Agnostic Nazarenes - Mark 6:1-6 Series

Mark 6:1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him and such miraculous powers being done by his hands! 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

Introduction: Jesus Goes Home

Mark 6:1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown

Oh, this should be interesting. The last time Jesus saw his family, they thought he was crazy and he essentially disowned them. And now Jesus decides to make a trip back to his hometown, Nazareth, where they live.

1 … and his disciples accompanied him.

He wants them to witness this—you’ll see why at the end. So, the 13 of them start heading up into the hills. They leave that area around the Sea of Galilee and walk about 4 miles southwest to Gennesaret, then from there they got on the on ramp to the major north-south trade route known back then as the Way of the Sea, southbound. They stayed on that for about 7 miles to Magadan, then west through the break in the cliffs and up to the Horns of Hattin where the road bent southward toward Nazareth. And they arrive at this tiny little hamlet carved into the rocky hillside. And when I say “tiny,” the whole town was about 500 yards by 500 yards. It was a nothing town—never mentioned anywhere in the OT, or by Josephus, or in the Jewish Mishna or Talmud. Most people back then probably never even heard of it.

Amazement

2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue , and many who heard him were amazed.

That’s predictable. No matter where Jesus goes, everyone is always amazed at his teaching. And all through Mark that amazement has been cast in a negative light—it’s not an adequate response to Jesus, and today we’re going to find out why.

The Evidence

In their amazement, the people of Nazareth ask themselves a flurry of questions in vv.2 and 3. The ones in verse 2 are positive and the ones in verse 3 are negative. Verse 2 is all the evidence in favor of Jesus; verse 3 is all the counter-evidence against Jesus. The people are in a state of confusion and ambivalence and mixed feelings. On the one hand, they have the plus side:

2 … “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him and such miraculous powers being done by his hands!

His astonishing teaching, his wisdom, his power to do miracles; they want to know—where did he get all that?

Wisdom

One thing they know for sure: it was given to him. They don’t say, “What is this wisdom that he has?” they say, “What’s this wisdom he’s been given?” They could tell—this isn’t the kind of wisdom a man could get just by hitting the books. It’s not natural, it’s not normal, it’s not humanly attainable. It had to have come from something greater than a mere human mind.

In John 7:46 the temple guards said, “No one ever spoke like this man.” And those where his enemies. There have been some great communicators throughout history, but you take the best of the best (Shakespeare, Homer, whoever) and lay that alongside the sermon on the mount (or any other sermon Jesus preached) and there’s no comparison. I don’t know how anyone could read Jesus’ words and think, “Oh, that’s just a normal human being.” 2000 years later, Jesus’ words—every single one of them that we have, is studied by the most learned and brilliant scholars. No one in history has ever had wisdom anything like that.

And he had no theological training or credentials, and yet when the most educated men of that day tried to stump him, off the top of his head Jesus gave answers that completely confounded and humiliated all of them—every time. He was never at a loss for words. He was never confused about what he should do next, or where he should go. He never did anything foolish. How often do you say or do something and then later say to yourself, “That was stupid. Why did I do that? Why did I say that—it was so dumb.” You can search every action Jesus ever took, every decision he ever made, every word he ever spoke, and you won’t find anything other than wisdom. And that even includes things he said and did when he was dead tired, running on no sleep, when he was being mistreated, beaten—it didn’t matter. He never spoke or acted foolishly; he was wisdom personified.