On the heels of raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead, Jesus returns to Nazareth, His hometown, only to be rejected by them.

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Mark 6:1-29… A Prophet and Their Hometown

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Here is the transcript used to produce this podcast episode:

Mark 6

6:1-6 A Prophet Without Honor

1 Jesus left there 

– where He had raised Jairus’ daughter from there dead and healed the woman with an issue of blood. Can you imagine the high His disciples were on after witnessing THAT? Now they get to go to Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth. I wonder if they anticipated great things in Nazareth, Jesus’ home town?

and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 

Even though he was born in Bethlehem, his family lived in Nazareth and he had been brought up there (Mt 2:1, 23; Lk 2:1-7, 39-40). Jesus came here as a rabbi accompanied by his disciples.

Reference: Barker, K. L., & Kohlenberger, J. R. (2004). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Abridged Edition. Zondervan.

 

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? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

σκανδαλίζω skandalizō, v. to cause to sin, cause to fall (into sin), offend; to fall away 

Jesus’ preaching and teaching and His miracle-working caused those who knew Him growing up to fall away – or to pull away from Him. This was a changed Jesus from the one they knew growing up.

Sometimes when a person experiences significant change in their life, those who knew him/her before have difficulty accepting those changes and have difficulty accepting who that person has become. The Paige that left his home in Sitka, Alaska at the age of 18 was a vastly different person than the Paige who returned to visit 30 years later. I adored that town, where I had so many amazing memories, but upon my return, I realized I no longer fit. I could not live there any more. 

That is what I see Jesus experiencing in His hometown. These people knew Jesus as a child, apprenticing with His (step) father Joseph as a carpenter. The Jesus they were now seeing and hearing in the local synagogue offended them, because He was speaking with wisdom and authority. They did not see a rabbi, or a teacher, let alone a Messiah. They saw a common ordinary carpenter “putting on airs”.

Isn’t it amazing – they heard Him speak, they had heard of the miracles He had performed, they witnessed His wisdom in handling Scripture, and they were offended –  they pulled away from Him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Their lack of faith in Him, equated to lack of faith in God. There were those in the ranks of the Pharisees, rabbis, and common folk who were true seekers of God who were drawn to Jesus. But not those in His home town. They drew back.

That this is the last time in the Gospel where Jesus is associated with a synagogue suggests this rejection marks a significant break in his relationship with the institution and the Judaism it represents.

Reference: Edited by Carson, D. A. (2018). NIV, Biblical Theology Study Bible. Zondervan.

 

 

6:7-12 Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

The standard attire of traveling teachers, it stresses their dependence on time-honored Middle Eastern hospitality. Each place the disciples visit is now compelled to make a decision for or against Jesus’ message.

Reference: Edited by Carson, D. A. (2018). NIV, Biblical Theology Study Bible. Zondervan.

 

 

By virtue of the fact that they would be representing Jesus as itinerant teachers, their initial appearance in a town would force a decision by the family or town whether or not to accept them or even let them teach and minister in that town. This implies that some times they never even made it past the city gates.

12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

μετανοέω metanoeō, v.  to repent, to change any or all of the elements composing one’s life: attitude, thoughts, and behaviors concerning the demands of God for right living:

I wonder if their task of calling people to repentance is connected with their ability to drive out impure spirits and to work miracles of healing. My thinking is that this call to repent put them in direct opposition to the enemy of our souls “calling him out” as it were, resulting in direct conflict with demonic spirits. Is the fact that there are seemingly fewer instances of believers calling unbelievers to repentance today the reason we are seeing fewer instances of casting out impure spirits and fewer instances of miracles of healing? A point to ponder.

I also see this as Jesus preparing them for the upcoming time when they would be ministering without Him being physically present. This is a good example of the teaching process:

1. I do, you watch
2. We do
3. You do, I watch
4. You do

6:14-29 John the Baptist Beheaded

14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying,[b] “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”

And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”

16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

The execution of John—for Jesus, Malachi’s promised “Elijah” who was to prepare Israel lest the nation come under God’s judgment (see 1:1–8)—does not bode well, either for Israel or for Jesus, himself also a rejected prophet (v. 4).

Reference: Edited by Carson, D. A. (2018). NIV, Biblical Theology Study Bible. Zondervan.

 

 

17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled[c]; yet he liked to listen to him.

21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of[d] Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

We need to realize that we, as believers, are NOT citizens of this world. There can be no compromise between God’s values and those of this world. John stood firmly on the side of God’s standards of righteousness (as defined by the Law) which put him in direct opposition to the political governance of his day – led by Herod. Every concession we believers make to the World’s standards of behaviour as opposed to God’s standards of behaviour weakens our influence. What areas in my life do I defer to what the world says rather than to what God says in His words to us i.e. the Bible?

Blessings!

Paige