#25 Rejected at Home
Series: Mark
Chuck Sligh
August 2, 2020
TEXT: Mark 6:1-6 – "And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. 2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. 4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. 5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. 6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching."
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INTRODUCTION
Illus. – Usually, people have a sense of anticipation about going home, especially if they had a happy childhood there. We think of home as the place where we’re known and loved and accepted as we are. It’s a place you can kick off your shoes and go straight to the refrigerator for something to eat without having to ask. It’s the place of old memories of “the good old days” when we were young and carefree. It’s a place of familiar and comforting sights and sounds and smells and friends and neighbors—and it’s where family is.
Such nostalgia was not awaiting Jesus when He returned to his hometown, unfortunately. In today’s text Jesus takes His first trip back home to Nazareth since He started His ministry, but it didn’t go too well.
Let’s examine Jesus’ homecoming in Mark 6:1-6.
I. NOTICE IN VERSE 1 AN ANTICIPATED HOMECOMING – “And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.”
From Capernaum where He had been ministering, Jesus traveled about 25 miles southwest to His hometown of Nazareth. Nazareth was where He had grown up, where he had friends from boyhood and early manhood.
His hometown wasn’t much to speak of. It was really just a working-class village that had no claim to fame. Nazareth is not mentioned anywhere in the Old Testament or in any of the Jewish or rabbinic writings prior to Jesus living there. In fact, the only reference to it is by an obscure writer, Julius Africanus, some two centuries after Jesus’ birth. No prophets or notable scholars had come from Nazareth. It was a big zero on the map of Israel.
Yet it was home for Jesus and I can’t help but believe that He longed to be home, even knowing the circumstances of His leaving Nazareth and His certain knowledge of how He would be received in Nazareth this time.
He actually started His ministry in Nazareth a year earlier. He stood up in His family’s synagogue and read verses 1 and 2 of Isaiah 61, and Luke 4:22 says that “All spoke well of him.”
But soon He began to preach confrontationally and the mood changed so violently that Luke says in verse 29, “And they rose up, and drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, that they might throw him down the cliff. But passing through the midst of them, he went his way.”
Things weren’t too great with Jesus’ family either after He left Nazareth. In Mark 3, as word reached Jesus’ family of His activities, they tried to lure Him to a place where they could capture Him and take Him bound back to Nazareth, believing that He was “out of his mind.” Even though Jesus was God, He was also human, so the actions of His community and family must have cut deeply, for He loved them all.
But this time, Jesus is not alone. Verse 1 goes on to say that “his disciples followed him.” Jesus had performed miracles, cast out demons, calmed the wind and the sea and had even raised the dead to life. He was returning now not as just a local boy, but as a Rabbi, surrounded by His devoted disciples. Surely, they would be excited, hold a parade and welcome their returning hometown hero!
II. BUT IN VERSES 2-4 WE SEE A COLD RECEPTION – “And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. 4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”
Mark does not tell us what going to His own family was like. But on the Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue and was allowed to opportunity to expound on the reading from the Old Testament scriptures. Mark tells us that many who heard him were astonished, the kind of reaction Jesus’ teaching always elicited.
But their astonishment took a negative turn. They asked questions about His authority to speak and the source of His deep teaching. “Where did this man get these things? and what wisdom is this which is given to him, that such mighty works are performed by his hands?”
Jesus taught as He taught everywhere: with insight and authority, the presentation of old truths in a new light, teaching stripped of human rabbinical tradition, stories from everyday life; teaching that engaged the heart, the mind, the will and the conscience of His listeners. It was so different and revolutionary that their provincial minds could not take it in.
Jesus was not trained by a rabbi or in the established religious tradition, yet He had such great wisdom. Where did this simple country boy get this new wisdom from and how could He do such mighty works by His hands? There were only two sources: from God or from Satan. The people were not impressed; they were confused.
They were also beset by class bias. They ask, “Is not this the carpenter…?” To be a carpenter (or literally the Greek term meant a craftsman of any type) was not looked down upon in Jewish society in that day. It was an honorable profession; but one’s profession was settled at birth. If you were born in a craftsman’s home, you became a craftsman yourself; if your father was a shepherd, you would be a shepherd; if your father was a rabbi, you were destined for the same profession.
