Matthew 13:53-14:12
New Catholic Bible
The Authentic Faith of Those Converted[a]
Jesus Encounters Mixed Receptions[b]
53 Jesus Is Rejected at Nazareth.[c] When Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from that district.
54 He came to his hometown, and he began to teach the people in the synagogue. They were astonished and wondered, “Where did this man get such wisdom and these mighty deeds? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? Are not James and Joseph and Simon and Judas his brethren? 56 And are not all his sisters here with us? Where then did this man get all this?” 57 And so they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is always treated with honor except in his hometown and in his own house.” 58 And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.
Chapter 14
John the Baptist, Herod, and Jesus.[d] 1 At that time Herod the tetrarch[e] heard reports about Jesus, 2 and he said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead. That is why such powers are at work in him.”
3 Now Herod had ordered the arrest of John, put him in chains, and imprisoned him on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. 4 For John had told him, “It is against the law for you to have her.”
5 Herod wanted to put John to death, but he was afraid of the people because they regarded John as a prophet. 6 But at a birthday celebration for Herod, the daughter of Herodias[f] danced in front of the guests, and she pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her anything she asked for. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests present there, he ordered that her request be granted. 10 He had John beheaded in the prison.[g] 11 The head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. 12 John’s disciples came and removed the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
Footnotes
- Matthew 13:53 A new and tragic phase in the life of Jesus, and therefore also in the life of the kingdom, begins here and illustrates the accounts and words of this fourth part of the Gospel. The drama is infused with a growing intensity. Christ hides himself from the enthusiasm of the crowds who want him to embrace their hope for national freedom. This stirs up hostility and leads to defection. The kingdom that he proclaims is suspect in the eyes of the defenders of legalism and traditions; not even his disciples have a good understanding of the life that he teaches. Powerless, they live under this tension, which prepares for the Passion, and their incredulity will even contribute to it; but they still remain the core of the new community of believers.
- Matthew 13:53 The main purpose of this section is to place the Person of Jesus at the center of the mystery of the kingdom of God. The evangelist shows Jesus receiving a mixed reception, beginning with his rejection at Nazareth and the execution of the Baptist (Mt 13:53—14:12). He then alludes to the Eucharistic mystery in the accounts of the multiplication of the loaves (Mt 14:19; 15:36), and the walking on the water (Mt 14:22-33). Finally, he reports the doctrinal conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities (Mt 15:1-20) and raises anew the question of the sign of Jonah (Mt 16:1-4; see note on Mt 12:38ff). This sign will later be explained as referring to the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus (Mt 16:21ff), which must occur before the kingdom of God reaches a new stage (Mt 16:28). This is the message of the Scriptures (Mt 17:5).
- Matthew 13:53 At Nazareth, everyone knows the mother of Jesus and his brothers and sisters, i.e., his closest relatives, as it was customary to say in those days (see note on Mt 12:46). He thus has his place in this little village. But how can the villagers be expected to acknowledge the Messiah in one of their compatriots? God’s action and word manifested among men is the mystery of the Incarnation; this seems too human. Even the believer might hesitate in believing in the Lord present among us, in the places and times in which daily life unfolds.
- Matthew 14:1 At the ominous banquet in the fortress of Machaerus we find various members of the family of Herod. Antipas was the second-born of Herod the Great and ruled over Galilee and Perea. We come upon him several times in the New Testament (Lk 9:7; 23:7; Acts 4:27); Caligula will exile him to Gaul in A.D. 39. His half-brother Philip died in Rome without ever attaining political power. Herodias, niece of both men and wife of Philip, was ambitious and desired to be the wife of a ruler.
- Matthew 14:1 Tetrarch: ruler of one quarter of the kingdom of his father, Herod the Great.
- Matthew 14:6 The daughter of Herodias: her name was Salome, as we are told by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.
- Matthew 14:10 The beheading of the Baptist probably occurred in A.D. 29 in the fortress of Machaerus, east of the Dead Sea, as is attested by Flavius Josephus.
