ON YOUR MARK: WEEK 6 DAY 1

Mark 6:1-6

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.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. 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.” 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.

Don’t miss the huge undercutting taking place here. When the people asked, “Isn’t this Mary’s son?” (Mark 6:3), they were implying something. No one in this time was referred to as the son of their mother. The fact that they did not say “the son of Joseph" means they were reminding everyone about the questions surrounding the legitimacy of Jesus’ birth; I also don’t think they were just being rude. Jesus spoke with authority; there was no way to debate the truth He shared, and people were amazed. So, since they couldn’t kill the message, they went after the messenger. They introduced doubt in who Jesus was.

Notice, they had nothing actually bad to say about Jesus. There was no “bad fruit" coming out of His life. All they could say was that He was nothing special, a common worker like them who had a questionable family tree. These comments, however, were enough to introduce doubt. 

Be very careful in your own life when someone speaks a true word, but you find yourself looking for ways to disqualify them as a messenger from God. If you find yourself doing this, it could mean you are avoiding hearing the truth.