Mark 6:1-13 — Faith struck down by the hindrance of unbelief and familiarity
Nazareth — where He should have been received with honor. But they knew Him. And had known Him for a long time. He had grown up among them…and they’d had no idea about Him. Such wisdom and such miracles! But the hindrance of unbelief wreaked havoc among them and within them.
How nice it would have been had they accepted Him as their “favorite son.” But they didn’t — because He was of them and well-known to them. Having grown up with Jesus, perhaps there is the danger that He is somehow too familiar to me to impress me as I ought to be impressed. I hope not!
Notice they didn’t deny His wisdom and miracle-working power. But they did wonder where He got these things. Up until then, through all the years they had known Him, He had never shown such wisdom and power. No wonder they were taken aback and astonished! I expect I would have been too.
And yet, despite acknowledging His obvious wisdom and power, they rejected Him. I would say that response is not particularly unique to them. I think we all have at least somewhat of a tendency to dismiss unexpected wisdom and gifts in someone with whom we are quite familiar, especially if what he says makes us too uncomfortable
I don’t believe Jesus was whining or complaining about their lack of support and enthusiasm for Him and His ministry. In fact, here is a couple of glimpses into the heart of Jesus toward those who should have welcomed Him and received Him…
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” (Luke 13:34).
“And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes” (Luke 19:41,42).
Read my full, untrimmed blog post which I posted this morning: The Hindrance of Unbelief.
And then you could read another blog post of mine from eight years ago: The Hindrance of Unbelief.
“We Know Him!” — and the hindrance of unbelief got the best of them
“Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:55).
Should I move “there” because I think I will be more appreciated and my gifts more recognized?
Do I appreciate our local “prophets” less than the visiting ones?
Do I reject a local leader just because I know him so well as “one of us”?
Might my “unbelief” in him affect the effectiveness of a leader in my home congregation?
Am I handling personal rejection in a godly manner?
What is a godly way to dealing with such rejection?
Source: Overcoming Rejection
When the hindrance of unbelief led to… Too familiar?
This Jesus was too familiar to them. Instead of being impressed and awestruck, they were offended and dismissive. Instead of giving Him recognition and acceptance, they despised and rejected Him. Where faith should have been born, it died. As a result, they received and learned little from Him. And with that they must have been satisfied.
Could it be that we also are too familiar with Jesus?
Take me, for instance. I have heard about Him all my life. I have followed Him a substantial portion of my days. I am well-acquainted with His Word. For years I have experienced His ways and wisdom. Has all that familiarity served to deepen my relationship with Him, or has it merely made me immune to awe and joy in His presence? Is He able to do in my life what I know He has done in the lives of others, or is my familiarity with Him such that I really don’t expect that kind of working in my own life? After all, He is the same Jesus I’ve known all along — why should I expect anything different from Him at this stage? Has reading His Word become as dry, uninspiring, unmotivating, and predictable as that book I’ve already read nine times?
Think about it, my friend. Perhaps, just perhaps, we don’t have much over the people of Nazareth after all!
(Read the full piece: The Witness of Jesus and His Disciples)
Chosen to learn and teach
Jesus chose twelve to send forth to preach His message. He had in mind to send them out in His place to do His work. But first His plan was that “they should be with him” (Mark 3:14). They needed to hear His message from Him first. They needed to become closely acquainted with Him, His heart, and His vision. They needed to take His message for themselves. They needed to have their hearts touched. Before they could teach effectively, they needed to be taught. The same is true for His messengers today — and that includes you.
We need to be with Him. We cannot learn to know Him and the power of His resurrection unless we are with Him. We cannot experience His grace unless we are with Him. Without Him we can do nothing but with Him we can do all things. Then why is it so easy to spend so little conscious time with Him? Because we live in the flesh. Only He can awaken and nurture in us our need of Him as well as our awareness of that need.
Excerpted from my much longer piece here: Jesus Commissions His Disciples
"The Hindrance of Unbelief" is the CLP Sunday School lesson for March 24, 2019, and uses Mark 6:1-13 as the Scripture passage.
Learn more about Sunday School quarterlies by Christian Light Publications.
Unless noted otherwise, the material above is copyrighted by CLP and/or Mark Roth.
Mark's first ebook: Panting (Faith Works 1) (available on Amazon via this affiliate link)
