Back to the Basics: The rejection of the Savior

Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:54-58

Passage: Mark 6:1-6

Intro: As we continue through the Book of Mark, we have seen that Mark has asked the reader at the end of chapter four to ask themselves who can this Jesus be? Now we see what happens when someone answers this question in the negative. What happens when someone looks at Christ, and rejects his teaching, and rejects him.

See church this is extremely relevant to us today. For we live in a culture that denies Christ. We live in a society that urges believers to reject the commands of Christ, and to reject the teaching of Scripture, but what happens when we do that is that we deny the very deity of Christ. In fact in today’s passage we will see what happens when an entire people group reject Christ.

Passage Context: As we continue through the book of Mark we now find ourselves in chapter 6. In chapter 6 we see that the focus of Jesus ministry moved from Capernaum and that region to now we see that Jesus goes to his home land of Nazareth.

Now remember the main point of chapter 5 is to show the reaction of different people who had seen or recieved a miracle of Jesus. Well now this idea is being shown, but now it is shown from the people of Nazareth. And the people do not believe, so we see what happens because of the people’s unbelief.

READ PASSAGE HERE

Passage explanation: When we look at this passage we see what happens when Jesus returned home. Now I want us to realize what Mark is telling us. See Mark is showing the different reactions to Jesus. We saw this in chapter 3. Where Mark tells the readers of the different people that are following Jesus. We have those that wanted something out of Jesus, those who were watching to see who Jesus really was, and his detractors. Also in chapter 3 remember that Mark tells us that Jesus’ mother and brothers show up in Capernaum. And the passage implies that they were there to make Jesus go home. The Greek word that is used is the same as sieze, so they were going to seize Jesus and force him to go home. And this brings up the question why? Why did Mary want Jesus to come home?

Well I want you to realize that the answer to this question comes from the fact that Jesus was fully human. Yes he is fully human and fully God. See Jesus grew up just like the other children.

See I want you to think about something, often time you do not give your own children the credit they deserve. How many of you would let your child operate on you if they were a doctor? Probably not many, because you saw how unstable their hand was playing the board game Operation when they were younger. Or how many of you would have your child design a building for you? You have seen that child play Jenga. But here is the truth, your child has grown up. the same child that could not put on their pants properly as a child now holds a degree in thermodynamics and has been a nuclear engineer for 9 years. I think you can now trust that child to grow up and do what they are experts in doing.

I’ve experienced this, My mom will sometimes call me, on Sundays as she is doing the last minute preparations for her Sunday School class. And she will ask me to look something up for her. And 90 percent of the time I know the answer. So I tell her. “You didn’t look that up?” Your right. Because I know the answer. “How?” Well I’ve studied it all my life, and for the past 13+ years I have studied theology and the Bible in Seminary. Like, hopefully soon I will be a Dr. of the church. But one man’s expert is another man’s knucklehead.

See this is what is happening with Jesus. They saw him grow up. Mary and her children watched Jesus be trained to be a carpenter, not a theologian. So now, here is Jesus, healing, and teaching like nothing that they had heard before.

And now we see what happens when Jesus does return home.

Main Point: The main point of this passage is to show how the people of Nazareth’s lack of faith kept Jesus from doing miracles and signs.

Call to Action: This passage breaks down into three scenes that show how the lack of faith the Nazarenes had, and three different aspects of Jesus that they rejected.

Scene 1: Jesus Ministers in Nazareth. Mark 6:1-2 A

Point 1: rejecting Jesus means rejecting his teachings

Explanation: Look at how Mark starts to tell the story of what happened when Jesus returned to Nazareth. Now Remember, Jesus had been ministering near the Sea of Galilee in Capernaum mostly, but also in Gergesa as well. But in chapter 5 Jesus had returned to Capernaum, but now look at what is happening, “Then He (Jesus) went out from there and came to His own country,” So look at what Mark is telling the reader, that Jesus is leaving his ministerial hub, the place where people flocked by the 1000s to see him. And now he is going to his home country. To his home land. He is going back to Nazareth.

But we also see that he did not go alone. “And His disciples followed Him.” So we see that what Marry and her children wanted in chapter 3 comes to fruition. That Jesus and does go back to Nazareth, but he does not go alone. No, he brings his 12 disciples.

And look at what happens next, “ANd when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.” So now we see that Jesus went back home, and on the Sabbath day, he and his disciples went to the local synagogue. Now remember, for Jews the place to worship was the Temple in Jerusalem. But if they could not go to Jerusalem every Sabbath day, then they would go to their local synagogue. The synagogue would be compared to our churches today, but it was different. Our churches today are the place where we worship, but the synagogue was a temporary place of worship. The normal place was the Temple. But also our churches typically have one man who preaches from week to week. The synagogue was not so. Instead they had a lay leader who did building upkeep, and would prepare the church, but rarely would he ever be expected to preach. Instead certain teachers would go from synagogue to synagogue teaching and preaching. ANd there was a list of certain people who were approved to teach.

But now we see that Jesus went to his synagogue, and he taught.

Illustration:

Application: So when the people listen to Jesus teach, this is when they reject him. They hear him, and they ask, where did he get this wisdom. Where did he learn all this.

to reject what Jesus taught, is to reject Jesus himself. And honestly to reject Scripture is to reject Jesus. For Scripture is God’s inerrant word. And we must trust his word. See when you start looking what Scripture says, then people will start to question if it is true. But Scripture is true and it is God’s Word. I urge you to not reject the teaching of Scripture or the teaching of God’s Word.

Transition: But then we see that the peoples questioning of Jesus’ teaching leads to their rejection of Jesus based on his humanity.

