or scandal in one's life and emphasizes the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in overcoming such barriers.

"All who trip over the scandalol the scandal of Christ will have his offense at them. Let's learn from these people." (23:55)

Key Takeaways

Jesus' Humble Origins: Understanding Jesus' background in Nazareth highlights the contrast between His divine mission and His earthly upbringing.
Power of Jesus' Teachings: Despite lacking formal education, Jesus' wisdom and authority were undeniable, challenging societal expectations.
Rejection and Scandal: The initial rejection by His own community serves as a poignant reminder of the costs associated with discipleship.
Essential Need for Christ: Emphasizing that true hope and purpose are found in a relationship with Jesus, not in worldly desires or achievements.
Invitation to Reflect: Encouraging listeners to assess their own openness to Christ and to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance in overcoming personal barriers to faith.

Notable Quotes

"A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, except among his own relatives, except in his own house." — Jesus (20:10)
"There is nothing on this earth you need more desperately than Jesus." — Dr. Sproul (22:45)
"All who trip over the scandalon the scandal of Christ will have his offense at them." — Dr. Sproul (23:55)

Final Thoughts

Dr. Sproul's message in this episode serves as both a historical exploration of Jesus' ministry and a contemporary call to embrace the transformative power of Christ. By examining the rejection Jesus faced in Nazareth, listeners are challenged to reflect on their own relationship with Him and the societal perceptions that may hinder their faith.

This summary encapsulates the core themes and insights from the "Jesus at Nazareth" episode of Renewing Your Mind, providing a comprehensive overview for both regular listeners and newcomers.

Transcript

A (0:00)

I don't know how many times I've heard people say to me, hey Preacher, I don't need Jesus. I can't think of any more foolish statement a human being could ever make than to assess their circumstances to that degree and say, I need this, I need that, I need this, I want this, I want that. But one thing I don't need is Jesus.

B (0:25)

To reject Jesus is not only foolish, it's fatal. Eternally so. And sadly, it's also nothing new. This is the Sunday edition of Renewing youg Mind. And although we have seen the power of Jesus on display in Mark's record of the ministry of Jesus, we find him facing rejection as he returns to Nazareth. Today's sermon brings this short sermon series in Mark's Gospel to a close. So before you hear today's message, I wanted to remind you that today is the final time that you can request R.C. sproul's line by line walkthrough of this fast paced gospel when you give a donation of any amount@renewingyourmind.org well, here's Dr. Sproul on Jesus at Nazareth.

A (1:14)

