Mark 6:1-13

As it turns out, this is the perfect passage to follow up from missions Sunday. Wow. What a great Sunday we had last week.

Equipping Hour praying for each missionary by name and by specific need.

Worship gathering (His irresistible love (intimate) - His boundless grace. His call to action.

Don’t be a “Do nothing Christian.”

We followed all this up with our missions lunch hearing more from Andy and watched a video that Shane put together with the missions committee about upcoming opportunities to “do something.” In the life group reflection questions you can find out how to learn more about those opportunities.

Today, we are going to see a group of called men take up Jesus on the opportunities that were presented to them.

Mark 6:1–13 (ESV)

1 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.

7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

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

10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”

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

Pray:

I think Mark once again shows us two types of people in our passage. There are people that are astonished and offended by Jesus, and there are people that respond to the call of Jesus and are obedient to what He has called them to do. Which are you today?

There is no doubt in my mind that the teachings of Jesus are astonishing. For those of you that just sat through the Sermon on the Mount Equipping Hour sessions, you know how, filled with amazement to the point of being overwhelmed people were. If you didn’t get a chance to sit through those teaching segments,

I can’t recommend them highly enough (Gerrit) and (Website.)

Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart. Following Jesus is the most lion hearted thing you could do especially since we are living among the inhabitants of the world that collectively called for His crucifixion, successfully succeeded to slaughter Him.

And we want to follow Him and apply His teachings in our lives? Look what they did to the Teacher…what do you think they will do to the students? Following Jesus is for the lion-hearted. It will cost you…everything.

Let’s look at the passage and see how people responded to His astonishing message.

The first category of people were collectively…

The Astonished and Offended. (6:1-6)

Mark 6:1–3 (ESV)

1 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.

Remember when we introduced this Gospel months ago, we mentioned that it is a Gospel filled with questions. Here Mark records 5 questions that the people of His hometown asked. These questions are in rapid fire succession. “Where?” “What?” “How?” “Is not this?” “Are not His?” It is like they are having a hard time wrapping their minds around what they are witnessing. They were brought to the point of being overwhelmed by what was happening in the local hometown synagogue.

The local boy has returned and people are having a hard time accepting this “new, popular powerful preaching version” of Jesus.

That happens in small towns right? Maybe you have been painted into a corner by others. Or maybe you have put yourself there willfully by a string of bad or ill timed decisions, but now you are a different, but peoples definition of you is one that they came up with when they remember you as a sophomore. Wow. It’s like you can’t outlive, or get past your past and you are trapped in other people perceptions of you. That can happen in small towns like Lynden, and it definitely happened in the small town of Nazareth.

Now, with Jesus, He never did anything publically or even privately wrong, but only a few people in town could get past their previously conceived ideas of who Jesus was. The people that did, received a healing they needed. We will see that in verses 4-6, but the people that didn’t took offense at Him.

They are flabbergasted and are determined to write Jesus off even though they are overwhelmed by two things in particular. They are overwhelmed with His “wisdom” and the “mighty works done by His hands.”

They are amazed by His “wisdom.” Biblical wisdom is “skill for living.” Those in the synagogue that day were not just amazed by His theology but by the practical outworking of that theology.

It’s one thing to know that a fast ball or a curve ball or slider is coming your way, but you still have to have the applied knowledge and muscle memory to react to what you see in a split second and then swing. Jesus was hitting it out of the park every time.

These hometown folk are amazed at His “skill for living,” and “His ability to help other people” (ie. the mighty works of His hands), but instead of embracing His wisdom and applying it, they question it and take offense at Him, probably out of jealousy and envy. Those emotions and actions can make you do some really foolish things in our lives. Why are people not noticing my unique contributions to the broader society? When am I going to get my break? Why is what I do, seemingly invisible to others? The people in Jesus hometown are thinking, what’s the big deal? He is just one of us. We know His mom… and we have never known His dad.

Look at verse 3 and how it starts. “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary.” Everyone in the society at that time was known as their fathers’s son, but here Jesus is called “son of Mary.” Why is that? Well people in His hometown more than likely thought that even the fact that Jesus existed was nefarious. Jesus birth was illegitimate in their minds. The teachings of Moses say,

Deuteronomy 23:2 (ESV)

2 “No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord.

In their minds, Jesus was the offspring of a first generation forbidden union, and Jesus isn’t just entering the assembly of the Lord, He is teaching in it. Some undoubtedly couldn’t stomach this and that tells me the rumor mill that was started up in Nazareth around the time of Jesus birth was still running smoothly as Jesus entered into the synagogue on that Sabbath to start teaching.

Everything about Jesus Jesus is summed up in one Greek word at the end of verse 3.

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. σκανδαλίζω

σκανδαλίζω

Jesus is “Scandalous.” He didn’t come about in a way that was socially acceptable to us. We don’t even know who His dad is.

