Good Morning my beloved,
We
welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are so thankful to have you with us today. Your continued prayers for the effectiveness of this ministry, as well as those we've been working with is greatly appreciated, God's hand has been moving
in the hearts of many men and women around the world, opening blind eyes and
deaf ears! All praise and glory to God for the countless lives that are
being transformed by the power of the Gospel.
I believe we can all agree, it feels good to be valued, recognized for something we've done well, appreciated for our worth. And when we are, we normally want to share that good news with those closest to us, our family and friends. In most cases, their thrilled for us, but sometimes there is someone who's jealous that tries to downplay the achievement. When a person is born again, we often want to share our excitement with our family, friends and coworkers. In some cases, our good news is not always welcomed. Most of us will find it hard to be seriously considered by family and friends, some may tolerate your application of a biblical principles, but if you step on their toes, they will quickly bring up your past if you refuse to compromise your convictions. All you can do is pray, interact with them as much as possible and continue to be there for them in a crisis.
I can remember having experienced several of my of my family members and friends looking at me with blank stares when I first became a pastor. Some of you may know all too well what I'm talking about. As frustrating as it may be, we can take heart, Jesus encountered the same problem. He is amazed at the unbelief in His own hometown. The Bible tells us that faith can move mountains, but the power of unbelief can be just as powerful, a destructive force that extends throughout all eternity. It was doubt and unbelief that brought down the entire human race when the serpent said to Eve, "Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?"
Scripture tells us the people were constantly amazed by Jesus', His teaching and His mighty works, but there are only two times recorded in Scripture where we find Jesus was amazed by others. The first is He was amazed by the faith of the centurion and the second is recorded here, when He is amazed at the unbelief in Nazareth, His own hometown. They had heard about His miracles, as He spoke words of wisdom far above His presumed education, His teaching perplexed them, and they did not believe.If they had they searched the Scriptures, if they had understood the prophecies they should have known. Even today people read the Scriptures, yet fail to understand them, which explains why there are many people who believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary when is not what the Scripture says. These passages clearly indicate that Joseph and Mary had a normal marital relationship after the miraculous birth of Jesus. Unbelief reveals one's ignorance of the Scriptures. I believe it's ignorance and unbelief that causes people to despise the Truth. How often we miss the mark because we think we have it all figured it out. Unbelief is like carbon monoxide, the longer you breathe it in, the more devastating it's effects. Satan is constantly working hard to foster a spirit of confusion and unbelief, to cause us to doubt God’s Word, unbelief hinders the work of God in our lives and activates divine judgment.
Lets us pray
Heavenly Father,
As we come to God's Word we begin a new chapter in the Gospel of Mark. Open your Bibles to Mark chapter 6, today we'll be looking at verses one through the first half of verse six. Mark chapter 6, verses 1-6a. I invite you
to follow along with me as I read to
set the text in our minds. Mark 6:1-6a.
"Jesus went out from there and *came into His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him. Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household." And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief."
Even though Jesus demonstrated His power over sickness, sin and death, though He illustrated that He could teach with great authority, proclaiming the message of salvation, calling men to come to His kingdom. Not everyone honored Him. Even as we proclaim the Gospel today, we can expect that some will believe but sadly, most will not.
Let's begin, looking at verse 1, "Jesus went out from there and *came into His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him." Jesus had just left the house of Jairus, the synagogue official, where He resurrected Jairus’ daughter from the dead and as we know the response was they were completely astounded. It's important to note, that astonishment is a dumbfounded, feeling of overwhelming surprise and is not the equivalent of belief leading to repentance, therefore, it is not the equivalent of faith leading to salvation.
There are a lot of people in the church today who have a superficial understanding of the Word, while they are thrilled by the idea of being forgiven for sin, escaping condemnation there is the outward appearance of new life but there's no fruit of repentance or evidence of regeneration, because it's only an emotional response.
Now He and His disciples come into His hometown of Nazareth, which is about a days walk from Capernaum, about twenty-five miles. It's a small town of about five hundred or so residents, so everybody knows everybody. However, this is not a family reunion, this is no more His home, it's an opportunity for public ministry; and teaching His disciples a lesson about rejection. When He had gone there about a year earlier, they tried to kill Him by throwing Him over a cliff for claiming to be a prophet and Messiah.
Since the news about Him had spread throughout the area, there’s much curiosity about Him but there's no real interest. If you remember back in Mark chapter 3, even His own family thought that He had lost His mind.
Verse 2, "When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?" When the Sabbath came, He went to the synagogue as was His custom and He is invited to speak as was the customary right of the visiting rabbi, I believe it was more out of curiosity than anything else since He's been building quite a reputation, surely they've heard how gifted He is. Then Mark says "and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?" Obviously their attitude toward Him hasn't changed, their hearts are still hardened but at least they're not trying to kill Him. Unbelief always manifests itself by denying the evidence. John 1:11, "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him."