Jesus’ crime was in not knowing His place. America and Germany are so egalitarian that we rarely think of class distinctions. But when I lived in England, I discovered that class was a big deal there. If one were in what they called the “working class,” those who were able to rise above their class were snubbed by the working class they came from. They were considered traitors to their class. They were being uppity, acting above their station.
Illus. – One of the great early 20th century leaders of the British Labor Party was Will Crooks who grew up in poverty in England. He started his own working life in a lowly blacksmith’s shop and later became a working-class craftsman. Low though his station was, he ran for mayor of Poplar, a London borough—and won!
Many people were offended by his election. Crooks overheard a woman say once, “They’ve made that common fellow, Crooks, mayor and he’s no better than a working man.”
Crooks said, “Quite right, madam. I am not better than a working man.”
This seems to be what was going on here when Jesus returned to Nazareth.
The people of Nazareth were thinking, “Jesus is a working man; He didn’t come from a rabbi’s family. Who does He think He is anyway? Does He think He’s better than us?”
They went on to ask, “Is not this…the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?” In that day, a man was known as the son of his father, not the son of his mother. To refer to Him as “the son of Mary” was an insult, perhaps because of the mysterious circumstances of His virgin birth. The references to Jesus’ brothers and sisters were further meant to remind people where Jesus came from, as if to say, “He can’t pull one over on us! We know what stock He comes from, and He certainly was NOT from a rabbi’s home.”
In the end of verse 3, Mark tells us they “were offended at” Jesus. The Greek word for offended is skandalízein, from which we get our word scandal, which in this context means to “be put off” or “repelled” by Jesus. They could not see Jesus through the eyes of faith; they could see ONLY a carpenter, ONLY a son of Mary, ONLY another one of the village children who had grown up and returned for a visit.
Jesus’ reaction to their questioning was to quote a well-known saying: “‘A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” This was true of many Old Testament prophets who boldly preached to their own people but were often resented and opposed but had wider honor in other places. Jesus’ quotation of this adage was strangely prophetic, anticipating His ultimate rejection by Israel. It also presaged what the disciples would face when they were sent out two-by-two later in this chapter as well as the execution of John the Baptizer at the end of the chapter. Things start to turn ugly in Mark’s gospel.
III. WE SEE LASTLY GOD’S WORKING HINDERED IN VERSE 5-6 – “And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. 6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.”
When Mark tells us Jesus could do no mighty work in Nazareth except a few paltry healings, Mark is not saying His POWER was limited. Jesus was God and God can do anything He wants to any time He wants to.
But God chooses in His sovereign will to exercise His power in response to faith and where there is no faith, He will limit the display of His power. Unbelief excluded the people of Nazareth from experiencing the power of God’s grace that people in other places had experienced.
Mark tells us in verse 6: “And he marveled because of their unbelief.” In only two places do the gospel writers tell us that Jesus was surprised by something, and both involved faith. One time He was amazed at the great faith of a Roman soldier, a centurion who begged Jesus to just say the word and his servant would be healed. – Matthew says, “When Jesus heard this, he marveled, and said to those who followed, ‘Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, not even in Israel.” (Matthew 8:10)
But in today’s text, Jesus was astonished at His own townspeople’s LACK of faith. It’s wonderful to amaze God with great faith; it’s sad to amaze Him with our unbelief.
But if the people of Nazareth were faithless, that did not stop Jesus. He would go where people would exercise faith. Mark continues verse 6 by saying, “And he went round about the villages, teaching.” Surely Jesus was saddened by the rejection He felt from His own people. But He didn’t just sit around bemoaning their rejection; He went elsewhere, looking for people receptive to His message and miracles.
CONCLUSION
As we draw our service to a close, I want us to think of some applications to our lives personally.
1. First of all, don’t disparage people because of their class or background.
God has a habit of using that which is “little” in our sight for His glory.
He used “little POSSESSIONS”…
• It was just A LITTLE SLING that killed mighty Goliath.
• Moses parted the Red sea with A SIMPLE ROD, which was probably a shepherd’s crook.
