The Gospel of Mark: The Power of Unbelief

Text: Mark 6:1-6

Theme: The power of unbelief

In our text this evening, we see a contrast being drawn. In Mark, chapter five, we see several great examples of belief. But when we arrive at chapter six we are confronted with incredible unbelief.

Faith is like a key, which turned one way, can unlock the power of God, but turned the other, can lock it up. Turned one way, it is belief. Turned the other, it is unbelief. Both are powerful.

This is the story of Jesus going back to his home town. And unfortunately, it reveals the power of unbelief and wrong attitudes to limit the movement of God in our midst. The question for you to answer is, "Do I possess those same attitudes? And if so, what can I do about them in order to assure that I do not limit the power of God to do His mighty works in my life?"

As the story unfolds, we find Jesus coming back to His home town. As He and His disciples were there, He began to teach in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. As usual, His teaching was powerful, clear, profound, and unparalleled. He taught as one who had authority, and with a knowledge far surpassing any local rabbi or even the highly learned Scribes. He gave them insight into God's word and they were astonished. They whisper among themselves, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him and such miracles as these performed by His hands?" (v. 2b)

They were amazed, and they were even asking some of the right questions. The problem came in their answers. Rather than allowing Jesus to answer for Himself, they answered their own questions. In verse 3 it says, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?' And they took offense at Him." What they were exercising was not belief, but unbelief. We know that is so from verse 6 where it says, "And He wondered at their unbelief." The message here is simple: unbelief limits the power of God.

The Bible is ful of stories and examples of people who had faith, and it changed their lives, and their circumstances. On the other hand, we need to understand the power of unbelief. Out text says, "He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them." (v. 5). As believing saves the soul and enables the power of God to be operative in the believer’s life, so unbelief imperils the soul and halts the release of the power of God in the unbeliever’s life. In Nazareth the ground is stony, and the seed of the gospel could not take root.

Let's take a closer look at their unbelief.

I. THE CAUSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF

1. unbelief is a powerful force with devastating ramifications — first in this life, and then the next

a. just as there are examples of belief throughout the Bible so, too, are their examples of unbelief

1) Eve was tempted to doubt God’s goodness and clear instructions, she chose unbelief

2) the people of Noah’s day refused the believe his warnings, they chose unbelief and perished

3) after the Exodus Aaron doubted and created the golden calf; God’s wrath was kindled and 3,000 people died

4) Achan’s unbelief brought about the execution of his entire family

5) the Jewish religious leaders refused to believe that Jesus could be God’s Anointed One, and an entire nation of people remain in unbelief

2. unbelief in the Son of God activates divine wrath and catapults souls into eternal hell

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18, NIV84)

3. generally, the crowds were mesmerized by Jesus’ teaching, and astounded by his miracles — until, that is, he came to his home town

4. why did so many citizens of Nazareth not believe?

a. the key is found in vs. 3 — Mark writes, “And they took offense at him.”

1) the word offense is a translation of the Greek word skandalizo — it means that whatever Jesus said to them that evening scandalized them

b. to be scandalized is not merely just to disagree

ILLUS. This was not a case of “Well, you have this view, but I have this view; you have a right to your view, and me to mine.”

1) this was outrage — this was a visceral reaction to Jesus that caused them to turn away

A. THEY WERE SCANDALIZED BY HIS CLAIMS

“Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”” (Mark 6:4, NIV84)

1. Nazareth’s rejection of Jesus is a culmination of this visit, and his first

a. that visit is recorded in Luke 4:14-30 and took place about a year previous to this visit

b. Jesus had returned to Nazareth the first time, “in the power of the Spirit”

1) it was just after his time of testing and temptation in the Judean wilderness following his baptism by John

2. it was customary for traveling Rabbis to be invited to the local synagogue to read the Scriptures and comment on them

ILLUS. Every little town had its synagogue, and on the Sabbath day, everything stopped and everyone went to worship. They sat in a very prescribed manner in a very prescribed place; it was very routine, with familiar faces, activities, and events. You can imagine that it had only been a brief time since He had been there as a citizen of Nazareth. Now, He's beginning His public ministry, so He goes to Nazareth and does as He always did.

