Mar 6:3 | KingComments | STEP | The Lord Jesus departs from the house of Jairus and goes to Nazareth, the city where He grew up, and where they have had Him in their midst for so long. There the disciples will receive new teachings for servants, and therefore He takes them with Him and they follow Him. This new teaching begins with Him being rejected. Every servant must take this into account. On the Sabbath He goes in the synagogue, the usual place where teachings from the Scriptures are given. In the synagogue the law is studied and taught, but it only happens in an outward form. The heart is not involved. Religion means for the masses of visitors to the synagogue only tradition with forms. It’s about what the fathers say. The fathers may have said many good things, but in practice it takes up a larger place than Scripture. The Lord comes to the synagogue for the third time. In Mark 1 we saw a man with an unclean spirit ( ) and in Mark 3 a man with a withered hand ( ). They were both unable to serve because of their condition. We see in these two cases together that religion without “truth in the innermost being” ( ) makes incapable of serving. This time it is about His Word. He is teaching here in the synagogue. His teaching amazes the many who hear Him. They wonder in amazement where He has got all His knowledge from, how He is so wise and where He has got the mighty deeds He performs with His hands. They experience something special; they know how to name it. However, it’s just a question of amazement, without really wanting to know the secret. That is no different today. They know exactly who his family members are. And precisely because He comes from such a humble family, there is nothing through which He can be special to them. If He behaves in a special way, it must be because He imagines Himself to be something. That is why they take offence at Him, that is to say, they turn against Him and thereby shut themselves off from the blessing of His presence. It makes clear how much the Lord has been on earth as an inconspicuous Man. He has worked as a simple carpenter. That was not according to the thoughts of people who believe that holy men do not work. He did not do powerful deeds as a little Boy, as the apocryphal books attribute to Him. Remarkably, they call Him “the Son of Mary” and not Joseph, as children are usually called. We see here that even the despised inhabitants of Nazareth take offence to the humblest Lord of all, Who is also the humblest Servant of all. Even the smallest persons of humanity are not free of the same spirit of the world that blinds the most intelligent spirit. That the true Heir to the throne of David would be a “carpenter” was and is too insignificant for flesh and blood to accept. They know him as “the carpenter”. This means that the Lord has learned and done this work of Joseph. This reveals much about the period of time which Scripture is virtually silent, the period of His life on earth until His thirtieth year when He began to travel the land. The Creator of heaven and earth spent a considerable part of His daily life in this world in this humble but so very beautiful handiwork. The Lord knows that this is how they think of Him. His conclusion is what is always true for all those who want to do God’s work: someone who brings God’s Word into the immediate vicinity and closest family ties is not appreciated there. A prophet brings God’s Word to the heart and conscience of people. This is often more readily accepted from a stranger than from someone they think they know well. Because of their unbelief, the blessing hand of God is held back from them. He cannot do great works there. He is always willing to serve, but is limited in the exercise of His love where the doors are not opened to undergo its influence. There is no breeding ground for God’s work. Only where there is a need, His tireless love works, yes, there it must work. He heals the few sick who come. That’s all. It’s not that He tried to do mighty deeds here and it didn’t work out. No, He couldn’t do miracles because of their unbelief. That’s different from the preachers today who try miracles and when they fail attribute that to a lack of faith in those who want to experience the miracle. In Matthew 8, the Lord marvels about the faith of a heathen who had only heard of Him ( ). Here He marvels about the unbelief of His fellow citizens who have experienced Him for so long. Yet He does not stop serving. There are other villages where He has to do His work. He leaves Nazareth to teach in the surrounding villages. The unbelief closes the manifestation of love only for itself. Love seeks other ways. Christ continues His work elsewhere.

‏ Mark 6:3

Rejection in Nazareth

The Lord Jesus departs from the house of Jairus and goes to Nazareth, the city where He grew up, and where they have had Him in their midst for so long. There the disciples will receive new teachings for servants, and therefore He takes them with Him and they follow Him. This new teaching begins with Him being rejected. Every servant must take this into account.

On the Sabbath He goes in the synagogue, the usual place where teachings from the Scriptures are given. In the synagogue the law is studied and taught, but it only happens in an outward form. The heart is not involved. Religion means for the masses of visitors to the synagogue only tradition with forms. It’s about what the fathers say. The fathers may have said many good things, but in practice it takes up a larger place than Scripture.

The Lord comes to the synagogue for the third time. In Mark 1 we saw a man with an unclean spirit (Mk 1:23) and in Mark 3 a man with a withered hand (Mk 3:1). They were both unable to serve because of their condition. We see in these two cases together that religion without “truth in the innermost being” (Psa 51:6) makes incapable of serving.

This time it is about His Word. He is teaching here in the synagogue. His teaching amazes the many who hear Him. They wonder in amazement where He has got all His knowledge from, how He is so wise and where He has got the mighty deeds He performs with His hands. They experience something special; they know how to name it. However, it’s just a question of amazement, without really wanting to know the secret. That is no different today.

They know exactly who his family members are. And precisely because He comes from such a humble family, there is nothing through which He can be special to them. If He behaves in a special way, it must be because He imagines Himself to be something. That is why they take offence at Him, that is to say, they turn against Him and thereby shut themselves off from the blessing of His presence.

It makes clear how much the Lord has been on earth as an inconspicuous Man. He has worked as a simple carpenter. That was not according to the thoughts of people who believe that holy men do not work. He did not do powerful deeds as a little Boy, as the apocryphal books attribute to Him. Remarkably, they call Him “the Son of Mary” and not Joseph, as children are usually called.

We see here that even the despised inhabitants of Nazareth take offence to the humblest Lord of all, Who is also the humblest Servant of all. Even the smallest persons of humanity are not free of the same spirit of the world that blinds the most intelligent spirit. That the true Heir to the throne of David would be a “carpenter” was and is too insignificant for flesh and blood to accept.

They know him as “the carpenter”. This means that the Lord has learned and done this work of Joseph. This reveals much about the period of time which Scripture is virtually silent, the period of His life on earth until His thirtieth year when He began to travel the land. The Creator of heaven and earth spent a considerable part of His daily life in this world in this humble but so very beautiful handiwork.

The Lord knows that this is how they think of Him. His conclusion is what is always true for all those who want to do God’s work: someone who brings God’s Word into the immediate vicinity and closest family ties is not appreciated there. A prophet brings God’s Word to the heart and conscience of people. This is often more readily accepted from a stranger than from someone they think they know well.

Because of their unbelief, the blessing hand of God is held back from them. He cannot do great works there. He is always willing to serve, but is limited in the exercise of His love where the doors are not opened to undergo its influence. There is no breeding ground for God’s work. Only where there is a need, His tireless love works, yes, there it must work.

He heals the few sick who come. That’s all. It’s not that He tried to do mighty deeds here and it didn’t work out. No, He couldn’t do miracles because of their unbelief. That’s different from the preachers today who try miracles and when they fail attribute that to a lack of faith in those who want to experience the miracle.

In Matthew 8, the Lord marvels about the faith of a heathen who had only heard of Him (Mt 8:10). Here He marvels about the unbelief of His fellow citizens who have experienced Him for so long. Yet He does not stop serving. There are other villages where He has to do His work. He leaves Nazareth to teach in the surrounding villages. The unbelief closes the manifestation of love only for itself. Love seeks other ways. Christ continues His work elsewhere.