Rejection of Jesus
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- This article is about minor episodes in the Four Gospels. For people who have renounced Christianity, see Apostasy
Despite recording many Miracles of Jesus, particularly in Capernaum, the Gospels also record some Rejection of Jesus.
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[edit] Hometown (Nazareth) rejection
- See also: Mark 6
This is a minor event in the Synoptic Gospels, Mark 6:1-6, Matthew 13:54-58, Luke 4:16-30, where Jesus is strongly rejected by the people of his hometown, which Luke specifies as Nazareth. The core saying is also mentioned in John 4:44 and the Gospel of Thomas saying 31.
According to the Synoptics, shortly after Jesus has given his first set of teachings (and before John the Baptist is killed), Jesus returns to his hometown. On the sabbath, he is described as entering a synagogue and teaching. Luke states that Jesus claimed he was the fulfilment of a prophecy at Isaiah 61:1-2, though the other synoptics make no such statement. All the synoptics describe the crowd as negatively questioning the origin of his teachings, and criticising him for being a lowly carpenter's son (Matthew) or himself a carpenter (Mark). In Matthew and Mark the crowd are also described as referring to Jesus as being the brother of James, Simon, Joseph, and Judas (in Mark they also mention but do not name Jesus's sisters), in a manner suggesting that the crowd regards them as just ordinary people, and criticising Jesus' quite different behaviour.
Jesus though is described as rebuking them (in variations of the same wording between each gospel)
- a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house - Matthew 13:57
Matthew states that Jesus didn't do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. Though this can be interpreted as Jesus being disheartened, or punishing them, it can also be interpreted as implying that the miracles of Jesus were only possible when the crowd believed, in a similar manner to the way supernatural effects are never seen to be repeatable under scientific conditions. This also opens the possibility that the miracles were illusions, or allegory, which by definition could only work if the crowd believed. In a similar passage Mark says that Jesus was not able to do any miracles there except for healing a few sick people.
Luke, however, deviates from the other synoptics, and instead states that Jesus recounted a story about how during the time of Elijah only a Sidonian woman was saved, and how during the time of Elisha a Syrian was healed. This, according to Luke, causes the people to attack Jesus, and chase him to the top of a hill in order to try to throw Jesus off, though Jesus slips away. The historicity of Luke's version is easily questionable, since there is no hill in Nazareth, indicating the author of Luke was unfamiliar with Nazareth, and had never been there.
This incident is also recorded in the Gospel of Thomas[1], saying 31: "Jesus said, "No prophet is welcome on his home turf; doctors don't cure those who know them." (SV)[1]
The negative view of Jesus' family may be related to the confict between Paul of Tarsus and Jewish Christians,[2] for example at the Council of Jerusalem, see also Pauline Christianity.
[edit] Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum rejection
According to Matthew 11:20-24: Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum, villages in Galilee, did not respond to Jesus's teaching ("they had not changed their ways" -Matt11:20SV) even though Jesus had performed most of his miracles there, and as a result Jesus cursed them ("you'll go to Hell" -Matt11:23,Luke10:15SV).
[edit] Many disciples leave
John 6:60-6:66 records "many disciples" leaving Jesus over the issue of Transubstantiation as described in John 6:48-59. In John 6:67-71 Jesus asks the Twelve if they want to leave also but St. Peter responds that they have become believers.
[edit] Jewish rejection
The Gospel of John in particular records a hostile attitude between Jesus and the "Jews" (the Jesus Seminar translates this as "Judeans", i.e. residents of Judea, in contrast to residents of Galilee). For example, in 7:1-9 Jesus moves around in Galilee but avoids Judea, because "the Jews/Judeans" were looking for a chance to kill him. In 7:12-13 some said "he is a good man" whereas others said he deceives the people, but these were all "whispers", no one would speak publicly for "fear of the Jews/Judeans". Jewish rejection is also recorded in 7:45-52, 8:39-59, 10:22-42, and 12:36-43. 12:42 says many did believe, but they kept it private, for fear the Pharisees would exclude them from the Synagogue, see also Council of Jamnia.
[edit] References
- ^ Scholars Version translation from The Complete Gospels, Robert J. Miller, editor, 1992
- ^ http://www.jesuspolice.com/common_error.php?id=11 "Wilson (1992) [Wilson, A.N. Jesus: A life. 1992. New York: Norton & Co.] has hypothesized that the negative relationship between Jesus and his family was placed in the Gospels (especially in the Gospel of Mark) to dissuade early Christians from following the Jesus cult that was administered by Jesus’ family. Wilson says: “…it would not be surprising if other parts of the church, particularly the Gentiles, liked telling stories about Jesus as a man who had no sympathy or support from his family (p. 86).” Butz (2005) [Butz, Jeffrey. The brother of Jesus and the lost teachings of Christianity. 2005. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions.] is more succinct: “…by the time Mark was writing in the late 60s, the Gentile churches outside of Israel were beginning to resent the authority wielded by Jerusalem where James and the apostles were leaders, thus providing the motive for Mark’s antifamily stance… (p. 44).” Other prominent scholars agree (e.g., Crosson, 1973 [Crosson, John Dominic. “Mark and the relatives of Jesus”. Novum Testamentum, 15, 1973]; Mack, 1988 [Mack, Burton. A myth of innocence: Mark and Christian origins. 1988. Philadelphia: Fortress]; Painter. 1999 [Painter, John. Just James: The brother of Jesus in history and tradition. 1999. Minneapolis: Fortress Press])."