As the sun was setting on Friday night, Jesus would have heard a very familiar sound — two trumpet blasts form a ram’s horn. They would have come from the minister of the synagogue, who climbed up onto the roof of his house just as the sun was beginning to set on Shabbat, Friday evening. The trumpet blasts reminded the people of the beginning of the Sabbath. A little time would intervene, and he would blow a second time, this time one blast. At that blast, all work halted. Then there would be a little space of time, and he would blow another single blast indicating that the Sabbath had begun.

In the dawn of the Sabbath morning, He would have found His way into the synagogue, which had been so much a part of His life in the years in Nazareth. He would have taken His seat and seen many familiar faces — neighbors, childhood fiends, his brothers and sisters with their families, and extended family; uncles, aunts and cousins. They were the same, but He wasn't, because in the intervening time since He had been gone, He had become famous. He was a hometown boy no more, but a famous man now. There is a curiosity about Him.

Because of his fame as a teacher he is invited to speak, as was the custom.

3. this is where we pick up the story in Luke ...

“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”” (Luke 4:16–21, NIV84)

a. he reads from Isaiah 61:1-2, which is clearly a Messianic prophecy

b. after reading Jesus tells his former neighbors, friends, and family that he is the fulfillment of that passage

1) the implication is clear — he was claiming to be the Messiah, and they clearly understood that was what he was saying

4. at first they reacted some-what positively, but Jesus recognized their response for what it was — a superficial desire to see him perform miracles

a. when Jesus rebuked them is when they turned hostile and actually sought to kill him

b. they are incensed by his message

5. now it’s almost a year later and Jesus has returned to his home town again

a. they seem willing to give him a second chance — he is, after all, extremely famous

b. but whatever he says to them only scandalized them all over again ... They Were Scandalized by His Claims

B. THEY WERE SCANDALIZED BY HIS ORDINARINESS

“Isn’t this the carpenter? ... And they took offense at him.” (Mark 6:3, NIV84)

1. they had before them Messiah, the Anointed One of God, the Root of Jesse

a. they had before them the very Son of God

2. but what they saw was the carpenter, the son of Mary and Joseph

a. their limited view of who Jesus was kept them from understanding Jesus’ true identity

b. the residents of Nazareth knew Jesus as a local tradesman

1) they had watched him grow up for the better part of three decades

ILLUS. I have no doubt there were women in that synagogue thinking, “I changed his diapers when he was a baby.” There are men saying to themselves, “My son played tag with him.” The rabbi is remembering, “I taught him Hebrew.”

2) though Jesus had been catapulted onto the public scene after beginning his public ministry around the age of thirty, his former neighbors, and extended family, still viewed him as the oldest son of a familiar family from their village

c. they had stereotyped Jesus and could not see beyond their own natural understanding of the carpenter's son who grew up in their own community

3. in much the way, men limit what God can do because they cannot get past their own presuppositions of who Jesus is

a. we live in a world that is still scandalized by Jesus, and therefore many simply reconstruct Jesus into an image they can deal with

b. some Americans — most I think — want the “Mr. Roberts it’s-a-wonderful-day-in-the-neighborhood-Jesus”

1) this is the non-confrontational, amiable Jesus who tells us “There's no person in the whole world like you; and I like you just the way you are.”

2) the problem is that God doesn’t like us the way we are which is why we need a new birth, after which His Spirit works at conforming us to the image of His son

c. some people want the “Progressive, moral-example-social-warrior-Jesus”

1) this is the Jesus who came to set an example for us regarding social conscienceless

2) the problem is that this Jesus becomes merely an example for the morally conscience for changing the culture rather than saving the lost

3) this progressive Jesus is usually striped of his divinity

d. some people want the “Benevolent have-your-best-life-now-goodie-giving-Jesus”

1) this is the it’s-all-about-you Jesus who wants to give you the desires of you heart

2) the problem is that this Jesus becomes a means to an end — the believer’s enrichment — rather than a Savior to be worshiped

e. some people want the “Prophetic, words-of-wisdom-great-religious-sage-Jesus”

1) this is the Jesus who had some good thinks to say about living life that we can pick and choose from as if the gospel were some religious smorgasbord

