Familiarity breeds contempt, so the saying goes. Familiarity with something can make us proud and unteachable. Many a man has embarrassed himself by ignoring or disregarding assembly instructions because “he knew what he was doing.” Maybe you’ve been to a class reunion and just couldn’t get over the success of one of your classmates because you knew what he was like growing up. Your experience with him in the past is a stumbling block to seeing his present success because you can’t separate who he is now from who he once was.
In our text today, we see a similar situation when Jesus visits his hometown of Nazareth.
As I said in my introduction to Mark, in the first half of the book, Mark wants to show us who Jesus is. In the second half, he shows us what Jesus came to do.
In our last three messages, we have seen Jesus’ authority:
- over nature, when he calmed the storm (Mark 4:35-41)
- over the demonic, when he helped the demon-possessed man (Mark 5:1-20)
- over disease, when he healed the woman who had a flow of blood (Mark 5:25-34)
- over death, when he raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Mark 5:21-24, 35-43)
Back in Mark 3, Jesus’ family had sought to bring Jesus back to his hometown. Jesus’ family had heard the rumors about Jesus, and they were worried for his welfare as well as the family name. Today, we see Jesus’ return to his hometown of Nazareth.
Sermon text: Mark 6:1-6
1
He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
Jesus went to his hometown (Nazareth) and his disciples went with him. Nazareth was a very small town, with an estimated population of 150-200 people. You may remember this interaction between Phillip and Nathanael from John 1.
John 1:45-46
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
The implication in Nathanael’s question is that Nazareth is insignificant. It’s a small town full of insignificant nobodies. No one of status lives in Nazareth, especially the promised Messiah.
So, Jesus is from the small town of Nazareth. Today, someone might say that Jesus is from Podunk, USA.
2-3
2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
As usual, when Jesus arrived, he began to teach in the synagogue. As he taught, the people were astonished by him.
They were astonished by his teaching.
They were amazed by his wisdom.
They were impressed by his mighty works.
Then they began to wonder about Jesus. They ask five questions in v. 2.
Five Questions:
- Where did this man get these things?
- What is the wisdom given to him?
- How are such mighty works done 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?
These questions are meant to disparage and discredit Jesus. The people wondered how these things are possible in light of Jesus’ ordinary pedigree.
These people knew Jesus when he was growing up. Jesus was not a trained rabbi. Instead, he was a carpenter that worked with his father, Joseph.
They know his family. They know his mother and his brothers and sisters.
The question on their minds was this one: How in the world can Jesus be anyone significant in God’s work?
The people cannot reconcile Jesus’ wisdom and mighty works with who they think he must be. In their minds he is a carpenter from Nazareth and perhaps even an illegitimate child. They referred to him as the son of Mary. The common practice would be to say, Jesus, son of Joseph. By referring to Jesus as the son of Mary, they are probably taking a cheap shot at him and Mary and the circumstances of Jesus’ birth (Matt 1:18-19).
And so, v. 3 says, “they took offense at him.” Despite the evidence before them, the people rejected Jesus. The word that is used in v. 3 is where we get the English word scandal. These people were scandalized by Jesus. They were embarrassed by the thought of learning from a common carpenter. Their knowledge of Jesus’ ordinary past was too much for them to overcome.
In v. 4, we see Jesus’ response.
4
4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
Jesus is saying that if someone else had come to Nazareth and spoke the way he did, knew the things he knew, and did the things he did, he would have been held in high honor.
However, since they knew him, his upbringing, and family, they took offense at him and did not hold him in honor.
The people marveled at Jesus’ words and his works, but they refused to accept the claims that he made (Luke 4:16-21). Their hearts were hardened.
Remember, even Jesus’ own family thought he was crazy (Mark 3:20-21, 31-35).
What was the problem with the people of Nazareth? Why did they not trust Him as others had?
They thought that they really knew him. These people had known Jesus for almost 30 years and they thought they knew everything about him.
