The Rejection of Jesus

I. Introduction

A. Jesus’ who is He to you? Do you accept Him or reject Him as Lord and Savior?

1. Jesus encountered many people during His three years of public ministry. They came from near and far to see and hear and sometimes touch Him.

a) Yet, just because they wanted to see and hear Him did not mean that they understood and/or accepted who He was! Nor were they ready to obey Him and follow Him!

B. Today we will see more of Jesus, and you will be challenged on whether to acknowledge and accept Him as Lord and Savior or reject Him as His own people did.

1. As one looks at the Scriptures there is a long list of people who rejected God’s message. With that list of names is a long list of consequences.

a) Adam and Eve refused to listen to God and it brought sin into the world and death by sin. (Gen. 3:1-7; I Tim. 2:14; Romans 5:12).

b) The whole world outside of Noah’s family rejected the truth of the coming flood. (Matthew 24:38-39; II Peter 2:5; 3:3-6).

c) The children of Israel asked Aaron to make the golden calf in their impatience and faithlessness waiting on God and Moses. It cost many people their lives. (Ex. 32:28, 35) We could go on…

C. Some background to Mark 6

1. Jesus has returned to His hometown of Nazareth.

2. He had come here several months before. That visit is recorded in Luke 4:16ff.

a) Shortly after Jesus was baptized and tempted in the wilderness for 40 days, Jesus had gone to Nazareth.

b) Jesus went to the synagogue and He stood up to read.

c) On this first visit He read from Isaiah.

(1) Luke 4:18–20 (NKJV) 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

(2) Jesus had come to heal people spiritually. To free them from the bondage of sin and Satan.

(3) He told them that the scripture was fulfilled in their hearing on that day.

(4) They questioned one another, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” They knew Him from his childhood. This would have been the synagogue he attended with his family. This small town of about 500 in His day. Many of the people present would have known Him as a child.

d) As He continued to teach he called them out on their desire to see miracles. Vs. 23

(1) He stated that “no prophet is accepted in his own country.” Then he gave the illustration of Elijah and the widow of Zeraphath as well as the example of Elisha and Naaman the Syrian army commander.

(a) Explain…

e) Having been called out by Jesus the crowd at the synagogue becomes “filled with wrath.” (vs. 28)

(1) That take Jesus outside the city and are ready to throw Him off a cliff. He miraculously passes through the midst of them and went His way…

3. Jesus had continued to minister, and people have seen Him continue to teach and preach as well as perform miracles of healing the sick, lame, deaf, casting out individual demons and the legion of demons. The disciples and others in the boats saw him calm the wind and the waves with His voice. Now months later Jesus is going to return to His hometown to minister once again.

a) I wondered what the disciples think as they realize they are headed to Nazareth. Remember Thomas comment later as they head to Jerusalem, “Let’s go so we can die with Him!”(John 11:16)

II. The Ignoring of the truth. Vs. 2

A. Jesus is invited to teach.

1. Ignoring the fact that they had chased Him out to kill him last time He was in town they invited Him to speak in the synagogue on the sabbath.

a) Was it the reports they had heard from Capernaum? Was it those who had talked with Mary as she shared what was going on with His life?

B. “Many hearing Him were astonished.”

1. They are amazed at what they hear as He teaches. BDAG states the meaning of this word: , “to cause to be filled with amazement to the point of being overwhelmed, amaze, astound, overwhelm[1]

a) In their astonishment they raise the question as to the source of His teaching and His miracles.

C. “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!”

1. They did not accuse Jesus of being empowered by Satan but they had not concluded that His teachings and His miracles were from God. To acknowledge that God was giving Him the wisdom and power would require that they choose to be obedient to what He was teaching and it would reveal their shortcomings as well.

a) The same is true today. If people acknowledge a Creator they then must acknowledge that there is an all-powerful being to whom they are responsible and to whom they will give account.

b) They did not have faith like Jairus. Nor did they understand as Nicodemus did. John 3:2 (NKJV) 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

c) They needed to honestly look at the facts before them. Jesus challenged the people to do this. John 10:37–38 (NKJV) 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” Though they needed to look at the facts, Satan blinds the minds of the unbeliever and prevents them from seeing and accepting the truth!

d) His works were the testimony to the fact that He was sent from God. John 5:36 (NKJV) 36 But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.

D. When it comes down to it. The obvious truth was that the things that they were hearing of His mighty works would only be possible by God. He was demonstrating the power of the creator the same power that was manifest through Moses and others, yet they would not acknowledge it.

III. The Emphasizing of insignificant facts while attacking the messenger. Vs. 3

A. Emphasizing the insignificant.

1. “Is this not the carpenter…?”

a) Should they listen to His teaching if He is just a carpenter? The term carpenter here is a pretty broad term. We usually think of one who builds with wood, but in there day much of the homes and such were built with rock. The same title would apply to a stone smith. Writers in the Jewish tradition say that Joseph and Jesus built plows and yokes for pulling plows. But this was written over 100 years after Jesus’ life. Whatever the particular skill or trade, this was used to give them an excuse not to listen to Him in their hometown.

b) These people who knew Him and the family would say, “Surely, He is not who He claims to be.”

2. “The Son of Mary”

a) The usual reference to a parent is through the father. Perhaps Joseph had already died, and they were referring to His only living parent?

b) This could also be used in a derogatory manner. Mary had Jesus out of wedlock. How could this illegitimate child be the Messiah, the Son of God. How can God use Him?

(1) There are still those today who reject the virgin birth of Jesus because they reject the authority of Scripture and they would still make this accusation.

3. “brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?”

a) In a small village like Nazareth, a family with seven or more children would have been recognized. The family size would not have been unusual at the time.