2) the problem is that Jesus didn’t leave us that choice — cross-bearing does not let us pick-and-choose what we like Jesus said, and ignore what we don’t like he said

4. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, come to die for sinners condemned unclean

C. THEY WERE SCANDALIZED BY HIS FAMILIARITY

“ ... Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.” (Mark 6:3, NIV84)

1. this passage comes on the heels of several significant miracles Jesus performed

a. everywhere he goes the crowds are mesmerized by his teaching, and astounded by his miracles — that is until he comes again to his hometown

2. when it comes right down to it, these people did not want to believe what all the evidence revealed Jesus to be — God’s Anointed One

a. Jesus, after all, was one of them

ILLUS. Nazareth was a small and insignificant village of about 500 people in 1st century Israel. In a town that size Jesus would have had many extended family members as well as neighbors and friends.

1) they knew Him

2) He grew up in their community

b. they had a familiarity of Him and of His family

1) after all, didn't they know His father, and His mother, and His brothers and His sisters?

2) they had watched Him grow up

c. how could this little boy who grew up in their neighborhood be anything more than they were?

1) they not only couldn't see, they didn't want to see

2) they had limited hearts as well as limited vision

2. though they are astonished and amazed at his teaching, they cannot bring themselves to see past his familiarity, and believe the Jesus is Lord and Savior

a. they are appalled that this homegrown laborer from their village — a man with no specialized theological education or religious credentials — would claim to the the long-awaited Messiah

b. is he not, they say, the son of Mary?

1) this is the only place in the New Testament where Jesus is identified by that title

2) normally a child — especially a son — would have been identified by his association to his father

a) Jesus would have been known as Jesus bar Joseph; Jesus son of Joseph

3) one of two things may be going on here

a) it could simply be a way of saying that Joseph is no longer alive

ILLUS. In 1st century Israel, if you lived to adulthood, the average life expectancy was just 48 years old. Considering that Jesus is now in his early thirties, Joseph would have been in his early 50's — an old man in that day.

b) it could be a veiled swipe at his illegitimacy

ILLUS. It’s hard to keep secrets in a small town. Just over thirty years ago, Mary returns from visiting Aunt Elizabeth, and she’s four months pregnant? Joseph wants to divorce her? They reconcile and marry, but a first child is born five months later? Tongues will wag, and I’m sure they did in Nazareth.

3. the residents of Nazareth are scandalized by Jesus’ familiarity

a. their own egotistical pride would not allow them to accept that He was so much more than they were

b. Jesus understood this

1) He said in verse 4, "A prophet is not without honor except in his home town and among his own relatives and in his own household."

2) He knew, because of their pride, they would not receive Him as a prophet

4. had they received Jesus as the Son of God, they would have been the recipients of His ministry

a. but because they received Him as a man of the flesh, they lost their opportunity to be touched by the power of God

5. many times as Christians, we are offended by the implication that we may have hearts of unbelief

a. after all, how can we be accused of unbelief if we’ve had faith to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God?

b. Jesus regularly rebuked His disciples for their unbelief, and ‘little faith’

"Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen." (Mark 16:14, NASB95)

c. I would submit to you this evening, that there are many believers in the Body of Christ, who need to be delivered from their unbelief

1) there are many who genuinely have committed their life to Christ, and trust Him for eternal salvation, who are not believing some very important promises of Jesus Christ

II. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR UNBELIEF

A. THE POWER OF GOD IS LOCKED UP

1. notice that it says in verse 5 that, "He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.”

a. the issue was not that Jesus lacked the supernatural power to perform miracles, rather, there was no reason to do miracles there

b. the purpose of Jesus’ miracles were to attest to his claims to be God’s Anointed One