I believe this speaks powerfully to the sinners responsibility to believe and respond to the Truth. If you have ever confronted somebody's sin with the Gospel, then I'm sure you’ve experienced rejection. All who reject Jesus Christ in stubborn unbelief will perish, this is true of His own hometown, the nation of Israel and the world. It's interesting, they are astounded at what He says, but seem to be more concerned about where His wisdom came from, since He had no formal education. Notice they're not denying His miracles. You would think it would be obvious to them where it came from, strangely enough, unbelief has to find a way to obscure the evidence! There’s no other explanation for the miracles, for His power over demonic forces, for His astonishing words of wisdom. In John 8:43-44, He said "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." This is more than just not receiving honor, this is the sin of unbelief, because they're are not of God.
Honesty, character and integrity are no longer held as a virtue today, instead we honor those display qualities similar to our own, telling us what we want to hear, and we defend them to keep them in office no matter how often their lack manifests itself. I believe we're certainly seeing this in the church today, the more a pastor tickles the ears of the hearer, the more they are praise. But let someone preach the Truth, and they are immediately despised. It's obvious that Jesus spoke divine Truth, words that transcends anything they had ever heard before and they hated Him for it, ultimately they killed Him for it. Unbelief it will elevate what's false, leading you everywhere but to the Truth!
Look at verse 3, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him." Notice what they choose to focus on, they have already rejected His teaching, now they're going to attack His past. As we mentioned earlier, if you step on their toes, they will quickly bring up your past. This is why I believe there are so few who can effectively minister to those with who know your past, especially with those whom you were raised, they know everything about who you used to be, and it prevents them from being able to see who you've become. In John 8:42, He said "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me." But instead, they conclude "He’s nobody special, He's just a carpenter's son." That's what unbelief always does, it focuses on what is irrelevant rather than what is obvious.
If you remember, it was common to refer to people as the son of the father, James and John the son of Zebedee or Levi the son of Alphaeus but here He's called the son of Mary, I believe this was their way of slandering Jesus for what they believed to be an illegitimate birth. Remember when Jesus was talking to the Jewish leaders, they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God." Then they say "and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us? " Since they are the children of Joseph and Mary, they were technically the half-brothers and half-sisters of Jesus. James and Jude both came to believe after the resurrection, James became the leader of the Jerusalem church, Jude wrote the epistle Jude, as far as Joses and Simon, we really don’t know anything about them. His sisters are mentioned, but we aren't given any further information but the plural use of the word sister tells us there's more than one. Then, at the end of the verse Mark tells us "And they took offense at Him." This is the typical the attitude of an unbeliever when faced with the Truth, isn't it? They attack the messenger in response to the Truth, that is a reality those of us who proclaim the Gospel must walk in. The Truth is always under attack. The longer you walk with Christ the more you will see Truth is the only thing a culture marked by unbelief refuses to tolerate.
Verse 4, "Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household." People everywhere believed the evidence that He was a prophet who spoke for God, but in His hometown. He received no honor whatsoever, even among those in His own family. They were convinced that He had lost His mind, claiming to be God.
Verse 5, "And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them." The purpose of miracles is to attest to the Truth, isn't it? There’s no need for the miracles once you have decided to reject the Truth. It wasn't a lack of power, it was the lack of purpose. They could not understand who He was, because they had already made up their minds. That's what unbelief does, it chooses Satan and sin over God and salvation. Once you've rejected all the evidence, there's no longer a sacrifice for your sin, your on your way to Hell, forever rejected by God. Think about that before you decide to reject to the knowledge of Christ, to reject the revealed Truth of God. Do you really want to permanently seal your fate, to spend eternity without God? John 3:36, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
That brings us to the first half of verse 6, "And He wondered at their unbelief." I am always astonished by those who reject the clear evidence, choosing Hell's torment over Heaven's blessings. There's nothing left to do but shake your head and walk away. You can't argue someone unto salvation can you? You can't force anyone to believe the Truth concerning Christ. He can do nothing if you won’t believe. No wonder Jesus was amazed by their unbelief.
In Closing..
I know that God wants the lost saved far more than I do. I had to learn to let Christ handle my family and friends, believing that if He chooses to save them, I know He can. It's never about the message or the messenger, it's all about the condition of the heart of the hearer. Isn’t it amazing how God can change hardened hearts, even if He has to shake someone's entire life hard enough to put cracks in their foundation so that the Word can penetrate. The author of Hebrews 4:12 tells us, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
I continue to pray that God will someone to water the seed and bring in the harvest for His glory! Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Maranatha!
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen