April 26 "Shocking, Scandalous Unbelief" (Mark 6:1-6)

Pastor Jeff Manning lastest sermon from the series, "Mark: Living with Kingdom Urgency."

Transcript

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Back to Mark chapter six. My title this morning is Shocking Scandalous Unbelief. Shocking Scandalous Unbelief. Now, more often than not, when you see the words shocking and scandalous, it usually involves some news headlines that are not good. More often than not, those are some buzzwords that uh uh uh content creators will use in social media to get images, to get clips, to get stories in front of as many eyes as possible. Usually when those words are used, shocking, scandalous, it means that compromising pictures perhaps have been discovered. It means that emails and text messages have been retrieved. It means that sleep has been lost, blood pressure has gone up, and perhaps drugs and alcohol have been taken to help just kind of bring things back down. In some of the saddest of cases when there is shocking scandal involved, somebody often will end up taking their own life. They just cannot deal with the embarrassment and the shame that they know is just around the corner. Sometimes things that are shocking and scandalous can take place in a major city, and sometimes it can take place on a on a dirt road on the backside of a town that nobody has ever heard of. Sometimes things that are shocking and scandalous involves political figures, powerful people, and sometimes it involves just ordinary people that maybe you and I went to high school with. Often jobs are gonna be lost, wages are gonna be destroyed, reputations have been destroyed already, multiple families' futures are gonna be reshaped, and a lot of times somebody's gonna go to prison when you've got something that is shocking and scandalous. Well, the story we're gonna look at this morning, it certainly can be described as shocking and scandalous because of unbelief that's gonna be involved, but I don't know that it made any major headlines in Jesus' day when the story actually unfolded. Um, but it is deserving of our attention this morning. And I believe there will be some moments where there will be a stillness. We sometimes talk about it was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. I think we will have a few of those moments this morning as we work our way through this biblical text. So, after Jesus had begun his earthly ministry, he is going about, and as we've been seeing through the first five chapters, Jesus has been teaching with authority, he's been healing people, he's been ministering in ways that people have never seen before. So, having left his hometown of Nazareth, now keep in mind, Nazareth is not where Jesus was born. He was born in Bethlehem, but he grew up in Nazareth all of his years until into his early 30s. Nazareth. Um Nazareth would be almost like beneath Simpson. Now, I can say that because I live close to Simpson. But Nazareth, I mean, it it was it was a nobody knows anything about it kind of town. Nazareth, it only consisted of about 60 acres. Folks, that's that's only about 10 acres more than what the Lord has blessed us with here as a church. The population in Jesus' day was somewhere around 500 or less. It's no wonder because Nazareth's not even mentioned in the Old Testament. Very little reference in the New Testament, and it makes us not surprised when Nathaniel said, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? So Jesus, he makes two trips back to Nazareth. Luke tells us about the first one, and Mark will tell us about the first one. Luke tells us about the second one. We're going to deal with the first one this morning. So Mark tells us that Jesus goes and he is in the synagogue, or actually on the first trip when he goes to Nazareth. He goes and things are going pretty well. It's the Sabbath, and Jesus is invited to come. Jesus takes the scroll of Isaiah and he unrolls it and he reads the first two verses as we think about how the scriptures are organized for us. When he reads those first two verses in Isaiah chapter 51, he then closed the scroll and said, These verses are now being fulfilled in your very presence. And the people were like, they were kind of um shocked. Today this is being fulfilled, and they initially all spoke well of him. Things are going well. But when they are thinking to themselves, kind words, saying positive things, Jesus knows it's very superficial. They don't mean it. And so, having read part of Isaiah 51, Jesus proceeds to preach, and he proceeds to apply the scriptures, and he deals with the incredible hypocrisy that was present among those people, and that's when things changed dramatically. Luke 4, verse 29. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built so that they could throw him down the cliff. How quickly things changed. Things go from being kind of warm and fuzzy to being stone cold. Who are you to talk to us like that? Who are you to accuse us of being hypocrites? And so here they are, about not just to run their hometown boy out of town, they are ready to end his life. Well, sometime after that fiasco, many of you will recall a few weeks ago when we were in uh Mark's gospel, his family, they're hearing about what's going on. They're hearing about all of these multitudes and how they've been pressing in and on the verge of crushing him. And mom and brothers come down. And if you'll remember, they come down to where Jesus was with every intention of taking him back to Nazareth because they thought, you know what, our brother's lost his mind. Who does he think he is? So, having said all of that, my question is why would Jesus want to go back to Nazareth a second time? Why go back to the people that came real close? If they could have had their wishes, they would have killed you. Why go back to your brothers and your sisters and they think you've lost your mind? Do you know why Jesus went