6:1 and he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
- Jesus left Capernaum, the home town of Jairus. Where he just raised the girl from the dead and healed the lady from the issue of blood.
-Capernaum is located in the territory of Galilee; it is a sparsely populated farming country. The topography consists of mostly rolling hills.
-Nazareth is 30 miles away from Capernaum - that would take 10 hours to walk without breaks. This would be the second visit to his hometown during his ministry.
I must first visit Luke 4 to lay the ground work for Mark 6. That is his first journey home to Nazareth, Luke 4:14-17. --Read--
A. Jesus left the wilderness 4:14
B. Filled with the spirit went to Galilee. 4:14
C. He taught in the synagogues being glorified by all. 4:15
-up until now he is being well received and his fame was spreading through the land
-upon entering Nazareth he heads to the synagogue to teach on the Sabbath
- Synagogue - is the center of the city
1. Place of education
2. Place of fellowship
3. Place of Prayer 4. Accountability
5. Justice - hand out the judgment
-On that Sabbath they gave him the scroll of Isaiah, Jesus unrolled to Isaiah 61:1-2
Luke 4:18-19 (Isaiah 61:1-2) Greek/order
The spirit of the Lord is upon me, on account of which he anointed me to announce the glad tidings to the poor, he has sent me to heal the broken in heart, to proclaim to captives deliverance and to the blind recovery of sight, to send forth the crushed in deliverance, to proclaim the year of the Lord acceptable.
1. Announce the glad tidings to the poor.
2. Heal the broken in heart.
3. Proclaim to the captives deliverance.
4. Blind recovery of sight.
5. Send forth the crushed in deliverance.
6. To proclaim the year of the Lord acceptable.
A study of the life of Christ and world history would show this is the true work of the Gospel of Christ.
WE must understand that these poor people of Israel where under the judgment of
God. They new it, paying taxes to foreigners who are ruling over them. Troops are stationed in their land eating their substance. They were faced with these harsh realities everyday. When they awoke they knew God is not happy with His People! Their heritage was the mighty work of God on their behalf. This meant everything to them, much like us today.
Luke 4:20-22
And he closed the book and he gave it again to the minister and sat down and eyes of all them in the synagogue were fastened on him and he began to say unto them, this day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness and wondering at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, is not this Josephs son?
Jesus Christ quoted Isaiah 61 and identifies himself as the fulfillment of this messianic prophecy. The men in the synagogue had two choices.
1. Stone him a heretic
2. Serve him as God
They came up with a third; identify him the son of Joseph the carpenter, a man who does great things. Thinking what will he give us?
Using flattery they would try to receive preferential treatment. Notice they said son of Joseph, giving him honor.
Luke 4: 27 and many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian. 28-30
Jesus there hoped messiah was then not going to obey there desire for signs and wonders but goes so far as to suggest that their only hope for National liberty could be spent on another -even Gentiles.
-Christ being committed to his fathers will would have none of it. He is the savior for the world and not Israel only.
-The men of the synagogue filled with wrath tried to throw him off of the cliff which their town was built near. Passing through the midst of them he left.
Mark 6:1 - 2nd visit
-It is important to note that his Disciples are with him on this journey home. I think it is important because he had no disciples during his first visit to Nazareth. I believe it is because Jesus wanted to give an object lesson in rejection; family rejection can be the hardest. I am 1 of 8 but since I received my new heart, I have felt some of that.
Mark 6:2
And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, from whence has this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hand?
-They were astonished by his sayings, he being from Nazareth learned and worked with them but he was not one of them.
- He spoke as one with authority because when speaking about the word of God he was not referring to something foreign to him but about himself.
John 1:1 in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
-His works were not earthly but signs from God. Remember he had just showed his authority by calming the storm (Mark 4:39), healing the demon
possessed man (Mark 5:8) and healing
the woman and Jairus’s daughter
(Mark 5: 29, 41).
The proper response to this is astonishment and fear; just ask the disciples. (Mark 4:41)
It’s obvious they don’t know who Christ is.
