The Gospel of Mark Part 24

We started this next section last week, where Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth along with His disciples.

But familiarity breeds contempt, and that’s exactly what we saw happen when Jesus was teaching at the Nazareth synagogue.

I. The Carpenter’s Rejection

READ Mark 6:1-2>

Mark 6:3 (NKJV)

3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.

So here is our key text as we have been looking at the Carpenter the heals and the Carpenter that is hindered.

Notice that to them, Jesus is nothing more than the town carpenter - the village handyman, whose handiwork could have been seen in many of the homes and buildings in which they lived and worked…but a tradesman has no business teaching in a synagogue!

Also, they list His earthly family -

Also - notice that one person in the family is not mentioned - Joseph! (“the Son of Mary”)

It was Joseph’s carpentry shop that Jesus had apprenticed in and had taken over until age 30 when He began His earthly ministry.

Joseph’s exclusion was likely that he had already died by this time, but also that Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus was a scandal! She was with child BEFORE they were married.

“So they were offended at Him.”

First, they were “astonished”...

And now they are “offended”.

Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (σκανδαλίζω)

σκανδαλίζω skandalizō: cause to stumble; to offend, shock, excite feeling of repugnance

This response to Jesus is not limited to only first century Nazarenes…we have already seen this response from both Jews and Gentiles in Mark’s gospel…and Paul saw it in his day, as do we.

1 Corinthians 1:23 (NKJV)

23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,

“Stumbling block” is the same Greek root word as “offended” in Mark.

Jesus’ teaching and reputation and even His very presence was a SCANDAL in the minds of the Nazarenes.

Instead of drawing them closer to God through Jesus, they responded by turning away from Him…walking farther from their Yahweh instead of turning towards Him.

Mark 6:3 (NKJV)

3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.

None of Jesus’ earthly siblings believed on Him until after His resurrection.

We have already seen them, along with Mary, try to declare Him insane. And now they are silent as He is rejected not only by them but by almost the entire town.

What a comfort for us, as many have loved ones, neighbors, family members that also reject Jesus…Jesus knows exactly how that feels - to have one you love so much completely reject you.

The good news is that later, these brothers would believe:

Acts 1:14 (NKJV)

14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

1 Corinthians 9:5 (NKJV)

5 Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

Jesus appeared to His half-brother James, and it was at that point that James believed:

1 Corinthians 15:7 (NKJV)

7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

James and Judas (or Jude as we know him) went on to write two of the general epistles in the NT:

James 1:1 (NKJV)

1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.

Jude 1 (NKJV)

1 Jude [Judas], a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

Mark 6:4 (NKJV)

4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”

This statement by Jesus is actually an old proverb

Jesus’ statement is really an indictment of their hardness of heart and lack of faith.

In a sense, we have here an event that symbolizes the nation of Israel rejecting their Messiah.

And notice the three concentric social circles:

His own country

His own relatives

His own house

Each circle gets more and more restricted…more and more personal…right down to His own immediate family - all rejected Him

We saw earlier, in Mark chapter three, that Jesus’ family had accused Him of being out of His mind and trying to call Him away from His mission…and now they reject Him yet again.

Mark 6:5–6 (NKJV)

5 Now 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. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

“He could do no mighty work there...” - does this verse contend that Jesus, who is God, lost some of His healing powers? - no.

Surrounded by cold hearts and a climate of unbelief, Jesus chose not to exercise His power to heal, although He does perform a few healings .

But notice how Mark purposefully downplays these healings.

It’s as if they aren’t really that important - they are important, but Mark is making a specific point here…the potential for Jesus to transform the lives of His family, relatives, and village was almost completely missed…apparently there were a few people that accepted His teaching and His power as from God…but most did not - that is Mark’s point.

Remember that Mark loves to make contrasts - we just left Capernaum, where a diseased, outcast woman as well as a well-to-do synagogue ruler came to Jesus in faith and were healed…neither of them were related to Jesus, and nor had they grown up with Him since childhood…yet they honored Him…what a contrast with those that ridiculed Him at the house of Jairus..what a contrast with the people that should have seen Him for what He was better than anyone - remember that He lived a sinless life among them for some 28 years - that much should have been evidence enough to at least consider Him in a respectful light…but they didn’t - they rejected Him.

<READ Luke 2:51-52>

The people of Nazareth were first astonished and them offended, and Jesus marveled at their unbelief - their lack of faith. (This “marveling” by Jesus is Mark’s way of highlighting Jesus’ humanity - as God, nothing takes Jesus by surprise - but in Matt. 8:10, Jesus “marveled” at finding faith where one would not expect to find it - in a Roman centurion, and here, Jesus “marvels” at the lack of faith where He would expect to find it - in a Jewish community - HIS Jewish community!)

And so, instead of performing life-changing, transformative “mighty works”, Jesus leaves and heads out on a teaching tour of the surrounding villages.

CONCLUSION:

What might Jesus be trying to do in our hearts?

