Mark 6: 1-6

Introduction:

In the beginning of Mark 6 Jesus leaves Jarius’ home for His own. He goes into the synagouge and starts teaching. Everyone becomes offended at what He’s teaching because to them He was just some… guy. Christ’s origins were simple but He is the most important character in the history of the universe.

Simple Origins – Powerful Change

Jesus was teaching about the coming Kingdom of God, where He would rule in men’s hearts and men would be free from sin. We don’t know how much He was disclosing to them but we do know it was enough to make them offended.  It was blasphemous for a simple man to claim He was God. But He wasn’t simply man. Unfortunately, like every E! True Hollywood Story, people in His life doubted His potential. Even if they thought He was going to be a great man, a great rabbi, they certainly had problems believing He was God. You probably would too if you changed His diaper. If you watched Him play. If you watched Him learn. What we get from Nazareth’s rejection is that His manhood was 100% real. But His Godhood was still going to change everything.

Heartbreaking Disbelief

Jesus’ response in verse 4-7  is heartbreaking. First, in verse four, He relates that no one thinks your special, they wont honor, if you grew up with them. Our families and friends can be our greatest skeptics. But it wasn’t just His family and friends it was the whole town. It was so bad that He only healed a handful of faithful people. He couldn’t do any miracles because Jesus doesn’t force His power on anyone. To heal someone who did not have faith in Him would be to heal the flesh. Christ came to heal the soul and the flesh followed suit. So we can observe from how few the miracles, how faithful Nazareth was – not very.

Application:

You’re just some guy or girl. But the message you carry is very powerful. The harshest critic’s you’ll have will be at home. They will be your friends. Your teachers and everyone that is close to you. Because they know you. 

But you’re not just you anymore are you? Your different. There is something about you. Christ is important to you. The Holy Spirit is inside of you. You think God is real! And most of the time you act like He is real…

At the end of  verse 6 we get Jesus’ response to disbelief from His family and friends, ‘…And he went about among the villages teaching.’

Jesus didn’t stop. He shared His message with strangers and they believed because they could see past His body and recognize His spirit and hear His message. So you shouldn’t stop.

The best possible way to honor your parents is to submit yourself to the Lord’s will. The best possible way to honor your hometown is to submit yourself to the Lord’s will.

Because you cannot tell me that Jesus did not honor Mary and His brothers by continuing despite their disbelief and discouragement of His ministry.

And you certainly know the name of Nazareth. How many other cities can you name in Israel?