Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, we methodically teach verse by verse, even phrase by phrase.
We have completed many books of the Bible and offer free lesson plans for teachers. If you want to browse our entire library by book or topic, see our website www.ReasoningThroughTheBible.com.
We primarily do expository teaching but also include a good bit of theology and apologetics. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity must address both the ancient truths and the questions of the people today. Join Glenn and Steve every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S17 || Not Just a Carpenter || Mark 6:1-13 || Session 17 || Verse by Verse Bible Study
This episode delves into a profound exploration of Jesus' return to his hometown, where familiarity breeds contempt. As he teaches in the synagogue, the townspeople grapple with recognizing the authority of someone they once knew as just a carpenter. The tension between remarkable insight and everyday familiarity shapes not only their reaction but also provides a rich backdrop for discussions on faith and community dynamics. This insightful journey through Mark’s Gospel promises to challenge, inspire, and ignite conversations about faith in everyday life. Tune in and take a step further into understanding how to honor the extraordinary in the familiar!
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
Hello and welcome. We are in the Gospel of Mark. We've been reasoning through Jesus' travels. Jesus is going and doing a lot of things in Mark and, as we've seen, really most of the book is Jesus interacting with a series of people. That's what we've been reasoning through. He interacts with common people. He interacts with synagogue officials. He interacts with national leaders. He interacts with fishermen. Today we're going to see Jesus interact with people from his hometown. We're going to see how that is impacting Jesus and his ministry. Glad you're with us. If you have your copy of the Word of God, turn it to Mark, chapter 6, and we'll be reasoning through there. Turn it to Mark, chapter 6, and we'll be reasoning through there.
Speaker 2:Steve, if you can read the first six verses of Mark, chapter 6. Jesus went out from there and came into his hometown and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue and the many listeners were astonished, saying when did this man get these things and what is this wisdom given to him and such miracles as these performed by his hands? Is not this the carpenter? The son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon Are not his sisters here with us and they took offense at him. Jesus said to them a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and his own household. And he could do no miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them, and he wondered at their unbelief. And he was going around the village teaching With this.
Speaker 1:We're told that Jesus comes back to the area where he grew up. People wouldn't know him there and they could tell from his teaching that he had wisdom, because that's their reaction in verse 2. Where did he get this wisdom? So that's what we really are seeing here is he has astonished the people from his hometown. Steve, we always know the people that grew up with you. They know you and it's real hard to fool them because they know you. Well, now we're seeing at least they're seeing a different side of Jesus. He shows up. It says on verse 2, what day is it? He?
Speaker 2:showed up on the Sabbath, so here it is, another Sabbath being depicted by Mark Of course what happens in Jewish communities on the Sabbath.
Speaker 1:So here it is another Sabbath being depicted by Mark. Of course what happens in Jewish communities on the Sabbath. Where would people be?
Speaker 2:They would be at the local synagogue there meeting and reading the Hebrew scriptures and worshiping God in their community in the synagogue.
Speaker 1:It's not only the place where you hear about God, but it's also the social center of the community. This is where you get to meet your friends. It's the day of rest, so you get to go and meet your friends and talk with their acquaintances and hear about what's going on in each other's families. So everyone's gathered at the synagogue and in verse 2, it's on the Sabbath. Jesus begins to teach, it says in verse 2. So he goes into the Sabbath and the whole community's there. He begins to teach. Did these people know who he was?
Speaker 2:Yeah, they knew who he was because they in the latter verses there that we read, they talked about isn't this the son of Mary? Isn't this the carpenter? That was the trade that his family was in, that Joseph was in, and they named off his brothers and sisters. So, yeah, they knew who he was. He had grown up in that town.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they knew who he was. They knew who his mother and his brothers, they knew his job. But did they really know who Jesus was?
Speaker 2:No, I don't believe so. I think the indication in the last part of the verses we read said he could do no miracles there. He kind of reprimands them too, in that a prophet is not welcome in his own city. I think that's an indication possibly, when he says he could not do any miracles there, where the people weren't believing in him, they didn't know him in that way of belief. Maybe an indication that they weren't coming and approaching him to do miracles like some of the others had done as he traveled throughout the regions.