Mark 6:3
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.
-Calling him a carpenter, was a way of suggesting that he was a man of lowly estate and should not espouse to such heights. The works of Christ are true and they attest to them here. If anyone should support him it should be the people of Nazareth. He lived a sinless life before them; instead of support they questioned his birth, while associating him no better than his family.
-To name Jesus the son of Mary and not Joseph was to question the legitimacy of his birth and besmirch his name.
Deuteronomy23:2
A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord. (Normal fellowship)
-The real problem is that the message is broken and the heritage is lost. God demands a godly seed! They are calling Jesus an outcast unable to obey god. A social terrorist as it were. Threatening our national covenant with God by your way of life.
Mark 6:4
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.
-Familiarity breads contempt is another way of saying this. What I think we are getting at is that being thus familiar we lose our natural fears to things.
1. Would you like to travel @ 400mph while it is -45 degrees?
For a flight on a 747, this is normal.
2. How about bringing a deadly and explosive gas in your house that you can not see or smell for the purpose of heating?
Millions of people heat their homes with natural gas.
This being God incarnate in flesh.
The creator and sustainer.
The way the truth and the life.
Yet they missed it because of familiarity. They were use to his honest heart and his gentle spirit did not impress them. Jesus being very man and very God had 675 titles before the one true God for us to understand.
On one hand we are comfortable with our knowledge of Jesus Christ and yet on the other we are quite ignorant of whom he is and the reverent glory due his name. For if we were to see him in truth the shame of our own putrid hearts would kill us. We are fearful beggars before a Holy God.
He is the only one who can open the ancient Gates
Psalms 24:7-10 Lift up your head O ye gates and be lifted up ye everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your head O ye gates; even lift them up you everlasting doors; and the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory. Selah
-He walked the path of righteousness and sinlessness for his bride the church. The gate that closed behind Adam is opened for us
Mark 6:5 and he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
Is God limited by the actions of man? Is man an apposing force that God can’t overcome? A foolish thought to say the least but upon our first reading that’s the ideas that come to mind. That should cause you to fear, because it reveals a glimpse as to how much you have been influenced by the culture around you.
Proverbs 16:9 a man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 21:1 the kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turns it wherever he wishes.
-God is sovereign.
In truth Jesus was judging the sin of the people who were rejecting him.
Mark 6:6 and he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
Unbelief requires no action but allows apathy towards the subject. Ignorance is one thing and that’s why we are to preach, they are ignoring the facts so as not to be held accountable. What we have here is a purposeful denial of truth because the ramifications of it are unacceptable to our egocentric lives. After living a sinless life and the mighty works that were done Jesus simply walks away and leaves them out in the cold.
Belief on the other hand has action associated with it as well. There are expected behaviors that you consider acceptable with the belief of certain facts.
-If you believe a plane is going to crash it would not be unacceptable to weep or pray. While not believing it, a crossword puzzle or a nap may be in order.
-Believing is not magical, belief in belief will not avail you anything. It is simply what you trust to be true so-as to act upon it. In a very real sense it is your perception of reality.
-Why? Presuppositionaly what you think is true controls your actions. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who love god with all their heart mind soul and strength. The resulting actions are found in the B-Attitudes. Blessed are the peace makers …ECT. These are the natural outcomes of your belief in God, in his Holy Spirit empowered sanctification process.
Or you don’t believe and the actions associated with it are self indulgence and idolatry. You live for you, this being the normal state of men it is dreadfully sinful.
When saved you are drafted into the service of the most high God. Immediately you begin boot camp with your new heart and the Holy Spirit.
Be ye saved! It is not the words you can say or actions do. It is God. God gives repentance; pursue it as treasure with faith in his forgiveness. If you are saved no one can tell but only God alone.
His spirit testifies with our spirit that we are his. Romans 8:16
So I exhort you now think on Christ the author and finisher of our faith!
Hebrews 12:2
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