back? He went back for the same reason that he went anywhere and everywhere. Because according to 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 9, the Lord is not willing that any should perish. And so with love and compassion in Jesus' heart, he goes back to Nazareth, where he had been treated ill on previous on previous occasions. So today's another opportunity to open up um the people's hearts, their minds to the truth of the gospel. And by the way, how patient has the Lord been with you? I look around, I see a few faces that I don't recognize. If I have met you and I come up to you like I do sometimes, um, and I have met you, I apologize when I do that. But for the few faces of you that I don't know, how how patient has the Lord been with you? I may not know your story. How many times maybe maybe today is another expression of the Lord's long-suffering patience to give you another opportunity to come to know him as your Savior. You see, the Lord always has a purpose and a plan wherever he went. He went to seek and to save those who were lost. Now, with all of that in mind, let's read Mark chapter 6, verse 1. He went away from there, and we're assuming that that's Capernaum. We're not explicitly told that in the scriptures, but that's what we're assuming. He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. So we saw last week a double miracle took place. The woman with the issue of blood, she's been miraculously healed, and Jarius's daughter. No, the delay did not prevent Jesus from doing the miraculous. He doesn't just heal her, he raises her from the dead. And so Jesus leaves there and he came to his hometown, verse 2. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue. So the way it's phrased there, it almost seems as though there had been no invitations for Jesus to teach anybody before the Sabbath came. And so when the Sabbath day did arrive, Jesus began to teach. From here on, Jesus recognizing that the synagogue is a place of animosity. The synagogue is a place where people are rising up, the religious establishment is rising up against him. From now on, in Mark's gospel, he's only going to teach in people's homes where it's safe. Verse 2 continues And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. Now, please, I know if I tell you not to do something, you're gonna be tempted to do it. But please don't read ahead. Don't read ahead. If we just stop here and many were astonished, we we would think astonishment, that's a good thing. Not necessarily. Not necessarily. So when UConn hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, many were astonished. And you gnarly Carolina fans, your astonishment was a positive thing, right? But for those of us who were pulling for Duke, it was a very negative thing. Do not think that this astonishment is a positive thing. Now, we're gonna keep reading, but now I'm when we get to these verses in a few moments, um, we're gonna find out that there is a malignant contempt toward Jesus that is starting to permeate the vast majority of these people who were present. People that Jesus has known all his life, people who've known Jesus since the day he was born. So as we continue to read in verse 2, questions are going to be asked. Now, you don't realize it, but I'm gonna read these questions with skepticism in my voice, skepticism in my tone, because that's the way they were asked. And I'll prove it to you in just a moment. So, verse two. Many who heard him were astonished, saying, Where do where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done 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? So why again, why would I read those questions with a negative connotation, having just read that the people were astonished, because of verse three, and they took offense at him. If you didn't know anything, would you have expected that? Jesus, the Messiah, he's taking the scriptures that his spirit breathed out, and he's relating them to himself, probably. And people were astonished. They took offense to him, they found Jesus to be scandalous. That's what that word means, and we'll get to that in just a moment. So, here's what I'd like for us to do now. I want us to work through each of these statements, each of these questions that have been asked. And uh, the folks listen to me. There's a world of difference between asking hard questions with a sincere mind and asking skeptical questions with a closed mind. And the Bible can stand anybody's sincere, hard questions. But I'm telling you, if there is skepticism, and even if you're here this morning and your whole approach is one of skepticism, I'm gonna show you, if you if you will allow me, I'm gonna show you from scripture how dangerous your position is. Um, you see, here's how I think we read verses two and three. They're asked with one eye open and one eye closed, figuratively. They're asked with one eye open, they've made observations, they have heard stuff, but with their eye of faith it is closed. And folks, if a person's eye of faith is closed long enough, it leads to spiritual blindness. I don't want anybody here, anybody listening online, to enter into spiritual darkness and blindness. So, first question they ask where where did this man get these things? Come on, this man. That's that's disrespectful right from the start. Why come they didn't call him Jesus? Why didn't they call him Mr. Jesus? This man. You can you can sense it in their tone. Um, they don't have respect for him. They cannot deny the authority with which he speaks, and at the same time, they deny that these things are authoritative teachings from Yahweh, Jehovah God. What is the wisdom given to him? You see, Jesus did not sit at a rabbi scholar for many, many years. He didn't get his credentials stamped with approval, and so they think that it's self-derived. And they wonder who in the world gave it to him? To him. Um, as it says there to him, it could literally be translated, this fellow, this dude, this guy. How are such mighty works done by his hands? Um, after all, all those years, 29, 30 years, they never saw Jesus do anything miraculous. Nobody in his family ever did anything miraculous, and now all of a sudden, what something doesn't add up. This does not sm this does not pass the smell test. How in the world are such mighty things done? They can't deny them, they can't deny them, but they don't want to attribute them to being heavenly in their source. It's as if they're saying, This is the Christ, really? The one we've known all our lives? Come on. He's the Son of God. Are you kidding me? We may not be able to explain away, we may not be able to explain his miracles, but we know who he is. He's just a regular old guy. We saw him grow up around here. Verse 3, more questions. Is not this the carpenter? They didn't say the carpenter's son, they just said the carpenter. Most of you are aware that Joseph, his father, was a carpenter, and it's pretty plain and simple from the scriptures that Joseph taught his son Jesus how to be a carpenter. A carpenter of that day involved not just working with wood, but also being a stonemason and a metalsmith. It's very likely that Jesus made stuff for any number of the people who were present in this synagogue. His craftsmanship and reputation were superior, but they were appalled that a common craftsman with no theological training, no religious credentials would have the audacity to claim to be the Messiah. They just cannot entertain it. Isn't this the son of Mary? Now you you don't you don't necessarily notice it. Isn't this the son of Mary? Almost without exception, Jewish practice was to refer to a man by his father. So with respect and according to Jewish tradition, staunch Jewish tradition, they would have asked, is not this the son of Joseph? But they don't do that. And I don't think it has anything to do with the very high likelihood that Joseph is dead by now. It has everything to do with the fact that from their perspective, Mary, we know her type, got pregnant out of wedlock, claiming to be some divine thing. Who's ever heard of such a mess? We know we know her type. We know about that family. That's why they're saying it that way. So they're accusing Mary of being a whore. We know her kind. We know this family. Isn't this the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? Isn't it remarkable? I mean, I've been I've been doing ministry for three decades. I still find it remarkable that Jesus' very brothers, the whole time he did his public ministry, they did not believe he was the Messiah. It is not until after the resurrection, and thank God we do see him then. After the resurrection, we see them amongst other brothers and sisters in Christ. And of course, old James, the Lord would tap on his shoulder and say, James, it took you a while, son. It took you a while, but I'm I'm gonna use you. I'm gonna let you be a leader in a local church, and I'm gonna let you write one of the most practical letters that I'm gonna put in the Holy Scriptures. Um are not his sisters here with us? Hey, folks, by the way, we mentioned this several weeks ago, but the Roman Catholic doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity, it does not line up with scripture. Mary had at least six other kids, at least after Jesus was born. So let's go back to that last sentence in verse three. And they took offense at him. That is, they were deeply offended, and they refused to believe in him. The root of the word take offense is where we get our English word scandal and scandalous from. These people were scandalized by Jesus, they're embarrassed by him, offended by him, and they wanted nothing to do with him. I wonder, I wonder if at this point, if Jesus had a flashback to the first time when they tried to run him off the cliff, we're not told about the content of Jesus' teaching, but it must have hit them square in the face. Just like all of us probably can relate to. There have been times, and some of you, you tell me this from time to time, it's like you think I've been spying on you and following you around town. No, that's the Holy Spirit. And it's amazing how you can be a faithful teacher and teacher of truth, and man, the Spirit of God can apply it in such penetrating kind of ways, and that's probably happened here, and they don't like it. Who? Who does this illegitimate blue-collar carpenter think he is talking to us like that? Where are his credentials anyway? Who gave him the author? Who? Who gave him the authority to speak to us like that? That's that's the whole imagery behind what we're reading here. And then verse 4, it records Jesus' response to the skepticism. And Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives, and in his own household. And I just have to think with my sanctified imagination that at least for a few seconds. Nobody said a word. That statement that Jesus made is kind of equivalent to what we would commonly say, familiarity breeds contempt. Familiarity breeds breeds contempt. We've known him, we're familiar with you. We saw you growing up, we saw you graduate from high school. You're nothing special. We've seen your woodworking, it's good, it's excellent, but you're nothing special. So, having having gone through these first four verses, uh I want to share three dangers of skepticism. Three dangers of skepticism, and then we're gonna conclude with with two examples. Exhortations to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ. First, the first danger of skepticism, it hardens hearts. Skepticism hardens hearts. They took offense at him. Think about it. For some, Jesus is the chief cornerstone upon which they build their life. And for others, Jesus is a stumbling block. And they trip over him and wind up in eternal punishment. So having said that, let me explain. Most of you are aware there are various images in Scripture to describe Christians, the body of Christ. There's the temple, there's this stone building that Jesus is building, and each of us are living stones. And Jesus is the chief cornerstone. Most of you know the Bible talks about in Ephesians 2.20 that the church of Jesus Christ is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, and Christ is the cornerstone. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 6 tells us that whoever believes in this precious cornerstone will not be put to shame. But listen to the next two verses. 1 Peter 2, verses 7 and 8. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected, talking about Jesus, has become the cornerstone. And a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. A rock of offense. That's the same word. Here in our text, they were offended by him, found Jesus offensive. Isn't it amazing? How the same person, Jesus, can be loved and adored by many, and at the same time hated and abhorred by others. Some of us, most of us, I'm assuming, the vast majority of us, we fell at Jesus' feet as it were. And we have been ever since worshiping him as our Savior and our Lord. There are others, arms crossed, I don't believe it. If you're not real careful, you're gonna trip over him as it were. And the fall will be eternal. The fall will be eternal. The actions that we've seen here remind me of what 1 Corinthians 1 verses 23 and 24 say. Paul said, We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Now, folks, I think most of you know this. Muslims, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses, they all believe in Jesus. To what to a teacher, every one of them, they believe, but not the Jesus of the Bible. They don't believe in the Jesus of the Bible. For some, Jesus might be a good teacher and even a miracle worker, but he's no savior. He's no God. He might have been an excellent carpenter, but he's not the Christ. He might have brought a good message, but he's not the Messiah. Jesus, the Jesus that we worship, is the second person in the Godhead, equal with God the Father, God the Son, he is God. Let him be your savior, not your stumbling stone. A second danger of skepticism, it stymies God's power. It stymies God's power. Folks, read, read, read verse 5. It's so sad. And he, Jesus, he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. It wasn't that his power had been sucked away. It's just that what you normally exercise in order to be the recipient of God's power wasn't there. They didn't believe. They had no faith. It wasn't that he was incapable of manifesting more miraculous signs. But folks, God mostly withheld his power from the stiff-necked people who held Jesus in contempt. And so think about all that they missed out on. Think about maybe all the pain and suffering that some of them experienced that they could have avoided if they would have exercised faith. You see, the purpose of miracles was never to entertain the hard-hearted, but it was to move those who were open to the gospel towards saving faith. That was what it was all about. Not to impress, but to save. Unbelief can rob a church of power. We can add new programs and staff to administrate them. We can build more buildings and add a third service one day, but without a believing expectancy and a desire for God Almighty to work in great power, we'll add and labor in vain. Nothing will come of it that will last for eternity. Can I just remind us of this simple and yet profound truth? Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6. Without faith, without faith, it is impossible to please him. Impossible. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently seek him. If you don't believe that, then you're going to miss out. I can't say what all you'll miss out on, but you're going to miss out. A third danger of skepticism, it deadens faith. It deadens faith. Look at verse 6. This passage got so much sadness in it. And he marveled. This is Jesus. Again, an equal member of the Godhead, and he marveled because of their unbelief. Now, as many of you know, and some of you in medical profession, you you use this. In medical procedures, paralyzing agents are used to prevent movement. Did you know that unbelief is the world's largest paralyzing agent? Unbelief is paralyzing. It deadens faith. It renders people incapable of responding to the Lord the way he would have them to. It's amazing that God can be almighty, omnipotent, and yet through unbelief you can stiff arm him. And if you stiff arm him long enough, faith will die. Man, listen to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 3 and 4. These verses describe what's going on back here 2,000 years ago in this synagogue. The people just didn't know it. Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who were perishing. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. I'm urging you, I'm not ashamed to do it either. I'm not ashamed to do it. I'm urging any of you who are battling skepticism, whether it's because of a teacher or a professor who has taught something that's generated some questions and doubts, or whether it's because of a major disappointment or even a tragedy that you've experienced, to anyone asking critical questions laced with skepticism, I urge you, would you please say with the Father as he speaks in Mark 9, 24, we'll get there eventually. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Help my unbelief. I firmly believe that if you were to say that to the Lord, you know, God, I okay, I believe you created. I even believe in the resurrection. But you got some questions. Ask the Lord, help my unbelief. Help my unbelief. Moms and dads, I'm urging you to pray that the Lord will supernaturally remove the spiritual blinders off the eyes of your kids andor grandkids. Teenagers, would you pray that God would break the chains of skepticism that maybe have your mom or dad or your siblings enslaved? Pray that the Lord would nullify the paralyzing agent of unbelief in the lives of your family and friends, your coworkers, your teammates. Would you be willing to pray that? Two exhortations to those of us who know Christ. Number one, please don't be scandalized by Jesus. You might know him as your savior, but that doesn't mean that you're not susceptible to being scandalized by Jesus. You see, are you scandalized by the simplicity of the gospel? Do you find it scandalous that we would believe in six days literal creation? Do you find it scandalous that somebody could be a murderer, a rapist, many times over, and yet within the final hours of their life, if they truly repent, they're going to spend eternity in heaven, just like you and me? Do you find that scandalous? Do you ever find yourself not wanting your coworkers to know that you're a Christ follower? Please don't be scandalized by Jesus. And can I also, I just want to be straight up and honest with you. As you strive not to be scandalized by Jesus, just know this you might be mistreated like Jesus. If they were offended by him, some people are going to be offended by you. Don't talk to me. Don't share that mess with me. I don't, I don't, I don't need your God. I don't need your script. Don't be quoting scriptures to me. Don't you put anything on your desk that I got to read either. So you need to be prepared for that. And some of you already experience it. But Jesus told us it was going to come. He tried to prepare us. John 15, I'm going to read verses 18 and 20. If the world hates you, know that it hates it hated me before it hated you. Remember the word that I said to you? A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. So don't be scandalized by Jesus. And then number two, don't be complacent with Jesus. Don't be complacent with Jesus. Do you think the saying familiarity breeds contempt is true about American Christianity? I think in large part it is. You see, no other country on earth has had more opportunities to hear the word of God, to know God, to go to heaven than the citizens of America. Yet to a large degree, we've become gospel-hardened people. I'm afraid too many followers of Jesus are too familiar to the whole thing. Have you become so familiar with Christ? Have you been raised in church all your life, perhaps, that the words of the living God no longer convict, his miracles no longer astonish, and his death on the cross no longer strikes a chord of amazing grace. God forbid, oh Lord, please, God forbid that our church ever become complacent with Jesus. May we never, ever become complacent toward lost souls. May we always just long to see people come to know Jesus, get baptized, to see lives changed. Man, I want John 3.16 to thrill your soul as much today as it did maybe 30 years ago or however long ago it was when you first heard it. God so loved the world, including you, that he sent Jesus. So as many of you know, or perhaps many of you know, there are only two times in scripture, only two times recorded that Jesus marveled. One of them is right here. He marveled at their unbelief. The other one, um, it's it's with regard to a Roman centurion, a soldier who had many other uh Roman soldiers under him, and he would issue commands, etc., and he would lead them into battle, etc. This one particular Roman centurion had a servant that he dearly loved, and this servant of his was on the verge of death, not unlike Jarius's daughter. And um the Roman soldier sent word to Jesus about his servant. And I want to pick up with Matthew's uh rendering of how things went from there. When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, Lord, my servant is laying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly. And he, the centurion, said to him, It's a Roman centurion, a gentile. And he uh Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion replied, Lord, I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority and soldiers under me. And I say to one, go and he goes, and to another, come and he comes, and to my servant, do this and he does it. And when Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. So if the Lord could right now just kind of pause and look at Dennis and look at JD and look at Nancy and look at Tim and look at Jeff and Jeremy and Carol, if he were to marvel, wow, would he be more prone to marvel at your unbelief or your belief? Let's pray. Father, um, I feel like I stumbled a lot this morning. But I believe that you have spoken. And um, Lord, I believe. I know my people believe. Lord, help us when unbelief creeps in. Father, we live in a skeptical age. So many questions are asked. People don't want to believe the simplicity of the gospel. Lord, help us to never, ever, ever become too familiar with the glorious truths of scripture that they don't mean anything to us anymore. Oh Lord, help us to not be scandalized by Jesus and help us to never be complacent with Jesus. Help us to believe, Lord, to be people of faith. And right now, eyes are closed, but just real quickly, I want to ask: is there somebody here? It's gonna take some honesty, it's gonna take some transparency. Is there somebody here who would just simply say, you know what, Jeff? I hate to admit it, but I do have a skeptical disposition. I don't admit it with pride necessarily, but I'm I'm willing to acknowledge it so that you can pray for me. Anybody, if you would be honest enough to say, Jeff, I do have a skeptical disposition and I'd like for you to pray for me. Would you just mind maybe just throwing your hand up, let me see it, acknowledge it? Anybody? Now, Lord, there might be somebody watching online, and maybe in your providence, somebody who might be leaning towards skepticism will hear how it expressed itself in this biblical passage. And Lord, maybe you can use it to draw them out and to solidify their faith in the true and living God. With that said, I pray it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.