Speaker 1:Apparently, all the time he was growing up there he didn't teach like this. Here he shows up on the Sabbath in front of the whole community and begins to teach incredible wisdom, so much so that he amazes them. He must not have been doing that because they're not accustomed to hearing him teach like this. When it's his time for his ministry and his timing, he shows up and he teaches incredible godly, heavenly wisdom, so much so that it just amazes everyone. That's when they're saying, wow, who is this guy? This is the kid that grew up down the street, the carpenter. It says at the end of verse 3, they took offense at him. Who does he think he is? He's just a guy from the neighborhood. And now he's up here saying all these tremendous things. Jesus responds in verse 4, a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household. It's interesting there that not only does he include the people in the community as the people that don't understand him and do not honor him. That's exactly what he's saying. The people in the community did not understand who he was, they did not honor him. He also includes those in his own household. He says a prophet is not without honor in his own household and among his relatives is what he says there. This tells us that the people he grew up with, including his own family, did not understand that he was God and that he was the Messiah. The hometown people realized he was the village carpenter. They did not realize that he was the Lord, God Almighty and the Messiah, until he comes and reveals himself.
Speaker 1:The other thing I find here, Steve, in these passages, isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James. They're giving a little dig here. It's a little sort of backhanded insult in the sense that, oh, he's nobody special, he's just a carpenter. They're also saying the son of Mary. Well, they normally would have said the son of Joseph, the son of the father. But it's sort of a backhanded insult in the sense that they're saying he wasn't the son of Joseph, that he was illegitimate. He was, in their eyes, the bastard child of Mary. So that's why they say that it's not any kind of honoring Mary. It was an insult to Jesus. These are the hometown people. They think they know him, but they didn't really know him and they're insulting him by telling him these things. Notice what they're not responding to is the wise teaching? They're not actually commenting on the thoughts he gave, they're just commenting that. Who does he think he is teaching this?
Speaker 2:And it even says in verse 6 that he wondered about their belief. He was astonished by their unbelief that his teaching and the things that he was doing and his fame was widespread. He had a large throng of people that were following him everywhere disciples, and earlier in Mark it mentioned that even his family members thought he was crazy. We remember that because he was claiming to be God. The verse that he mentioned there in verse 4 is appropriate for the things. Now James and Jude for sure became believers in him and of course his mother Mary was a believer in him.
Speaker 2:But yes, he is even astonished at these people. We don't see him making that particular type of claim other areas that he goes and it's kind of curious that people that grow up in a particular area that family members or the community is familiar with them, they're not recognized many times for the worshiping of God and the way that they do it and the type of impact that they're having in other areas is not the same type of impact that they're having even in their hometown. You would think that it would be different, that the people would know the person and appreciate them, but we find so many times that that's not the case within families and communities.
Speaker 1:We used to tell a joke in business that you know what is an expert consultant? Well, an expert consultant is somebody who lives a great distance from here. Right that you have to bring in and pay a lot of money the people that are right next door that may know just as much. Well, that's just a guy next door. That's similar to the concept he's teaching here, which is a prophet is not without honor except in his own household and in his own town.
Speaker 1:Now there's a question, a little theological question, that comes up in verses 5 and 6. Verse 5 says he could do no miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few. That raises the question well, was he able to do miracles? What is the connection between belief and God's doing miracles? Well, remember, if we take the Scriptures as a whole, often Jesus did miracles to people that had no faith or had very little faith. I recall the passage where Jesus walks up to a funeral and raises the dead son, and there was no indication there that anyone even knew who he was, let alone, the dead man had no faith, he was dead. So there's times where Jesus did miracles simply because he wanted to do the miracles. Here it does indeed say he could do no miracle there. So it raises the question of why.
Speaker 1:I think there's two things here, steve. One is I think the real answer is that he could do it because it wouldn't be right to do, he wasn't limited in his power. He's limited in his justice. God doesn't do things that aren't just, that aren't morally right. So he's limited here by the sense of justice of God, in the sense that unbelievers do not get God's blessings. That's the point here.
Speaker 1:We find that still today, unbelievers are generally not blessed by God. Unbelievers are kept from salvation. Unbelievers are kept from God's great things and His blessings that offer. Unbelief limits God's blessings, and it's not because there's any kind of a failure or limit in God. It's that it's not right morally, not right spiritually for him to bless unbelief. However, we do see this, that there is this connection here between belief and God's blessings, steve. I think that's true, don't you think? Is that when we are in sin, when we are in unbelief, we don't see God move? When we are in faith and are close to God, we do see God move. Now, that doesn't always mean that he moves in a way that feels good, because he could move in a way that moves us around and puts us in painful circumstances. But he's going to move, don't you think?
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, and the people there are not honoring him, they're insulting him. They're insulting his mother. As you pointed out, it could be that Joseph was dead and that's why they were saying that, but I think even then they would be saying isn't this the son of Joseph? Why should God work in this city and bring them miracles and do things for them? They weren't recognizing who he was and honoring him. I think that might be one of the reasons why he was a little bit astonished for them and, as we noted in our last session, officially after the Sanhedrin, the rulers rejected him as the Messiah.
Speaker 2:He changed his teaching and his miracles in the way that he did miracles in public, so it's not out of character. I think it's a great point that you bring up, though, glenn, is that people that don't honor God and don't want to acknowledge who he is, and specifically Jesus Christ, why should he work in their life? Now, he can work in their life if they change their mind about him and realize that they need to have a relationship with God, and the only way they can do it is through Jesus Christ. Whenever they become believers, then truly, a miracle is worked in their life. They receive the Holy Spirit, they're regenerated, become a new creation. But why should God work in unbelievers' lives whenever they're disrespecting him and even mocking him?
Speaker 1:What we need to be careful of is saying, okay, because something painful happened in my life, therefore it's because there's some problem or sin or unbelief. That's not what this is saying. God's blessing is to bless through some kind of a trial and through something that might not feel good at the time, but later we find out, wow, that was really God's hand moving and blessing this. Now a couple other things in here before we leave this. One is that we have here again he's in his hometown and they very clearly do not understand him. They speak in the sense of talk about the son of Mary, brother of James and Joseph and his sisters. Now our Roman Catholic friends have developed a doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary, saying that she stayed a virgin her whole life. Well, the scriptures, in passages like this, do not teach that. The word brother there really and sister really means brother and sister. There's other words for distant relatives in the Greek lexicons and those are not the words used here. That's one point.
Speaker 1:The other indication that that's the case is that in Jesus' response he in verse 4, specifically says that those in his own household weren't honoring him and his own relatives. We have here his whole family did not really understand or honor him in this sense, and neither did his hometown. Yet if you look at the end of verse 6, no one in the town was really believing in the right way or honoring him, yet he was going around the villages teaching. He still went around to that area and taught these people, and taught them wise things, gave them the Word of God. I think that's a good example for us, steve. Even though we may be in situations where we're going out to do evangelism or we're going out to do teaching, people might not necessarily understand the Word of God, but we are to do it anyway, don't you think?
Speaker 2:Steve McLaughlin. Always, we're out to spread the Word of God. Steve McLaughlin, parable of the sowers that we went through a couple of sessions ago. That's our job as sowers sowing the Word of God, sowing that seed. Then God will take it and go from there, but our responsibility is to be the sower of the Word of God.
Speaker 1:In the next passage we see Jesus sending out the 12 disciples in groups of two. Steve, if you could start at verse 7 and read down through verse 13.
Speaker 2:And he summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over the unclean spirits and he instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey except a mere staff no bread, no bag, no money in their belt, but to wear sandals. He added do not put on two tunics, but to wear sandals. He added Do not put on two tunics. And he said to them Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. Any place that does not receive you or listen to you as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet or testimony against them. They went out and preached that men should repent and they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.
Speaker 1:With this, Jesus sends them out in groups of two. So, Steve, why do you think he did that? Why would he send them out in small groups of two? Well, it's a good way to spread the message further.
Speaker 2:Now you have six groups that are going out, rather than just Jesus and his disciples following him, by sending them out in groups of two. They have companionship between both of them and as they go into the towns they are not complete strangers. Maybe it makes the towns that they're going into feel a little bit better that there's two of them versus just one lone stranger going out. I think there's a lot of good reasonings in order to go out and witness two by two.
Speaker 1:I think he's also training them for later in life, when they become apostles in the church age. That's what they're going to be doing is traveling around, going from place to place, teaching and spreading the word of repentance. So he's training them now on how to do that. I think that's one of the reasons why he tells them specifically don't take a lot of stuff with you, don't take any extra money, just go with what you have and go in faith. So later, that's what they needed to do as they were going out to preach the gospel in the church age.
Speaker 1:Look at the end of verse 7, the last part of verse 7. He gives them something. What did he give them at the end of verse 7? He gives them authority over unclean spirits. With that, he gives them this authority. So think of it. He gave them the power and then sent them out, and then they could in turn go and cast out demons. I think it says they healed some people too. He delegated authority to them, delegated power to them.