Side Note: Some of you might not know who your dad is and that may impact a lot of things about you, but that doesn’t define you or diminish your capabilities in any way. I know this is Mother’s Day, but some of you need to hear that last sentence loud and clear so I am going to say it again. Some of you might not know who your dad is and that may impact a lot of things about you, but that doesn’t define you or diminish your capabilities in any way.

Very few people in Jesus hometown and even household were willing to accept Him and His message. Those that did, recieved healing, those that didn’t missed out.

Look at how Mark continues…

Mark 6:4–6 (ESV)

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.

Here once again, Mark is pretty ironically dismissive. Look at verse 5! “And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.”

I would say that would be considered a good day! If that happened at FCC today, it might make the Lynden Tribune! This place would be flooded with newbies next week. It would be astounding! But the astounding thing that Mark want us to see is not the small amount of “successful ministry in the hometown of Jesus,” what He wants us to be astounded by is the small amount of faith that was present there. Look at verse 6. Jesus “marveled because of their unbelief.”

This is quite an indictment. Jesus is disturbed by their determined dismissal of what He was offering them.

Do we ever live like that? Have we heard about Jesus and His teachings all the live long day yet eject and dismiss Him over and over again? Can we imagine evoking a sense of wonder on the face of Jesus when we refuse to do what He says while simultaneously shooting ourselves in the foot over and over again?

Sadly, I can look at my life and see that. If you have ever wondered if the Lord is patience and extraordinarily gracious, look no further than at the one who is speaking to you right now.

Mark says that Jesus ability to impact our lives is held in check and is dependent upon our willingness to believe in His ability and then act on it.

He couldn’t do many miracles because because of their lack of faith. If you want to see miracles in your life, they you and I have to act on God’s Word no matter how counter cultural or radically strange it might seem to us and others at the time.

You and I acting on God’s Word over and above our “feelings” will be a miraculous occurrence in and of itself. To do what the invisible God says to do, just because He says it; might seem ridiculous to an unregenerate world, but we will know that it isn’t ridiculous it is actually miraculous.

Living by faith is a miracle. And faith is the means by which we will see miracle after miracle take shape in our lives as we act on God’s word regardless of how we feel knowing that God will bless us if we show our love for Him by keeping His commandments!

In verse 4 Jesus identifies Himself as One who was in a long line of “unhonored prophets.” People all throughout the OT conspired against God’s anointed prophets and constrained them. They cast off their messages and killed them.

That is what happened to many prophets that came before Him, and that is what would eventually happen to Him.

But to borrow a verse from the Gospel of John,

John 1:12 (ESV)

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…

To continue the side note from earlier: For those of you that don’t know your dad, there is a way in which you can become a child of the Living God and you can be safely cloaked in a Loving Father’s embrace for all of your life and all of eternity. And that really applies to all of us. We must receive Jesus. Invite Him into our lives and believe in what He has done for us. And when we do that, He begins to draw our attention away from everything that once gave us a false sense of identity and directs our gaze to a birth certificate that authenticates our identification as a true “child of God.

Incline your ears and eyes to the One who made them. Listen to and place close attention to Jesus, the final prophet par excellence of Yahweh.

Don’t be offended by Him, be obedient to Him. That is the second category of people Mark shows us.

The Called and Obedient (6:7-13).

Mark 6:7–13 (ESV)

7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.

10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”

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

Ok, I know I say this a lot, but there there is more to talk about in this passage than what time allows for, but let’s make sure we see some primary points here.

Jesus called the twelve and sent them out in verse 7, and in verse 12 we are told that they “went out and proclaimed that people should repent.”

They were called and obedient to do what they were called to do. They were obedient even though on the surface of things they were “under resourced.” “No bread. No bag. No money.” Just sandals and a staff and a staggering message summed up in one word.

“REPENT.”

Man I wrestled with this this week. The application of this passage is mind boggling. First of all, if Jesus calls you to do something, you better believe He will supply what you need to accomplish that calling.

These disciples were called to preach and it didn’t matter if the message was received or dismissed. Success was proclamation, not reception.

If there was a lack of reception, that just introduced another opportunity for the disciples to demonstrate their obedience to Jesus; they were to shake the dust off of their sandals which was a symbolic act of condemnation and judgment.

The disciples obedience was not contingent upon anything outside of them. The message they proclaimed didn’t fail. But if those who heard the message failed to unite what they heard with faith and obedience themselves, that pointed to their present and future condemnation.

Wow. The disciples were simply obedient to speak and act the way Jesus commanded them to speak and act and that was it. They could lay their heads down on a dusty road between towns at the end of each day after being rejected and say, “We did what we were supposed to do.” And that was success!

