Have you ever been put down, or even rejected because others didn’t think you were good enough? Perhaps they didn’t think that you were educated enough, you didn’t come from the best neighborhood, your family background wasn’t “quality stock”. So these other people say to you, “Who do you think you are?! You can’t be doing that! You’re not good enough!” How do we react, even though we know the Lord called us to do what we were trying to do for Him? Our Scripture today tells the account when something like this happened to the Lord Jesus. Let’s look into what God’s Word tells us about this instance.
As the sixth chapter of Mark begins, Jesus and His disciples came to His hometown of Nazareth. He had just recently healed the woman with the issue of blood, and raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, along with casting out a legion of demons from a man. Now Jesus was back in His hometown. On the Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue. After the Scripture reading and commentary by the rabbi and other officials, the Lord Jesus likely requested permission to speak to the congregation. The Lord used this opportunity to teach and comment on the Scriptures that were read that Sabbath (vs. 1-2). Imagine sitting in on a Bible study where Jesus was the in-person teacher!
Immediately many of those in attendance at the synagogue of Nazareth started to question and criticize Jesus’ qualifications to expound on the Scriptures (vs. 2-3). These were men who knew Jesus from before He began His ministry. They knew Him as the local carpenter. Some of them may have even remembered Jesus as a child. They knew His siblings and His mother, who all still lived in the community. The typical Jewish boy at this time would have started school around 5-6 years old, and generally continued on until around age 13, when they would have their Bar Mitzvah. The school was for boys, and was held in the local synagogue. For the lucky few who were born into affluent families, they could continue their education in Jerusalem, otherwise they then began to learn a trade. However, Jesus was from a working class family, as Joseph was a carpenter, the trade which He learned at the workshop of His foster father.
The local men in the synagogue that Sabbath knew all this, and they were not happy to have this local guy who recently left town about a year or so ago and is now returned, teach them the Bible! They were offended that Jesus would somehow think Himself as a teacher because of His ordinary background, His limited formal education, and His lack of an officially sanctioned religious position. Many of them might have been familiar with a lot of Jesus’ teachings, possibly having heard what He preached in Capernaum and elsewhere, and possibly having heard His Sermon on the Mount.
They all had undoubtedly heard about Jesus’ miracles and healings. They did not question the wisdom of His teachings, or the authenticity of the miracles. Instead, they questioned His right to do such things. In their thoughts, Jesus wasn’t worthy. They refused to see Jesus as higher than themselves, and found it impossible to accept Him as the Son of God.
When Jesus heard their comments and verbal attacks, He gave a final statement to them before He left, and that was a proverb-like statement, basically saying that the prophets are honored and welcomed all across the country except for in their own hometowns, and by the people who knew them (vs. 4).
During that brief stay in Nazareth, Jesus did not perform many miracles, only a very few healings of the sick (vs. 5-6). There were fewer works done, but not because Jesus’ power was weaker or limited. The people had a spirit of unbelief, and that prevented Jesus from doing any mighty works in Nazareth. Perhaps fewer people came to Him while in Nazareth because they scorned His popularity when they just felt He was a home-town boy. They wouldn’t bring the sick or diseased to Jesus. They would rather see their loved ones sick than to see Jesus heal them. Whatever their reason was, miracles belong among those who are ready to believe. It is by faith that people receive miracles. Unbelief will stifle the power of God.
This was how Jesus was received in His hometown. No pride in the “local boy doing good”! As we asked at the start of this study, when you are trying to do the Lord’s will, are there folks who look down on you because they don’t think you have good enough qualifications? They say things to us like “How dare you think that you can teach me the Bible!” Trust in the Lord’s undertaking for you, and continue your service for Him. Perhaps we are the ones who are looking down on someone else. Don’t let your quick and snappy judgments blind you to the truth that someone brings. Don’t be like the folks from Nazareth. The Savior came to them, but they turned Him away.
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