Scene 2: The Nazarenes question and reject Jesus. Mark 6:2B-3

Point 2: Rejecting Jesus means rejecting the Messiah’s humanity

Explanation: But after we see that Jesus taught, we see the reaction of the people to what Jesus taught. Look at verse Mark 6:2B, “And many hearing Him were astonished.” So now we see that the people who heard Jesus teach were astonished. Now I believe that if Jesus was to walk into this church and start teaching, we would be astonished at what he taught. But not in the way that the people were.

Look at how they responded, “Saying, ‘Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!’” So we see the question that the people ask. They ask, where did Jesus learn what he is teaching. Now we know the answer to this question. He learned this from His Father, Yahweh. But the people did not want to hear that. Instead they were wanting to know how he could teach with such authority. So they are wondering how did Jesus learn this, and where did he get so much wisdom. Now I also want you to recognize something, that the people who heard Jesus teach in Nazareth recognized Jesus’ wisdom. Not only did they recognize Jesus’ wisdom, but they also recognized his he is doing mighty works. So they ask how he has the wisdom, and how he has the wisdom and knowledge to heal.

And then look at verse 3, “Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon” So now we that they are not just questioning the power and wisdom of Jesus, but they are also trying to figure out who he is. They, say, wait, people say he is Jesus Christ or Jesus the Messiah. But isn’t he really Jesus the carpenter? His dad made my table, and Jesus helped. And then someone said, yeah that’s right, his mother is Marry. And then another person chimed in, yeah and Judas, and James, they are Jesus’ brother. And then someone else says, “And are not His sisters here with us?” So they look around and say, look, we know Jesus. He is one of us. He is the son of a carpenter. His sister, is the girl right there. And his brother is James, and he is a trickster.

Illustration:

Application: See what is happening in this passage is that the people are rejecting that one of them could be the messiah. Even though they knew the prophecies. Look the people had heard that from Nazareth the Messiah would come. Matthew 2:23 “And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.” Yet they are denying this prophecy. They see Jesus’ humanity and think that man cannot be God. Yet we know that Jesus is God. Scripture shows that Jesus who was fully man, overcame his sin nature and became him who knew no sin. Because of his sinless life of humanity, it made him the perfect sacrifice. It made him the one sacrifice that stops the need for other sacrafices. His humanity yet overcoming sin, means that he is complete sacrifice for our sins. He is the propitiation of our sins.

Transition: But the Nazrenes not only rejected the humanity of Jesus, but they also rejected his deity.

Scene 3: Unbelief causes leads to Jesus only being able to do a few miracles. Mark 6:4-6

Point 3: Rejecting Jesus means rejecting his deity.

Explanation: Look at what Jesus does in verse 4, “But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own country,” Now realize what Jesus is saying, that a prophet, think of Elijah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, is not without honor. So everywhere these true prophets of God go, they are honored. A true prophet is seen and honored by all the people, except in his own country. A really good example of this is Jonah. Jonah goes and prophecies in a foreign land and what happens in that foreign land? The people listen to Jonah and repent. Yet what happens to the Israel prophets? they are put to death. We see this throughout Scripture.

Jesus continues, “among his own relatives, and his own house.” Jesus says that a prophet’s family, and his people are those that reject the prophet. They are the ones who won’t listen and those are the ones that reject their prophecies.

But then we see what happens because the people rejected him. Look at verse 5, “Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.” So now we see that Jesus could not do mighty works like he did in Capernaum, or like he did in the country of the Gadarenes. So this leads to the question why? Why didn’t Jesus do more miracalous signs? Well Mark tells us in verse 6, “And He (Jesus) marveled because of their unbelief.” It was because of their unbelief. Because the people did not believe in Christ, they did not see the miracles of Christ. The people’s unbelief stopped Jesus from doing any great miracles. We something interesting in this passage, That because the people did not believe, this is where faith and freewill meet. Because the people have freewill, they elected not to trust Jesus, and not believe him. Because of this Jesus did not do any miracles.

But then we see that Jesus, “Went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.” So after Jesus was in Nazareth, he went to small villages in the region teaching.

Illustration:

Application: What we see in this passage is that the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus’ deity. In rejecting Jesus, they said in their hearts that they would reject Jesus’ teaching.

You might be saying, I want to see a miracle of Jesus! Why haven’t I seen any miracles? Well maybe it is because of unbelief. Have you placed your faith in the Lord? Do you truly believe that Jesus is who he claimed to be? If you do, then you will live his teachings!

Conclusion:

See church when you reject Jesus, you are rejecting every aspect of him. You are rejecting his teachings, you are rejecting his miracles (deity), and you are rejecting his humaninty.

To reject either one of those three is to reject all of Jesus. You cannot say, oh I like his teachings, but he is not God. No, because Jesus taught that he was/ is God. So if you reject his deity, than you have to say he is a liar. So you must reject his teachings.

If you say, I like his teaching, and I believe he is God, but I believe that he was not fully man, than you are rejecting his sacrifice. Because Jesus was the sinless man, he became the perfect sacrifice. He was the lamb without blemish. So he must be fully man, to be the full sacrifice.

And then if you say, I like his teachings, and I believe he was man, but I do not think he is God, then you are rejecting his salvation. Because he is God incarnate his sacrifice fills in the gap of our sin. Sins he is God, he has the power to forgive sins. Because only God can forgive sins.

So rejecting any of the three aspects; his teaching, his humanity, and his deity, is rejecting him.

And church, we know that man can reject Christ. God gives man free will to receive and to reject him. But we must decide, are we going to follow him, or will we reject him?