There is so much to mull over in these verses, but let’s just consider one thing:

Many of us have heard the sentence: “Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use words.” It is thought provoking and causes us to evaluate how we are living our lives. Will the people that surround us be able to see the message of Jesus in the way we live our lives? That is a good thought provoking question, but the Gospel of Jesus is “Good News.” News needs to be proclaimed with words.

Look again at verses 11 and 12.

Mark 6:11–12 (ESV)

11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.

Look at these words: if any place will not receive you and they will not LISTEN TO YOU…so they went out and PROCLAIMED.

These is verbiage that requires sound waves. Our vocal chords actually need to transmit a message that needs to enter the outer ears of others, travel through the narrow ear canal and bounce off their eardrums. Those eardrums will then vibrates and start to rattle three tiny bones in the middle ear that can be sent to the brain for interpretation and reaction.

This process doesn’t happen with eyes watching behavior, it happens with ears hearing what mouths are saying.

We as disciples of Jesus are clearly called to use our mouths to say things about King Jesus to those that are not His loyal subjects yet. We are called to “proclaim.” And look at what we are to proclaim.

“Repent.” We must tell others that they need to change. They need to know that they are heading for destruction and that they need to go in a different direction.

Man, this has mind boggling implication to the “seeker sensitive approach to corporate worship and personal evangelism.”

But what if I proclaim a message of repentance and they don’t like me anymore.

Sometimes we care way to much about what others think of us and that can be a major hindrance for our effectiveness of reaching people.

On judgment day King Jesus isn’t going to ask people what they thought about us when they appear before Him. He is going to evaluate them based off of what they thought about Him. But if they have never heard of Him, and they were in our sphere of influence, that might come up on our judgement day, because that will be on us.

In order for people to convert, they have to be confronted. In order to see the News of Jesus Christ as “Good News,” they have to first understand the “bad news” of their situation. They aren’t children of God, they are objects of His wrath that will be thrust in the fire if they don’t repent.

DL Moody: “You’ve got to get people lost before you can get them saved.”

We are trying to win the hearts of men, not popularity contests. That is what the initial disciple concerned themselves with and so they,

Mark 6:12 (ESV)

12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.

Are you and I going to do the same? We are definitely all called to this work, but will we be obedient?

Few points of application:

Ministry among family members was hard even for Jesus. It will probably be for you as well. Sometimes it is hard for people in your hometown or your household to accept your Christianity. That’s just the way it seems to be. If Jesus was rejected in His hometown, what do you think will happen to Him in Jerusalem the home city of Isreal. He will eventually be rejected there as well. But His rejection by the masses was the means by which we would be accepted. Praise God.

The capstone of Jesus ministry was death, but it paved the way for us to have life. When we pour ourselves out for others in obedience to Jesus, those are often the means He uses to grab peoples attention and make our message compelling.

If God has called you to do something, step forward in obedience and watch for the work of His hands to produce miracle after miracle in your life.

Song: Lord Most High

Life Group Questions

What do you sense that the Lord is calling you to do, but you feel under resourced to do? What are lacking and how might the Lord provide for you?

Who have you verbally shared the Good News of Jesus with in the last month? How were your words recieved? How can you determine if what was shared was successful?

Are their people in your hometown or household that need to be called to repentance?

Look over the following opportunities and ask the Lord to show you how you might possibly be involved.

M2535 local firewood collect and distribution based on need and availability. (Contact Al Kussat)

M2535 weekly food bank (Contact Al Kussat)

Tamazula, Mexico (fall 2024) - a trip to bring encouragement as they seek to plant 12 churches.(Contact Al Kussat)

Tecate, Mexico (Fall 2024) - a trip to train local ministry leaders and serve in various ways. Contact Elder Joel Rinehart

Pasco, WA - (June 21-23) - a trip for high school students to support a recent church plant. led by Shane Hamstra, Frank Sprague, Maggie McDowell, and Al Kussat.

Paraguay - the team is set but funds are still being raised. Consider coming to the Potatoes for Paraguay luncheon following the morning worship gathering on May 19.

Benediction:

Along with that Melissa Tabert sent me the following message. “Hey just wanted to share a story with you from yesterday…maybe you could pass it along to the board…just as an encouragement and testament to what God is doing in preschool.”

“This week our Bible story has been about Jesus going back to heaven and how He told his disciples that to go and share the good news. Yesterday we talked about what a missionary is. I spent time talking about missionaries overseas but also how they, even though they are young, can be missionaries. They come to school and learn about Jesus and they can go and tell their friends and families about Jesus. One of our little students from a broken home raised her hand so excitedly....she said " if I didn't come to preschool here, i wouldn't know about Jesus. But now I do know and I can tell my mom and dad about Jesus." 🥹 I was in such amazement how at 4 years old she realized that it is because of preschool that she can learn about Jesus and would not be able to otherwise.”