So far, all this time that we've been spending observing the public ministry of Jesus, it has been for the most part on or around the immediate region of the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum. Now the location for his ministry shifts as Jesus moves away from Capernaum and from Galilee and goes home. He comes back to Nazareth, which is about 25 miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee and of Capernaum. He comes not to the city of his birth, but to the village where he grew up, which was an obscure village. Excavations have gone down to the base rock of Nazareth and discovered that there were many caves in those rocks and that the people of Nazareth built their village out of a rocky hillside and in an area that covered 60 acres. The whole town was 60 acres. Less than 500 people lived there. And of course Jesus, growing up in such a small village, obviously knew everyone in town. If you want to imagine the size of Nazareth, you think of this property where our church is located is just about six acres. So the whole town of Nazareth was only about 10 times larger than our church property. But Jesus made the journey. His disciples went with him. And we read in verse two that when the Sabbath had come, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many of the people were astonished. That's another word that reaches the very top of the frequency list of Greek words that are found in the New Testament. Because everywhere Jesus goes, according to the writers of the Gospel, his teaching, his power, his miracles provoke a response of astonishment. Thaumatzai. They're amazed at the wisdom of Jesus, at the power of Jesus. But there's a little twist of this astonishment that occurs here in Nazareth, as well as astonishment that is experienced by Jesus himself. What surprised these people was that Jesus of Nazareth was going into the synagogue and teaching like a rabbi. And with him were these students who followed him everywhere he went. They knew Jesus. They knew he didn't go to seminary. They know he didn't go to the university. They know he didn't study under the great rabbis of the day. So for all intents and purposes, they knew that Jesus was not even qualified to be a teacher and to be a rabbi. And so, lacking the credentials, they were first of all shocked that he would even enter into the synagogue and begin teaching there. But then they listened, and now they were astonished again because they couldn't get over his wisdom and profundity in what he was teaching. They didn't understand that this was the word of God Incarnate himself who was teaching, who didn't need a degree from Gamaliel to be an expert in theology. And they were also amazed about the reports of the deeds that had been performed by Jesus. And so they asked this question, Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon are not his sisters here with us? So they were offended at him. Oh, there's a lot in this question. Let's look first of all at the first part of the question. Is this not the carpenter? Doesn't say, is this not the son of the carpenter? Joseph? But they knew Jesus as a carpenter. And the Greek word here, tektron means carpenter or stonemason or somebody that is involved in the craft of building. It's very possible that instead of a carpenter that works with wood, Jesus was more like a stonemason. But in all probability, he worked both with wood and with stone. As builders in this day were people who would make yoke for oxen and cabinets and all of that sort of thing. And they carpenter or tektron, you get the word architect from this, which simply means chief builder. Well, Jesus is known as that lad that grew up there in this village and worked as a builder. Now, in the ancient world, builders did not have a lot of prestige. They were not high on the rung of status. They were considered menial laborers. And so they looked at Jesus and said, what's he doing? A carpenter teaching in the synagogue. Now there's another little nuance here that I don't want to pass over too quickly. When Jesus was a young man, Herod Antipas, who, after Herod the Great died, inherited a portion of the kingdom of Herod the Great. And he became the ruler of the fourth. He became the tetrarch of Galilee. And he wanted to build a city where his palace would be housed and would be the capital, the regional capital of Galilee. And so he built this city just four miles north of Nazareth. And. And the historians tell us that he hired craftsmen and laborers from all around the district to help him build his capital city. It's just possible that among those who were hired by Herod Antipas included Joseph and Jesus. We don't know that for sure, but it's coming pretty close, just four miles away. If artisans from the region were hired, and certainly Jesus and Joseph were included in that group of artisans, then it's possible that they participated in this as well. But notice something stranger. Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary? Now, these questions are questions that strongly suggest ridicule. And we know that, legally speaking, among the Jews, Jesus was the son of Joseph. So why did they say, isn't he the carpenter, the son of Mary? Not because they were enamored by the virgin mother. This wasn't some thinly veiled testimony to the virgin birth or trying to exalt the status of the mother. No, in almost every single case, the Jews would always name men in according to their relationship to their father, not to the mother. Even if Joseph is dead by now, the custom would still be to call Jesus the son of Joseph. But instead they call him the son of Mary. The best guess we have for that is this. That they still believed that Jesus was the illegitimate son and that Mary had this baby out of wedlock. Isn't he that carpenter who was the son of that woman? We know that family. He's the brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon. And are not his sisters with us now? Some people jump through hoops for those who believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary or argue that these brothers and sisters must have been children of Joseph by a previous marriage. No such import anywhere in history that would indicate that. Or that they were cousins. Arguing that the Greek word for brothers and sisters can be translated cousins. Not normally. There's a specific word for cousin in the Greek language. You'd have to have a theological bias to try to force that. The text is clear. Jesus had brothers and sisters. And what's so amazing about the testimony of the New Testament is that his brothers and sisters were unbelievers. James, we know, later became a believer after the Resurrection. He became the leader of the church there in Jerusalem and the author of the book of James that we have in the New Testament. But at this period in time when Jesus comes to Nazareth, not only are the townspeople unbelievers, but his brothers and sisters are unbelievers. Probably by now Joseph is dead and the only believer in Jesus household was his mother. And so the townspeople come to the synagogue and they say, who is this guy? Carpenter, illegitimate son of Mary. We know his family, we know his brothers, we know his sisters. So they were offended at him. The Greek there is the word skandalizomai. It's a form of that verb from which the noun is skandalon, which comes right over into the English language as the word scandal. These people were scandalized by Jesus. They were profoundly offended. They did not want