Limiting The Work Of God

Introduction:

Throughout chapter 5 we have seen so many people that had faith

Maybe it wasn’t the greatest faith as we expected, but it was faith none the less

The demoniac of Gadara

Jairus’ daughter

The woman with the issue of blood

But one of the main themes in chapter 6 is lack of faith or unbelief

This chapter shows us the unbelief that people who were close to Jesus had

They had seen Him, spent time with Him, had contact with Him, yet rejected Him

As we see this passage let’s remember what God says in Heb. 3:12

Hebreos 3:12 KJV 1900

12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

God takes unbelief or lack of faith very seriously, and we should too

All along the book of Mark God has shown his power over nature, demons, sickness and even death

But among His very own people of Nazareth He is rejected

Up until this point in time, people have been amazed by His authority

But here Jesus is amazed by their unbelief v. 6

We have seen that it was building up to this

We knew this was going to happen Mar. 3:21

Marcos 3:21 KJV 1900

21 And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.

We also see it in Mar. 3:31

Marcos 3:31 KJV 1900

31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

1. God Made Flesh v. 1-2

Jesus returns to Nazareth as a Rabi that is followed by His disciples

When He shows up with His disciples everyone knows this isn’t some private visit to see His family

This is an official visit that Jesus is making with his disciples to prepare them for their mission and to show that He is a teacher, He has authority

They invited Him to speak in v. 2

This shows us that when He arrived He was seen as a teacher

The most important thing to notice about these verses is that Jesus shows up on the scene in a different light

He doesn’t come as the little child that everyone knew

He doesn’t show up as the young man that fixed their furniture

He didn’t show up as just some other person

He was coming to offer them grace and eternal life just as he had done with everyone else

He presents himself as God

Throughout the gospels and the New Testament we see Jesus as our provider, savior, friend, king, Lord, sanctifier, lawyer, redeemer, sacrifice, propitiation and so much more

Jesus tells us that He is everything that we need in this life John 4:14

Juan 4:14 KJV 1900

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

He wants to show himself mighty in every aspect of our lives Col. 2:10

Colosenses 2:10 KJV 1900

10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

We are complete in Him

All that we seek in this life is found in Jesus

2. An Unbelieving People v. 2-3

They started hearing everything Jesus had to say

But they knew that Nazareth was a small town

They knew nothing good every comes out of Nazareth

They never imagined that Nazareth could produce someone like Jesus

They knew Him

They thought they knew Jesus and that was their biggest mistake

Their physical knowledge of Jesus got in the way of them having a spiritual knowledge of Him

They had seen him as a young man working, playing, spending time with his family, etc.

They had been so familiar with Jesus that they couldn’t see his divinity or deity

It’s like the person who sees a great work of art and says they can’t see anything

That’s not a condemnation on the art but on the person that sees it but can’t grasp the greatness of it

These people basically said “we see nothing special in Jesus”

“He’s just a carpenter, we know his mom, we know his brothers”

This just showed their great ignorance

Our risk

We might not run the risk of growing physically familiar with Jesus and ignore his divinity and authority

But we can never let our familiarity with Jesus rob us of the wonder of His person and what He has done for us

We can never ignore the faith that he requires from us to continually believe Him

They criticized Him

They use the term “this man” as if he has no value whatsoever

They never even denied His miracles or the great works He did

They just criticized that he had never been trained by a real Rabi

He was only a regular, run of the mill manual labour worker

Instead of celebrating His success in other cities they criticized Him and didn’t believe His ministry

They didn’t even want to call Jesus by name

They insulted Him

No one in those days was called by their mother’s name

Even if His father was dead, people would still recognize him as “the son of Joseph”

But in a very sarcastic way they call him the son of Mary

They are basically calling him un illegitimate child

This is a terrible insult to hurl at the Son of God

They were offended

When Jesus began to speak they rejected what He had to say

They were offended by the Word of God and what He had to say

What a terrible amount of unbelief is seen in this passage

Application

The town of Nazareth only sees a carpenter, a son of Mary

He’s just another kid from town that’s coming home to visit

If only God weren’t so ordinary they’d believe in Him

They don’t like this idea of a servant so they don’t accept it

The biggest question is how do we see Jesus?

Is He enough to save us but not enough to use us?

Is He enough to change our sin but not enough to reach the world with the gospel?

Is He enough to give me peace with God but not enough to direct my paths each day?

Christ, our life, is a continual miracle

“Incarnation”, “grace”, “Resurrection” are some of the most beautiful and mysterious words in history

We can’t allow our familiarity with these words to rob us of our awe

Many people are like that

They’ve seen God work in other’s lives

They’ve seen Him work in their family’s life but they just ignore it

They don’t think God could work that way in their own life

They don’t think God could use them that way

They explain everything away

They reason everything away

The work that Jesus is doing through His body (the church) is looked down upon

What a great darkness is seen when we reject the work of Jesus

3. A Limited Work v. 4-6

Unbelief isolates and quenches the power of God

The only limitation that God allows on his omnipotence is unbelief

Without faith it is impossible to experience God’s power

v. 4 shows us the greatest rejection Jesus experiences until He is rejected by the entire people of Israel

Jesus says these words as a reproach on His own people

Isn’t it ironic that the people who should believe in Him most easily are the ones who rejected Him, and the ones who are least expected are the ones who believe in Him? (Demoniac of Gadara, Jairus, Woman with the issue of blood)

Just because we are exposed to the gospel doesn’t guarantee salvation nor faith

He’s amazed

There are only three times in the gospel that Jesus marvels

Two of them speak of him marvelling at the faith of the centurion

And this is the third time

The only time that we see amazement/marvelling in the book of Mark is when Jesus sees the unbelief in the people of Nazareth

What amazes Him about humanity in is not their sin or their propensity to evil

It is the hardness of their heart and rejecting to believe on Him

That is the greatest problem in this world and it is what they will be judged by

He’s limited

This is one of the most shocking and difficult parts in the whole book of Mark

Unbelief excluded Nazareth from experiencing the grace of God that other places experienced

Unbelief robs a church of it’s power

We could add all the programs to the church to where we have no more room or time to add anymore

But if we don’t believe, hope and wait on the power of Jesus then we will produce nothing

Heb. 11:6

Hebreos 11:6 KJV 1900

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

If we want to please God, know his pleasure and power, we must believe that the God that revealed the Old and New Testament to us still exists and acts in and for us

God forbid that He ever say of us “There are so many things I could do if they’d just believe that I can and would come to me”