Have we grown so complacent with Jesus that He has become common?…so familiar that now we see Him with contempt?

We need to see Jesus the way that the demoniac and Jairus and the woman saw Him - He is our only hope!

II. The Christ’s Apostles

The disciples have been with the crowds at Capernaum, and then the townspeople of Nazareth…in the busy, hectic throws of public ministry…but they have been with Jesus all along.

Now Jesus calls the 12 disciples aside to prepare them for a mission apart from Him.

As we look ahead through this passage, we see that Mark once again inserts a “Markan sandwich” into the text:

In verses 7-13, we have the disciples being sent out, and then in verses 30-31, we see the account of their return.

But inserted in the middle of all of that, in verses 14-29, Mark inserts a flashback - like we see in films and read in books - a look back into the past at something extraordinary that has great implications for the present.

And Mark’s flashback is the account of the execution of John the Baptist.

But why?…why insert this narrative...HERE?!?

Here…where Jesus is sending out men to accomplish a mission?…Here, where they are going to expect to do amazing things like they have seen only Jesus doing up until now…why here??

Mark is reminding his readers about the cost of discipleship.

We will come back a revisit the account of John’s persecution and execution, but we needed to get a sense of the gravity of this situation of Jesus sending out the 12.

In the future these men, like John the Baptist, would face persecution unto death while carrying out the Great Commission.

Speaking of the Great Commission, it is so important to understand that this commission here in Mark 6:7-11 is NOT the Great Commission…Therefore it is not a pattern for us to follow today in the church age - it was specifically for the 12 apostles for that specific time period.

II. The Christ’s Apostles

A. The Mission (v.7,12,13)

Mark 6:7 NKJV

7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.

Notice that first of all, they don’t go out as one unit - they are broken into teams of two men each.

This was likely so that each team could travel to a different region, thereby covering more ground - 6x the area!

Also, this was a common practice in that day for practical and legal reasons.

The Mosaic Law required the testimony of not less than two witnesses to establish guilt or innocence.

Secondly, they now have power over unclean spirits - demons! So far, only Jesus has had this kind of authority, but now He passes it along to His men.

Mark 6:12–13 NKJV

12 So they went out and preached that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.

Not only are they sent out in groups of two with power over demons, but they also have a preaching ministry and a healing ministry.

The preaching ministry was repeating to the people what Jesus had been preaching - calling national Israel to turn back to their God, their Yahweh, and to the truth of the Word of God instead of the rules and laws of men.

The healing ministry involved anointing the sick with oil. This is similar to Jesus’ healing ministry, but Jesus did not use oil…His touch and His voice were enough.

So why the oil?…Olive oil especially was an ancient medicine, used both internally and externally. So the apostles’ healing ministry had a medicinal element, but the oil also served as a symbol of the power of God to heal people.

So were these twelve men experts in this line of work?…NO!…and that is the point! God doesn’t need experts - certainly He uses them…what God needs is faithfulness, and He will use both the faithful expert and the faithful unlearned to accomplish His mission.

II. The Christ’s Apostles

A. The Mission (v.7,12,13)

B. The Means (vv.8-9)

Mark 6:8–9 NKJV

8 He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts—9 but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.

Now Jesus gets very specific as to what they should bring with them on this mission…almost nothing!

Not many mission boards would approve of these kinds of means - which is a good thing…this is not a model for church age missions, after all! (i.e. Paul’s means were not like this)

The list of things to take was very short:

staff - used for walking, stability, and protection

sandals - traction and protection for the feet - this was a walking mission

single-tunic: No extra changes of clothing - just the shirt on their backs, which means that they would need to find shelter and lodging - no camping in the fields or on the trail.

Then there were the forbidden items (which reminds me of when you send your kids to summer camp and there is a list of what not to bring…like a phone, fireworks, iPad, weapons, etc.)

No bag: no extra provisions or supplies - they had to depend on their hosts for everything.

No bread: Again, they would need to depend on others for physical sustenance…someone else was going to be feeding them.

No copper: They could not support themselves financially - once again they had to depend on the generosity of others.

No extra tunic: No ability to guard against the cool night air, and they would have to keep clean or find a way to wash their tunic should it get dirty.

Some have tried to use these prohibitions to form a false theology of asceticism, where one deprives oneself of material goods in an effort to gain God’s approval (i.e. monks, etc.)…but this is not the point!

But later, Jesus would remove these prohibitions:

Luke 22:35–36 NKJV

35 And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.” 36 Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.

This is a conversation held in the Upper Room, or on the way to Gethsemane, shortly before Jesus’ betrayal and arrest.

And things are different now - no more going out with nothing - it was time to be prepared for the conflicts that were coming.

II. The Christ’s Apostles

A. The Mission (v.7,12,13)

B. The Means (vv.8-9)

C. The Method (vv.10-11)

Mark 6:10–11 NKJV

10 Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. 11 And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

Lord willing, we will pick up right here when we return next week!