For those of us who have grown up in church, this is an ever-present danger. Many people have grown up in church but have never really studied the Scripture for themselves. They know what they have been taught but they have never compared it with Scripture.
Many people think they are right with God because they walked an aisle, prayed a prayer, and were baptized. But friends, the result of salvation is not just to get saved and go on with life. The result of salvation is that we worship God with our whole lives. We are to offer our whole selves to God as a living sacrifice and to have our minds renewed according to God’s Word (Rom 12:1-2). Jesus doesn’t save us to sit in a pew. He saves us in order that we might worship him by taking up our crosses and following him with our lives as week seek to share the gospel with a lost and dying world (Luke 9:23-24).
In the same way that a vaccine inoculates the body from a virus, familiarity with Jesus can inoculate us from our need of salvation. The people of Nazareth thought they knew Jesus, so they took offense at him. They were scandalized at the thought of needing to trust in Jesus for salvation.
In the same way, many professing Christians in the Bible Belt believe they are saved because they know who Jesus is. The problem is that it’s not enough to know who Jesus is – after all, the demons know who Jesus is and tremble (Jam 2:19). It is not enough to know about Jesus. You must know him not just in your head but in your heart.
John 17:3
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Eternal life is not walking an aisle, praying a prayer, being baptized, having your name on the church roll, being a moral person, or voting the right way.
Eternal life is knowing God and his Son, Jesus Christ, and being indwelt by his Spirit.
If you are not growing in love for God, His Word, and His people, then you do not know him.
Questions:
Have you been in church for so long that Jesus’ words no longer convict or challenge you?
Have you become so familiar with Jesus and the words of Scripture that they no longer pierce your heart?
Do you read your Bible?
Do you truly listen to sermons? Do you have a teachable spirit?
When you read the Bible or hear a sermon, are you cut by the Bible’s words or do always think of someone else who needs them?
Well, we see in vv. 5-6 that Jesus’ ministry in Nazareth was short-lived.
5-6
5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
The text says that “he could do no mighty work there.” The text is not saying that Jesus was suddenly unable to perform miracles. Rather, Jesus would not perform miracles in the face of blatant unbelief.
Jesus knew that his mighty works would be of no value because the people did not accept his message or believe that he was from God. Jesus did not perform miracles to grow his popularity, but to give evidence of his divinity so that people would receive his message (Mark 1:14-15, 38). In other words, his miracles grave credibility to his message.
Jesus wanted people to put their faith and trust in him. Remember from last week what Jesus told the woman with a flow of blood – “Daughter, your faith has made you well” (Mark 5:34).
I want to give you a cold hard, fact this morning: unbelief robs the church of its power.
Unbelief robs the church of its power.
We can have events and programs until the calendar is full, but without a believing expectancy in Christ and his power, nothing will come of it.
If we want the church house to be full, then the prayer meetings better be full.
If we want the preaching to be powerful, we better be praying for the preacher.
If we want to see lost people saved, then we better be praying for them by name and sharing the gospel with them.
A prayerless church is a faithless church, and a faithless church does not please God.
A prayerless church is a faithless church, and a faithless church does not please God.
Hebrews 11:6
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
Do you believe that Jesus can save your wayward child?
Do you believe that Jesus can save your neighbor that hates God?
Do you believe that our church can grow in maturity and in number?
At Nazareth, many rejected Jesus. Jesus marveled at their unbelief. I wonder what Jesus would say about our church.
Do we love Jesus?
Do we live like he rose from the grave?
Do we have faith in his mighty words and his mighty works?
Or are you embarrassed by Jesus? Are you a “secret service Christian,” not wanting anyone to know that you believe in Jesus? Is Jesus a source of embarrassment for you? If so, you need to repent this morning.
You see, Jesus rejects the proud but manifests his power among those who trust him in faith.
BIG IDEA: Jesus rejects the proud but manifests his power among those who trust him in faith.
We cannot come to Jesus on our own terms. We must come to Jesus on his terms.