Mark 6:1-6

Mark 6:1-6

1 Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. 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? 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. 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.” 5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He wondered at their unbelief. And He was going around the villages teaching.

Familiarity breeds contempt.  This saying applies to the text we are looking at today.  Jesus comes back to His home town and is well received by the people.  His fame had spread and the people back home were happy to see their hometown hero return.  However, when He began to teach them; they have a hard time seeing Him as an authoritative teacher.  This response limits the time and scope of His ministry in that area.  It is always fun to return to the places where we grew up but it is often a difficult place to do ministry in those places.

THE PEOPLE ARE ASTONISHED BY JESUS’S TEACHING: We know that when Jesus taught He always taught with authority and confronted the traditional thinking of the people.  His teaching was practical to their lives and they were able to understand the Scriptures in a clear way.  Since He had grown up in their midst and lived with them until recently, they could not understand where He had gained so much wisdom and knowledge.  He also healed a few people which really astonished them.  They just could not understand how He could do these things; much less be the Messiah.  This reaction on the part of the people gives us a little bit of insight into the childhood and early years of Jesus.  Apparently, He seemed to be a very “normal” person.  He didn’t go about healing people and animals as a young boy or they would not have been so surprised by His actions as a man.  The teaching of God’s Word should always be authoritative.  We need not be timid when we have the opportunity to teach God’s Word to others.  We have the inspired Word of God as the basis for our teaching.  The Bible is true and should always be taught with authority.

JESUS IS AMAZED BY THE PEOPLE’S UNBELIEF: The people were offended by the way Jesus taught and the miracles He did.  They knew His brothers and sisters and could not see Him as Lord of their lives.  Jesus is amazed by their lack of faith and unwillingness to recognize who He is and what He is able to do.  These are people He knew well and loved, but they were unwilling to believe.  Jesus states that prophets are honored wherever they go accept in their own hometown.  Consequently only a few people were healed and He only stayed with them a short time.  He moved on from village to village since His time at home was not being very productive.  The people were missing a great opportunity because of their pride and lack of faith.  They were not willing to consider that someone they knew so well could grow so much and actually exercise authority over them.  All of us have people in our lives that we have grown up with or simply have known them for a very long time.  Perhaps our parents or a sibling or even our own pastor that we don’t pay as close of attention to as we should because we are so familiar with them.  We would be wise to try to identify those voices closest to us that we may be ignoring or devaluing and pay much closer attention.

APPLICATION: Don’t be afraid to teach and minister in places where we grew up but don’t go in with expectations that are too high.  Be open to the teaching of people we may know well from the past but have since been blessed by God with great ministry opportunities.  Every time we open God’s Word or sit under the teaching of God’s Word we must recognize the authority of God over our lives.