any identification with him because he embarrassed them and he ashamed them. Let's stop for a second. Does Christ serve as a standalone for you? Are you embarrassed by him? Are you a secret service Christian? Or you don't want anybody to know your real identity? Because being identified with him is an embarrassment, is shameful, is a scandal. The word scandalon was also used for the concept of that building stone that was rejected. Interesting, isn't it, that when builders went out and selected stones to be used in the construction of building, they examined the quality of the stones, the strength of the stone. Just as Michelangelo used to go to the quarries in Italy to choose the very best marble for his statues. And sometimes he would find flaws, cracks, even in Carrara marble, and he would reject it. So in the ancient world, when the builder would go out and he'd try to choose the materials for his construction, if he found flaws or cracks in the stone, he would reject them, deny them. The New Testament makes much of this in the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah, that the stone which the builders rejected became the chief cornerstone of the building of God. In that building image. Remember, it's the prophets and the apostles who, who are called the foundation for the church. And there's no other foundation that can be laid except that one which is laid in Christ Jesus. But Jesus himself is not the foundation, he's the cornerstone. But as the cornerstone, he's the scandal, he's the disgraced one. He's the one who was ashamed that was rejected by his own people, by his family, by the townsmen, by the nation of Israel, the one whom God appointed to be the cornerstone of his building was considered flawed, repulsive by his contemporaries. It's the same word here that is used in the text to describe the revulsion that the people of Nazareth felt with respect to him. But Jesus knew what was going on. And so he said to them, borrowing an ancient Semitic adage, a prophet is not without honor. Except in his own country, except among his own relatives, except in his own house. I can't imagine what this was like for Jesus going home. I know what it's been like for me. When I go home, back to my hometown and I see the people I grew up with. They can't believe that I'm a minister. And they can't wait to say, we know you win. How in the world did you ever become a minister? If the board who ordained you would inquire of us, you wouldn't have a chance to be ordained to the minister. I know what that's like. Just this past week, I was in Louisville. And while I was there, I remembered years ago how Muhammad Ali was first named Cassius Clay. And he used to give these outrageous poems in which he would predict the outcome and the round of his next victory. When he was Cassius Clay, saying, I am the greatest. And because of his braggadoci, he was nicknamed by sports journalists the Louisville Lip. And so that was not a very good reflection on the town of Louisville. Many, many years ago. Before Muhammad Ali became the heavyweight champion of the world. But I couldn't get over when I came into Louisville and I saw Muhammad Ali Avenue, Muhammad Ali Center, Muhammad Ali Building. Now the whole town gives honor to Muhammad Ali. But there was a time when he was an embarrassment to them. And there's a reason why this ancient adage emerged in the lure of the people. That every prophet experienced the same thing. And Jesus said, a prophet is never without honor except in his own country, except in his own family, except in his own house. Now, he could do no mighty work there. Except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. Now, let's unpack that for just a second. It wasn't because suddenly when Jesus went to Nazareth, he lost all of his power. And that healing of the woman with the hemorrhage. Then the power went out of him and it didn't come back. It's not like that that Jesus suddenly became incapable of. Of manifesting this miraculous power that was so characteristic of his ministry. But rather, the circumstances by which God the Holy Spirit would unleash that power Were not available there. Because there was a judgment of God on This town of Nazareth, that God withholds his power for the most part from this stiff necked people who held Jesus in contempt. And now we're told that Jesus is amazed, that Jesus is astonished at what? At the unbelief of these people. Now that's really strange to me that Jesus would be surprised by unbelief because he had to deal with it every day of his life. But it's not that he was surprised that they were not believers. He was surprised at the depth of their callousness. Because with unbelief, ladies and gentlemen, comes hostility. Those who did not believe in Christ soon grew to hate Him. And I'll ask you this question. Why didn't they believe? Why didn't they believe in Jesus? Because they saw him working with his hands? Because they knew his mother. Because they knew his brothers and sisters? Because they knew he didn't study under a well known rabbi. No. You know why they didn't believe in Jesus? The same reason your next door neighbor doesn't believe in Jesus. They didn't believe in Jesus because God the Holy Spirit had not invaded their hearts and opened their eyes and regenerated their souls. Unless God the Holy Spirit opens the eyes, opens the hearts of sinful human flesh, no one will truly come to him. Before the Holy Ghost opened your eyes and invaded your heart, Jesus was a stumbling block to you. You rejected him as strongly as these people from Nazareth. And we're surrounded out there in this world by people who want nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus. I don't know how many times I've heard people say to me, hey preacher, I don't need Jesus, I don't need Jesus. I can't think of any more foolish statement a human being could ever make than to assess their circumstances to that degree and say, I need this, I need that, I need this, I want this, I want that. But one thing I don't need is Jesus. Now there are probably people sitting in this room right now who have said that and perhaps are still saying that. And they've been dragged to church this morning by their spouse or for some other reason. They're here, but their hearts are still far from Him. I say to you, there is nothing on this earth you need more desperately than Jesus. Because if you don't have Jesus, you have no hope in this life or in the world to come. Let me say it again. If you don't have Jesus, you have no hope. You're in a hopeless condition. And frankly, my heart breaks for you. If you don't have Jesus. If the name of Jesus is something that embarrasses you, makes you ashamed, you don't want to be numbered among those people. That's the way people are. They want to distance themselves as far as they can from any identification with Christ or with any identification with anybody whose name is not in high regard. There's a great danger here, folks. These people had the Lord of Glory in their midst during his childhood. They had Theotokos, the mother of the One who was God incarnate, in their midst for over three decades, and all they saw was the offense. So I ask you this morning, what is it about Jesus that offend you? What is it about God that offends you? The great danger, dearly beloved, is that God is offended by you and that Christ will be offended by you. All who trip over the scandalon the scandal of Christ will have his offense at them. Let's learn from these people.