(1) On a side note, the Romanists teach that Mary was a perpetual virgin. Here we have Mary with at least 6 more children besides Jesus. Following Jesus birth, Joseph and Mary had the usual marital relations and God gave them these children.

b) Remember according to John 7:5, not even His brothers believed in Him. Just a few chapters ago (Mark 3:21) these family members were at the door at Peter’s house because they thought He was crazy. It is likely that they had shared their thoughts with some of these people and some may have come to the same conclusion themselves.

4. By asking these insignificant questions they removed the focus from the truth of His power and from their being responsible to respond to the Messiah in faith. They would not acknowledge that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

B. Attacking the Messenger. Vs. 3b-4

1. “They were offended at Him” vs. 3b

a) Logos defines this term as “to be appalled or to trip. To be or become filled with disgust or revulsion for someone (and therefore reject him); conceived of stumbling or falling.” (Logos ; skandilizo)

b) This stumbling by the people of Nazareth would not be the last. Paul proclaimed in 1 Corinthians 1:23 (NKJV) 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,

2. “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Vs. 4

a) Perhaps His brothers thought, “This is the same kid that grew up with us.” He made things worse for us because he never caused trouble… Imagine: “Why can’t you be like your older brother…”

b) When I was in the camp ministry and on the camp board following that for many years we used to joke, “to be invited to speak at the camp you need to move out of state.” Though that wasn’t entirely the case it was interesting how often that a pastor who had been in the state of IL for many years was never asked to speak for a week of camp but shortly after they moved out of state they were invited back to preach.

c) One writer noted, ““I think the common colloquialism of the day is apropos here, ‘An expert is an ordinary fellow from another town.’“”[2]

d) Jesus would not be accepted by his hometown people. They could not accept the fact that He was the messiah. Though Jesus’ brothers rejected Him at this point after the resurrection they would come to believe and be leaders in the church.

e) Though Mary believed, others in Nazareth did not, even though other places He traveled, taught, and did miracles Jesus was regarded as a prophet of God.

f) As Jesus continued to train His disciples He warned of the conflict that would come as they proclaimed the truth whether it was from family or others. ““Beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues.… For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household” (Matt. 10:17, 35–36). On the night before His death, Jesus reiterated the fact that Christians ought to expect persecution: “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.… If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also” (John 15:18, 20).”[3]

g) They could not prove His message false. It could not be refuted. So they turned to attacking Him and making people question Him simply because of their rejection.

h) This same rejection would lead the Pharisees and Sadducees to come to the place where they would seek His death and ultimately kill Him.

IV. The Cost of Rejection vs. 5-6

A. “Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.” Vs. 4

1. Jesus was still God with the power to heal but their rejection limited the blessings of many healing and miracles that were evident in the many other towns and villages where he ministered. The Nazarenes mind was made up they were not going to accept and acknowledge Him as the Messiah so there was no reason for Him to do authenticating miracles.

a) One noted, “To remove any false conclusions that Jesus’ ability to do miracles was dependent on the faith of people, He frequently healed people who did not express any faith in Him. For example, in Luke 17:11–19, only one of the ten lepers cured confessed faith in Him and was saved. The crippled man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:13) did not even know Jesus’ identity when he was healed; the man born blind (John 9:1, 7) did not speak of his faith in Jesus until after he was given sight (v. 38). The demoniacs whom Jesus delivered (cf. Mark 1:23–26; 5:1; cf. Matt. 12:22) also made no profession of faith before being liberated. When Jesus raised people from the dead, He obviously did so without first requiring faith from them (Luke 7:14; John 11:43). Moreover, the Lord healed multitudes of people, even though not all of them believed (cf. Matt. 9:35; 11:2–5; 12:15–21; 14:13–14, 34–36; 15:29–31; 19:2). Clearly, Jesus’ power was not at all diminished by unbelief. Nonetheless, the hard-hearted rejection of Nazareth was such that there was no reason to do any miracles there.”[4]

2. It could be argued that Jesus not doing more miracles here was demonstrating mercy if they were going to reject Him anyway. Listen to His condemnation of Capernaum and neighboring towns where Jesus performed many miracles.

a) Matthew 10:20–24 (NKJV) 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. 21 “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.

3. Jesus did not waste His time by giving them more opportunities to see His miracles and hear His teaching.

B. “He marveled because of their unbelief.”

1. Only twice in the scripture did Jesus marvel at others. One for the faith of the centurion telling Jesus that He did not have to come but could simply speak and His servant could be healed. Cf. Matthew 8:1-13.

2. This is the second instance and here He is astonished at the unbelief of the people of Nazareth.

C. “Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.”

1. Jesus left Nazareth and went to other places where He would be more readily received. Consider the lost opportunity.

2. Don’t presume upon God’s grace your opportunity to respond to God’s truth may not always remain.

V. Application

A. Do you acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God? Let me explain. Do you believe that Jesus is equal in all ways with God? Do you believe that Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless life, was crucified on a cross, and rose again the third day? This demonstrated that He is God and that He is victorious over sin and death.

1. Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ trusting that what He did on that cross paid the penalty of your sin?

B. Or do you still reject Jesus?

1. The people of Nazareth acknowledged that Jesus existed.

2. They acknowledged that He was an amazing teacher.

3. But they refused to admit that He was the promised one of God. They would not submit to His teachings and obey Him! “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” Isa. 55:6

C. Believers continue to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ even in the face of opposition. We do not know when God will remove the blinding of Satan so that one may come to Him in repentance.

[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 308. [2] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Mk 6:2. [3] John MacArthur, Mark 1–8, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2015), 278–279. [4] John MacArthur, Mark 1–8, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2015), 280.