July 11, 2023
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Mark? Here’s today’s reading:
Mark 6 (NIV)
A Prophet Without Honor
1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?..…..Continue Reading
I am impressed by Jesus’ attitude towards the people. At this point, he probably was still grieving for the death of John, tired from the ministry but these things did not stop him from caring for the people he ministers to.
Funny it is sometimes those closest to us that can bring us the most heartache. Perhaps the familiarity that the people of His own hometown had with Him made it hardest for them to believe He was the Messiah came to save them. To them He was Jesus the kid down the road. It happens often when we make changes in our lives those that knew us before will doubt the sincerity of our decision to turn from wrong behaviors but like Jesus we must show through our actions that we are a changed person. Also another important lesson is that we must make decisions about people based on our own observations of them and not fall victim to gossip or other’s opinions. King Herod knew John to be a righteous man but was swept up in someone else’s agenda to end his life.
Jesus went on in this chapter to feed 5 thousand and walk on water and people flocked to Him to see, hear, and hopefully touch this man who was so different then anyone they had heard of before. His actions were confirming who He was and yet still people didn’t believe.
In reading about John the Baptist here in Mark, I’m reminded about John sending messengers to Jesus to remind him of his imprisonment as relayed in Matthew. Jesus told the messengers to say, “Blessed is he who does not fall away on account of me.” This verse was such an encouragement for me during a difficult time.
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In verse 52, it says that the disciples didn’t understand about the loaves because their hearts were hardened. Is it that they didn’t understand the miracle? Or is there something more to this?
I will need to look into the Greek to answer this Renee…
Thank you, Pastor. He brings it up in Mark 8 too.
I was wondering if there was any clarity as to whether the phrase “their hearts were hardened” was a cause or an effect. In other words, did their hard hearts cause them to not understand, or were their hard hearts an effect of not understanding. And I believe it is the former, that their hearts being hardened explains why they didn’t get the feeding of the 5,000 and the walking on water. As I said in my comment below, they are still thinking of the miracles in physical terms without associating them with deep held faith and understanding of who Jesus is. It’s like, isn’t it neat that this happened and we fed all these people, as opposed, who is this person walking amongst us and isn’t He great. Isn’t He the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel! In other words, why would you be afraid when you see Jesus walking on the water and explain that it must be a ghost. If you understood that miracles point to the great ability of who Jesus is, then the guy who feeds 5,000 can certainly walk on water. And why didn’t they get it, their hearts were hard.
And it is interesting to consider that Mark is thought to be dependent on Peter for his gospel…and I believe he is the only one who talks about this hardness here. Just imagine Peter telling Mark….yeah at this point we just didn’t get it….Jesus was doing all these great things and we didn’t get how great He was…our hearts were too hard, the spiritual realities couldn’t penetrate….
Hope that helps….
Mark 6
No prophet honored in his hometown. How could the messiah come from their own town? And he has brothers and sisters. I was brought up told about the Virgin Mary.!! Sent out in twos. They could draw strength from each other. 3 cords not easily broken Don’t go it alone. !! Praying in wickford. 2 people etc. Shake the dust off your feet. What an insult to those of that town. Jewish men did that if they passed through a gentile village. Herod as like many others wondered who Jesus was. John the Baptist was filling him in on the truth. Herod as all his relatives have no back bone. Every decision was to please the people. He could have come up with a better conclusion. Spineless!! Jesus feeds the 5000. The apostles still don’t understand that with God all things are possible. When we face impossible odds, look up!! And pray. Always wondered how many days the 2 fish had been carried. Pew!! Jesus gives thanks for all things. Including this miraculous meal. Jesus walks on water. One of my favorite. Jesus sends them out at evening. They struggle all night Jesus comes to them early morning. We always want a quick fix. God wants us to lean on him as we struggle against the storms of life. How many scars do you have!!! Take courage it is I. Do not be afraid!!!! Love that response in all circumstances. And behold I will be with you until the end of this age
When I think about Jesus not being accepted in His own town, I can’t help but think about kids that have grown up in the church. I think that we have a certain way that we perceive and treat them when they come back from school, etc that makes them feel patronized. I confess, I often remember them as they were when they left. I can’t help but think of my son, Tyler, who seemed to change overnight. One year he was going to college for music performance, and then another year and he is studying theological and Biblical studies. Not what I expected at all, but truly a blessing.
