Let's Go Home
Notes
Transcript
Wow, what a chapter we have just left. In Mark chapter 5 we saw Christ cast demons - a lot of them - out of a man. He then healed a woman who, for 12 years, had suffered with a blood disease. He then raised to life the 12 year old daughter of Jairus, a ruler within the synagogue.
Then…He went home.
I grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa, a small town in Central Iowa of about 22,000 people. If I were to take you home with me there are a lot of things that I would show.
I would show you the home which I grew up in at 505 1/2 East Linn Street.
I would show you my grandparent’s homes - especially my Grandma and Grandpa’s farm where I enjoyed riding the tractor with my Grandpa and collecting fresh eggs for my Grandma.
I would show you some of the parks where I played basketball as a teenager. I would especially show you Bicentennial Park. The rims were low at that park and I and my friends enjoyed some “slama jama” - if you know what I mean.
I would take you to all my favorite “eating establishments” such as Zeno’s Pizza, Maid-Rite, and Taco Johns.
I would introduce you to a lot of people who have known me for a long time such as Bro. Mike, Mrs. Eddy, and Mr. Ohrt. I’d even introduce you to some people who I went to school with.
However, the one place that I would take you to is a place where I spent a lot of time and which holds a lot of memories for me. I would take you to the church which I call my “home” church - Fellowship Baptist Church - the church that I grew up going to which was also the home of Central Iowa Christian Academy.
This morning, on a Journey with Jesus, Christ went home and He is going to take us to church - the synagogue in Nazareth the He likely grew up attending, faithfully, as a young Jewish boy.
Turn to and read Mark 6:1-6. Let’s go home.
Jesus, as was His habit, went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. During this particular visit, He is asked to preach. This passage records for us how the service went.
And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
In these two verses we see the congregation’s response. First, we are told that...
They were astonished.
They were astonished.
When the congregation heard His teaching, they were astonished (and not in a good way!) They were amazed; they were confused; they were bewildered. They questioned in their minds:
Where does His wisdom and power come from?
How is it that He knows so much?
How is He able to do such wonderful miracles?
They had been confronted with the obvious and yet they were unable or unwilling to accept the truth.
Where did His wisdom and power come from? The answer should have been obvious; it came from God!
How is it that He know so much? The answer again should have been obvious; it was because He was the Son of God!
How was He able to do such wonderful miracles? He was only able to do such mighty works because He was the Son of God!
The answers to their questions were obvious. Jesus Christ was the Christ, the Son of God!
Instead of accepting that truth, they stood around, scratching their head and saying:
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
They did not need to be able to explain it; they did not need to be able to understand it all; they simply needed to accept the truth by faith. And that was the reason why they were astonished; because they did not simply accept Christ by faith.
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
Scripture then records a long list of “curses” that would come upon the children of Israel. When we get to vs. 28 we read:
The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
Astonishment of heart!
Notice what that then leads to:
And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
That pretty well describes our country. We have a country filled with people who, because they have not simply accepted, by faith, Jesus Christ and His Word, are wandering around like a blind person in the middle of the day - “…thou shalt grope at noonday...” We have a country filled with people who are desperately searching for answers and yet, they cannot find them. Why? Because they won’t accept the obvious - that Jesus Christ is the Son of God!
Not only that but our country cannot - will not prosper - as long as we reject Jesus Christ and His truth.
“…no man shall save thee...” We have rejected the only hope for mankind. No “man” can save us; no “man” can turn this country around; no “man” can bring peace. Only Jesus can!
They were astonished. But, it didn’t stop there. Vs. 3 tells us that they went from being astonished to being offended!
They were offended.
They were offended.
At the end of vs. 3 it says that, “…they were offended at Him.”
The word, “offended,” comes from the Greek word, “skandalizo,” from which we derive our English word, “scandal,” which can mean, “defamatory talk; malicious gossip.”
Who does Jesus think He is?!?! Speaking with such wisdom and power! Does Jesus think that He is better than us - doing all these “mighty works?!?!?!” We know Who He is; He’s just the carpenter. We know His mother; we know His brothers and sisters; we watched Him grow up!
Doesn’t that sound like many in our world today?
“How dare you tell me that I’m a sinner!”
“I can’t believe that you have gall to believe that there is only one way to Heaven?!?!?”
“Are you so ignorant to believe that it is as simple as that? That all you must do is believe in Jesus Christ, His death, burial and resurrection.”
“You must either be extremely stupid or extremely arrogant - or both - to believe that all the answers to mankind’s problems can be found in the Bible!?!?”
Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s how they responded to Christ; what makes you think that they will respond any differently to us!
When confronted with the obvious they were astonished and they were offended. They responded much in the same way that people respond now, in 2020!
How did Christ respond?
He marvelled.
He marvelled.
And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
Christ didn’t get angry with them; He didn’t chastise them; He didn’t argue with them; He didn’t try to convince them; He simply marvelled!
Vs. 5 records for us that Christ could do there no mighty work because of their unbelief - because of their refusal to accept the obvious answer - that He was the Christ!
Just imagine all the things that God would love to do in our world if the world would simply believe Him and accept Him!?!?
As God looks down upon our world and sees all the mess that we have gotten ourselves into, He must be shaking His head and wondering to Himself, “Why won’t they believe? Why won’t they simply turn to My Son, Jesus Christ? There’s so much that could do; there’s so much that I desire to do for them but they won’t simply accept the obvious!”
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Our world is bent on destroying itself all the while thinking that mere outward reform and change is going to make a lasting - eternal - difference. It. Will. Not.
God is waiting with open arms.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Christ could have done so much; He wanted to do so much. But He couldn’t. Why? Because of their disbelief; their refusal to accept the obvious - that He was the Son of God!
What Did Christ do?
He kept preaching.
He kept preaching.
And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
Christ marvelled at their unbelief but, that didn’t stop Him; He didn’t give up. He simply left Nazareth and went to other villages preaching the same message!
As I look around at the world today, I marvel as well. I marvel that people so quickly reject Jesus Christ in favor of religion or reform. Religion can’t help; reform can’t help. I wonder at times, “Why bother?!?” But church family, like Christ we can’t allow the world’s unbelief to stop up or cause us to give up. We must keep pressing on; we must keep proclaiming the simple message of salvation through Jesus Christ!