• The widow could give only TWO MITES, but its value to God was far greater than the much larger gift of the rich man, for she gave her all.
• Jesus had need of A LITTLE COLT to ride triumphantly through Jerusalem.
• The little boy had only 5 LOAVES AND 2 FISHES to feed 5,000.
God also used “little PLACES”…
• It was in a little, obscure town called BETHLEHEM that Jesus was born.
• The Last Supper took place in AN OBSCURE, BORROWED ROOM.
• Jesus was buried in A BORROWED TOMB.
And God used “little PEOPLE”…
• DAVID was a simple shepherd boy.
• MOSES was the son of a common slave woman.
• PAUL was a short, homely man with poor eyesight.
The people of Nazareth were put off by Jesus because of His lower station in life. No matter what a person’s background, or his class or any what “other” category we construct, we should recognize that God has the power to use that person for His glory.
Many of the great leaders in church history were “little people.”
• Martin Luther was the grandson of a peasant, and the son of a copper-smelter.
• The great 19th century evangelist, D. L. Moody was a farmer’s son who later moved to the big city and became a shoe salesman.
• William Carey, the founder of modern missions, was a simple shoe repairer.
• One of the most beloved evangelists of the Nazarene denomination was known as Uncle Bud Robinson, a preacher with no more than an elementary education and who spoke with a lisp, but who had God’s evident power upon his life.
• One of the most colorful evangelists used by God among the Methodists in 19th century England was Gypsy Smith, who, as you may have guessed, was a gypsy who had no formal education.
These and many other men and women were just simple, ordinary people—“little” people by the world’s standards who were chosen by a big God and used in great ways. And the truth of the matter is that the business of the Lord’s work has always mostly been carried out by just average, ordinary “little” people, most of whom were never famous or recognized for their contributions. But that’s alright, because it’s a joy to be a “little” person used by A BIG GOD! Just as God used Jesus, a simple carpenter, God can use you for His glory if you’ll give yourself to Him to serve Him.
How can we as ordinary people be used in big ways by our big God? By being available. There are no “BIG” jobs in the local church. But all the “little” jobs we as ordinary people do cumulatively add up to some big things for God—a church that ministers to others and reaches out to a lost world.
2. My second application for our lives personally is this: Believe God to unleash His power in your life.
Every great miracle in your life is unleashed by faith in God.
Illus. – When we bought this building, we were a congregation of about 30 people who didn’t have enough sense to know that there was no way a congregation so small could buy a building this big in Germany. We trusted in God to help us buy this building and time does not allow me to share the stories of one miracle after the other that God did to enable us to buy the building. When we finally moved into it, our bank account was empty, but we needed another $100,000 to remodel the building. We tried to raise the money from a variety of sources and to this day I cannot track how God did it, but we were able to do it by just trusting God. If we’d been realistic, we would’ve known not to go on such a foolhardy venture, but faith overcame reluctance and God unleashed His power in our church.
Illus. – I have seen this regarding tithing to God time and time again. People hear about giving God one-tenth of their income to God and their head spins. But when we hear God’s promises to those who tithe and those who give generously, we’re challenged to trust God despite what our logic tells us.
• We think, If I give God X percentage of my income, I will be X percent poorer for it, but God says, “Prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10-11)
• We think, If I give generously, I’ll lose, but God says, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be put into your lap. For with the same measure that ye meet withal, it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:38)
As my dad used to say, “You cannot out-give God”; he was right.
3. Last, recognize that the greatest miracle of all—salvation—is only unleashed by faith. The greatest miracle of all is to have your sins forgiven and to be made a child of God. There is nothing you could ever do to earn your salvation.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Salvation can only come by trusting Jesus Christ for salvation. Jesus could not have been clearer in John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
When you recognize your need for forgiveness and salvation, and turn from all the things you formerly trusted in to save you and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, God unleashes the full power of His love in your life. He gives you forgiveness of sins, a new nature that wants to serve God, abundant life on this earth, a forever family in the church, a spiritual gift, a new identity, new purpose in life, a relationship with God, an inheritance in heaven, and many, many other blessings in your life.
I invite you to trust in Christ today to unleash God’s love and power in your life.