1) if they won’t believe his words, the miracles won’t help

2. unbelief locks up the power of God

a. it limits what God can do in our midst

b. now, please understand — God is no less powerful because of our unbelief

c. it is simply that He has designed that power to be used in response to faith

3. just like there are natural laws in the universe, so there are spiritual laws

a. God has designed His natural and spiritual universes to work in certain ways

1) try as we might to make them work otherwise, we will not succeed

b. the power of God is designed to be released as we trust God by faith

B. THE PROVISION OF GOD IS LIMITED

1. because of their unbelief, the provision that God had desired to give to them was limited — they were so scandalized by Jesus that they would not receive him

a. Jesus still offends, he still scandalizes

2. 1st, people nowadays are scandalized by the ordinariness of the gospel message

a. Jesus came and lived the life you should have lived and died the death you should have died in your place

b. if you’re willing to transfer your trust from your performance, your past, and your record to his performance, his past, and his record, at that moment, in a stroke, you can have a relationship with God of perfect acceptance

c. there is no parallel to this in the religious world

1) the gospel still scandalizes people

2) people say, “That’s it? That’s too easy. That can’t be it. Give me an Eightfold Path. Give me Five Pillars. Give me something I can sink my teeth into.”

3. 2nd, people nowadays are scandalized by the ordinariness of Christians

a. who is a Christian?

1) are Christians the most together people? ... Are Christians the people who have really pulled themselves together? ... Do they really have their character down, and are really living good lives?

b. who is a Christian?

1) Christians in general are people who have come to see they are moral failures

2) the gospel is not for people who say, “I can do it” ... the gospel is for people who say, “I can’t do it.”

c. other religions say

• the good are in, and the bad are out

• the disciplined are in, and the undisciplined are out

1) the glory of the gospel is because of the grace of Jesus Christ, the humbled are in, and the proud are out

2) the glory of the gospel is that Christians discover they’re accepted and they’re loved even though they’re still deeply flawed

d. the ordinariness of Christians scandalizes the world

4. 3rd, people nowadays are scandalized by the ordinariness of the Christian experience

a. one of the things that really, really scandalizes the world is that, most of the time, there are no quick fixes for broken lives

b. at the beginning of the Christian life there can be a great deal of joy, relief, and release — Jesus saves, amen and amen

c. but soon we realize — and those watching us realize — that God is going to work through ordinary life

1) what’s ordinary life? ... it remains full of irritations, interruptions, insecurities, and even iniquities

5. we read that the vast majority of Nazareth citizens did not receive anything from God

a. they were so offended at Jesus that their unbelief locked up the power of God, and limited the provision of God

C. THE PROMISES OF GOD ARE LOST

1. as believers, we are recipients of the promises of God

a. in fact, the Bible emphatically states that all of the promises of God are "yes" to us in Christ

b. in other words, God made His promises because He desired to give us His promises

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ," (Ephesians 1:3, NASB95)

2. through faith, we receive the promises of God

a. but through unbelief, they are lost to us

b. Hebrews 4 gives us a principle for receiving the promises of God

1) listen to the words found in verses 1 and 2:

"Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard." (Heb. 4:1-2, NASB95)

c. in order to be the recipient of the promise of God, we must respond in faith

1) according to this verse, these people did not respond in faith, but in unbelief, and they lost the opportunity to receive the blessing

III. THE CURE FOR THEIR UNBELIEF

1. finally, what is the cure for unbelief?

2. it should be obvious that the cure for unbelief is faith

a. but what is faith, and how do we receive it?

3. without trying to be too, simplistic, faith is trust in Jesus

a. it is a trust born out of a relationship to Him

b. it is a trust which comes from knowing Him

ILLUS. A few chapters from now we will encounter the story of a father who comes to Jesus, asking for healing of his son who is afflicted with an evil spirit. The father first brought the boy to Jesus’ disciples, but they could not heal the boy. Jesus asks that the boy be brought to him. This is were we pick up the story. “Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”” (Mark 9:21–25, NIV84)

4. we must be willing to adopt the attitude that God can and will work in our midst if we will only trust Him to do so

a. but how do we come to the place where we really believe Him, where we really trust Him, where we are willing to step beyond where we can see?

5. the answer is found in Romans 10:17

"So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." (Rom. 10:17)

a. faith grows as we give attention to what God is saying in His word

1) as we open the Bible and study it, as we seek God in prayer, for Him to reveal, by His Holy Spirit, the lessons this Book contains, then we will begin to have the eyes of our understanding enlightened.

2) as we hide the word in our hearts, faith will grow

Faith must be nurtured. A believing heart does not simply happen, it is developed. As we come to understand and know Christ better through His word, we will also come to understand the faithfulness of God to keep His promises to us.