How easy it was for the people in Nazareth to just assume what Jesus would be like and yet this caused them to miss who He is. It is so important to take Jesus at face value and accept who He is. It is interesting though the references to Jesus having several siblings…clearly Mary did not remain a virgin. And isn’t it amazing that Jesus entrusts the spreading of His message to the likes of the disciples and us. And yet it is great training and experience and opportunity for theirs and our faith to grow as we see God work and we are made to explain the message to someone else.
And what a sad end for John the Baptist. It does reveal the destructive nature of bitterness, deceit and lust. Herod was not interested in the truth but whatever tickled his fancy, which is a common state for mankind that Jesus seeks to free us from.
And it is tough to rate Jesus miracles, but the feeding of the 5,000 is amongst the greatest. What amazing creative power is expressed in multiplying food for that many people! And the disciples only think of things along finite, physical terms….if they only understood and believed that Jesus could do a miracle like this. Their misunderstanding and lack of faith in this instant also causes them to be more amazed than they should have with regards to Jesus walking on the water. They should have accepted that Jesus could do something like this as well. But their lack of faith hardened their hearts to the greatness of the works that Jesus could perform.
Jesus went into His home country but because of their unbelief Jesus didn`t do any mighty works. Even His own family and His friends that He grew up with didn`t believe. He only healed a few sick people but kept teaching anyways. Here is a glimpse of Jesus family. According to this He had other brothers and sisters. They were James, Joses [ Joseph ], Juda, and Simon. Four brothers and at least two sisters. None of them were believers before the resurrection. Of course Mary His mother knew who He was. They were all His half brothers and sisters. We also hear about James His brother latter in other scriptures. James becomes one of the leaders of the church and is credited with being the writer of the book of James. But at this point in time he wasn`t saved. I`m not sure about the others of His family. Then Jesus sends out the 12 disciples two by two and gave them power over demons. They were commanded to preach that people would repent. There is strength in numbers. Many examples in the Bible of Christians doing this. Sometimes more than two. Jumping over to the 5,000 men that were fed. It says that 5,000 men were fed but there is no mention of the women and children that were fed. The number could be far larger unless the 5,000 included everyone. But it does say men. Jesus had the disciples search in the crowd what there was to eat and they found 5 loaves and two fish. Jesus had the disciples do their part and then Jesus did what only He could do and performed a miracle multiplying the loaves and fish. So much that they had 12 baskets full after everyone had eaten. This is how Jesus works in our lives. He requires us to do our part like sharing Christ and He will do His part. True in other areas of our lives also. Then after this He told His disciples to get into the ship and go to the other side. Meanwhile He went up a mountain to pray. Even the Son of God needed to pray. He must had prayed for a while for the scripture says that He until even. The disciples are struggling to row against the wind and Jesus caught up to them. He is walking on water and they think it is a ghost. He tells them be of good cheer; it is I. immediately the wind stops when He gets into the ship. They were amazed. It says that their hearts were hardened for they didn`t consider the miracle of the loaves. How easy they forgot who Jesus is , the Son of God. Earlier Jesus calmed the waters by speaking and telling it to stop. He has done all these miracles, healed the sick, and cast out demons. He also has granted them the ability to heal the sick and cast out demons. And yet they are short sighted and keep going back to not believing that God can do the impossible. I think that this is a reminder of ourselves as we walk with Jesus.
Mark 6
At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus could not heal the people in his hometown beause of their lack of faith. Faith is so important in our walk with God, without it we cannot take part in his kingdom. At the end of the chapter, the crowds followed Jesus wherever he went, and they carried their sick to him. Because they believed that he had the power to help them, many people were healed of their ailments.