Familiarity is Not Faith: Mark 6:1-6

Introduce

With the internet, social media, and the notion of celebrity being common in our culture, there is also an illusion that we know people who we don’t actually know. For example, I’ve heard of this guy named Patrick Mahomes. If I really cared, I could add him on social media and look him up. In doing so I could find out a great deal about him. However, no matter how much I learn about him or how familiar I am with him, I won’t know him. Nor will I receive the benefits of knowing him. In the text we just read, we learn that something similar can be said about Jesus’s hometown. They were familiar with Jesus, but familiarity is not enough. To flesh this out lets walk through the story again.

Retell

As we read the story, did you hear the shocking rejection?: 1-3

Jesus left the area where He had delivered the diseased daughter and the dead daughter. He went to His home town of Nazareth where He was conceived, spent most of his childhood, and practiced his trade. His disciples, as usual followed Him.

He must of entered Nazareth on a week day. When Saturday, the Sabbath, came He went to the Synagogue and began teaching. Upon hearing our Lord teach, those present were astonished. Not at the fact that He was teaching, but at the nature and content of His teaching. Their amazement leads them to ask a number of questions: “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?”

The reason for their questions is found in two more questions they asked: “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?” They were familiar with Jesus, his ordinary trade and his family. They were unable to reconcile His extraordinary ministry, miracles, and teaching with His ordinary upbringing, family, and trade. He was a stumbling block and offensive to them and they rejected Him in unbelief.

As we continued to read did you catch the sobering response?: 4-6

Our Lord responded to their questions and unbelief with a proverb or general truism: “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” Put differently a prophet is honored except by those most familiar with him.

Mark, following Jesus’s verbal response gives a summary of His ministry in Nazareth. Read verse 5, “And he could do no mighty works there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.” Mark surely is not suggesting that Jesus was rendered powerless by the unbelief of the people in His hometown. Jesus did in fact heal some who were sick there. It would seem that Mark is saying Jesus could not do many miracles there because He didn’t want too. Jesus miracles testify to His identity and call for those present to place faith in Him. They asserted their unbelief and He retracted His power and presence from them. The rejection of Jesus in unbelief deprives them of the blessings of that power and presence.

Our Lord was amazed at the unbelief of the people from His hometown. They had every reason to believe. They were very familiar with the Lord. They knew Him and His family all too well. They knew He was a carpenter, a son of Mary, and a brother. How could He a man they saw grow up before their eyes be anything special? God the Son in the incarnation became a true human being, the son of Mary and a carpenter. His humble condescension in taking on our humanity is a stumbling block to those in Jesus’s hometown. They heard Him preach and heard the reports like everyone else. They in hardness of heart allowed what they thought they knew of Him to cloud out what saw and heard before them. They didn’t want what God had given them in Jesus. So He left and taught among other villages.

Transition

The shocking rejection and sobering response I hope you caught teach us something foundational for life and salvation. They teach us that familiarity with Jesus is not enough; you must have faith. That is the big idea: familiarity with Jesus is not enough; you must have faith. The humble up-bringing of the incarnate Son of God was a stumbling block to those most familiar with Him. However, those who were outcasts, sinners, and the least of these embraced Him in faith. What cause some to stumble lead others to faith. So, please consider three reasons why familiarity with Jesus is not enough.

Apply

Familiarity with Jesus is not enough; you must have faith, for only faith receives His Word

Those of Jesus’s hometown were familiar with Jesus, yet they didn’t receive His Word. They knew about Jesus, but would rather ignore Him than believe in Him. The Word of Christ proclaims the Kingdom of God in which only those who believe on Christ enter. Faith is required if you want to receive the Word of God and the blessings that come with it. The Word of God by the accompanying power of the Holy Spirit comforts, empowers, and transforms all who receive it with faith. Many of you may assent to the truths that I proclaim to you week after week. Many of you know a great deal about Jesus and the Bible. However, do you receive the Word you know by faith. Do you believe in Jesus, His person as God the Son incarnate and His work as our representative in His Holy life and substitutionary death? Do you want to experience the life changing power of the Word of God? If so, then trust in Christ for your salvation. If not, reconsider. You cannot get through life or to heaven without Him. You cannot have hope in this dying and sinful world without Him. You cannot please God without Him or fulfill the purpose for which you were created. If you by faith receive Christ and His Word, you will be changed!

Familiarity with Jesus is not enough; you must have faith, for only faith receives His blessings

Not only did the people of Jesus’s town not receive His Word, but they also didn’t receive His blessings. On account of their unbelief He didn’t preform many miracles among them. The blessings that are recieved by Christ include communion with God, justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification. These only are not earned but recieved by those who embrace Jesus with faith. Other blessings connected with those I just mentioned include a new eternal family, the Church, the ordinary means of grace: The Word, prayer, and the sacraments. They include reconciliation with God and neighbor. In the turmoil of our present day in our nation, true and lasting reconciliation between enemies can only happen by faith in Christ.

Familiarity with Jesus is not enough; you must have faith, for only faith receives His reign

Those of Nazareth didn’t have faith and only familiarity. Thus, they wouldn’t receive the Kingdom of God or its King. If you want to please God and live as a citizen of His Kingdom, the only way to do that is by faith in Christ. Those who believe have the Holy Spirit who lives within them. The Spirit empowers the Christian to obey God’s commands in a way that is pleasing to Him. Maybe you don’t care to obey God or be a part of His Kingdom. However, I ask you reconsider, the Kingdom of God is the only Kingdom that is eternal. Those who aren’t a part of it will come under final judgement. Moreover, If you are an unbeliever the Law of God to is burden. It shows your sin. You can’t keep it perfectly, but Christ did. Believe have faith in Him and you will be forgiven your sins and given eternal life by virtue of His perfect obedience. After you have believed in Christ the Law along with other commands Christ has given us become a joy to obey in humble gratitude.

Conclude

Its true that I’m familiar with Patrick Mahomes, but I don’t know Him. Nor do I receive the benefits of actually knowing him. The same can be said of the people of Nazareth regarding Christ. They were familiar with Him. We see this in their shocking rejection and His sobering response. However that familiarity is not enough; they needed faith. Indeed, this is true for us all. Familiarity with Jesus is not enough; faith, for only faith receives His Word, Blessings, and Kingdom.

Vista Baptist Church, let us not mistake familiarity with Jesus with faith in Jesus. Faith knowledge of and assured confidence in Jesus as savior and Lord. It is reliance upon Him. Familiarity is knowing about Him and even His salvation without receiving it. This faith is followed by good works. A church that by and large has faith will invest themselves in that which Christ has promised and commanded. A church that has faith will give themselves to the mission of Christ which is the building of His Kingdom through the proclamation of the Gospel. So let us be a church that has faith.

Christian, continue having faith in Jesus. He saves. He won’t let you down. His Word will strengthen and change you. His blessings will shower you. His reign will include you.

Unbeliever, you are a sinner under God’s just condemnation. Your conscience and God’s law bear witness to this fact. You deserve judgement and it will come upon you. However, there is salvation. That salvation God has provided in His Son Jesus. You must receive Him and His salvation by faith. No matter how bad you think you are Jesus can save you and the forgiveness He purchased by His death and confirmed by His resurrection is enough. So will you receive Him and live forever in communion with God and His people?

Yes, familiarity with Jesus is not enough; you must have faith, for faith only receives His Word, Blessings, and Reign. So, have faith.