Speaker 1:And remember here, steve, that Jesus had more followers than just the 12. He had a fair crowd following him. The day of Pentecost there was 120 that were still faithful even after the Jewish persecutions. But he picks these 12 and gave them specifically some special authority. That tells us one, that the apostles had some special gifts that were given just to them. Two, it tells us that Jesus had the ability to give this power. To give it. Then, in turn, the disciples apostles could exercise that power on their own. The same thing happens, steve.
Speaker 1:People get into these discussions on how does free will get initiated and things like that. Well, it's because we're created in God's image and he delegated to us the power to make decisions and to act as an agent to make decisions. So we don't need a prior cause for things like exercising power to at least they didn't to exercise power to cast out demons, or to exercise free will or to exercise any of the other gifts that he gives us as he delegates this authority. Also, notice here that when he gives this power, it means the demons are subject to him. Jesus is able to delegate this power of the demons being subject to divine authority. We find all of this wrapped up in this simple statement there he delegated authority to him. What else do you see in this passage?
Speaker 2:He tells them and gives them instructions. As you noted, only take the clothes that you're wearing, don't take any preparations. I think that is an indication of that. They need to rely on God to provide for them. He tells them also that if they're not welcome, to shake off their sandals to not only the household but also to the community itself as a testimony against them. As it's put there, he's giving them instructions on how to conduct themselves, what they're to do and also what they're also to preach, that they're supposed to preach the men to repent or to change their mind. So, as they're going, they have this authority. It shows they're casting out demons, they're anointing many people with oil and healing many people, as a testament of who they are and the message that they're taking now to these multiple communities that they're going to.
Speaker 1:He sends them out with very little resources. That was the whole point was to teach them to go out to a town and exercise faith in doing so. The contrast of that would be, if we have a lot of resources, or if he had given them a lot of resources, take a lot of extra money, extra baggage, things like that. What happens if we feel like we have a lot of resources? What happens if we feel like we have a lot of resources?
Speaker 2:Where do we tend to put our trust. I think sometimes it's putting our trust in ourselves and putting less trust on God because we have those resources that we can always fall back on. Don't know where your next meal is coming from. Then, whenever somebody comes along and offers something to you, you end up seeing a lot of testimonies of people saying this only could have come about by God providing for me in the right way just whenever I needed it. God did this throughout my trip or mission or life or this period of my life. There's a plethora of stories of people that have that of God providing for them at the right time, with the right amount, whenever they're down at a point and have minimum resources.
Speaker 1:There's many of these stories where that happens. I think this is what he's trying to teach the 12 here is to trust me, don't depend on your own ability to go out and make a living. The other thing we find here is in verse 10, he tells them to stay wherever they're accepted and stay in that place and not move around. What he didn't want them doing was get to a town and say, well, you know this home is. We could find a nicer place than this, let's move down the street or across town. He didn't want them to go around looking for a nicer place to stay and to base their ministry from, to go wherever they were accepted from. He didn't want them to be always looking for a better life physically in this world.
Speaker 1:Be satisfied with where you're accepted. Are we able in this world, steve, to also be satisfied wherever we are? I guess that's a rhetorical question we all have to ask ourselves how can we keep greed and covetousness from creeping in and impacting our ministry? Because that's what he's telling them right, be satisfied with what you have so that you can then do ministry. If we allow greed and covetousness to creep into our lives, then I'm going to be more focused on bettering my own living conditions instead of doing kingdom work, don't you think?
Speaker 2:Often misquoted verse is that money is the root of all kinds of evil. Is that money is the root of all kinds of evil? And that's not what the verse says. It says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. That's the greed that people have and that's the greed that comes in because, as we've been talking about, you begin to rely on that money for satisfaction and comfort and the ability to survive in this world, versus relying on Jesus Christ and the things that he can provide.
Speaker 2:Being content is something that we need to learn, and Paul had to learn that the hard way.
Speaker 2:He prayed several times for a thorn in his side to be taken away from him, as he put it, and God finally told him no, you need to be content with what you have and don't worry about it, because it's not going to be taken away from you. And he learned that we need to be content with what we have Now. That doesn't mean that we just need to sit back and not do anything, and just sit around and not go about spreading God's word or anything like that, and just put our hands up in the air and say, oh, I'm just going to let God provide everything for me. No, that's not exactly the way we should approach it. But at the same time, the opposite end of that spectrum is just out there work, work, work, doing things here and there, thinking that we're getting closer to God when, in actuality, we're starting to rely on the things that we're doing to bring satisfaction rather than just relying on God. That happy medium is rely on God and be content with what he provides for you as you serve him.
Speaker 1:In verse 11,. He gives them advice on what to do when they go out and the people are not listening to their message. Let me read verse 11 again says this any place that does not receive you or listen to you as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them. He's telling them if they're not going to listen to you, shake off the dust and move on. So the question is how do we apply that to us? When is it appropriate for us, when we're going out, telling other people about the Lord, some are going to listen, some are going to scoff, some are going to walk away. When is it that we should say you know I'm going to dust my feet of this and move on? When should we stay and keep telling people and when should we move on? How do we know when to do this?
Speaker 2:It comes to a point where people will maybe mock you or mock what you're saying, make fun of it and show that they're not serious about it. When you get to a point where you're just going around in circles with the same argument and they're not really wanting to listen to what you're saying and engage with you, at some point you need to walk away and leave the matter into God's hands. It's not up to us to have people come to faith. That's the Holy Spirit that needs to convict them. All we need to do is give them the Word of God.
Speaker 2:One thing that you can do to know when it's time to walk away is, if you're talking with somebody and been talking with them, ask them the question if Christianity were true, would you become a believer? And if their response is no, well you know that they're not serious about the conversations that you've been having, because if Christianity is true, you have the promise of eternal life and salvation from death. So that's not a rational answer to say no. Those are the type of people. If they respond no, you need to shake the dust off your feet and move on to somebody else. Now. Always be ready to give them an answer if they come back asking questions, but you know from that single answer to that question whether or not they're really serious about becoming a believer in Jesus.
Speaker 1:Christ. At the end of verse 11, he says if these people don't listen to you, dust off your feet as a testimony against them. Well, what is a testimony? A testimony is a statement made in court before a judge. So there will be a judgment day before a judge, so there will be a judgment day. That's what he's saying here is that there's going to be a time when the message that you gave them and their refusal to accept it will be heard in court, will be heard at the judgment seat. So there's going to be a time of judgment in which everyone who ever heard the gospel is going to be measured. My friend, we need to be aware of that as we go through this life. Now, the other thing we know here is that these 12 were given this ministry to do. They were given a specific ministry to go out and do things. Are all believers given a ministry to do? And how do we know what it is? If we don't have a ministry, what?
Speaker 2:should we do? We do have a ministry. Jesus gave us that before his ascension and said go out and teach and make disciples of others, giving them the gospel message and telling them the good news. That's what we are supposed to do Give people the good news of Jesus Christ and also make disciples of him, of everything that he taught. And it also says to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. That means they're going to be identified with Jesus whenever they express belief in him. That is at the very, very basic level. As us, as believers, that we're supposed to do is do that.
Speaker 1:All followers of Christ should have some role in the church, some ministry to do. You well pointed out, steve, the Great Commission. That's the tail end of the book of Matthew go into all the world and make disciples. Well, all of us have a different role in that. There's a lot of different ministries and different ministry roles in that and different jobs.
Speaker 1:My friend, if you don't know what your ministry is, go to a pastor and ask them. I can guarantee you there'll be things that need doing around a church. There always are. Just go ask one of the church leaders hey, where can I serve? But everyone should be serving in a ministry somewhere. We're not going to all be apostles, we're not going to all be teachers. We're not going to all be teachers, we're not going to all have the same gifts, but we should all be serving in the body. In the last part of this passage we just read, they went out and preached that men should repent. So even from the very beginning, repentance from sin was the message that was given from the earliest time. Steve, is that still the message today? Are we still to go out and command people, or at least tell people that God wants them to turn from their sin and turns towards Christ.
Speaker 2:It is the message, because God wants to have a relationship with his creation and he's given everybody a chance to be able to have that relationship. Well, how are they going to find out if we don't go and tell them, as believers, give them our testimony what God has done for us and then tell them we want you to become a believer too. God wants you to become a believer.
Speaker 1:Their message again in verse 12, was to go out and tell people to repent. They were not trying to solve social problems. They were not trying to fix some past wrong that was done in society. Their mission from God was to tell people to turn from their sin, and the only way to turn from their sin is to turn towards God. That is the same message that we have today and that's what we find as we continue to reason through the Word of God.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for watching and listening. Until next time, may God bless you.
