Mark 6:1-6 Home Town Amazement
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: January 26, 2018, Mark 6:1-6
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Jesus left that place and went back to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were utterly amazed. “Where did this man get all these things?” they asked. “What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What great miracles are being done by his hands! This is the builder, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon, isn’t it? His sisters are here with us, aren’t they?” And they were offended by him. Jesus was telling them, “A prophet is without honor only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own home.” He couldn’t perform a miracle there except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went around to the villages and continued teaching.
(Understanding the Text) After healing Jairus’ daughter, Jesus left the area. I think it might have been to take the spotlight off of Jairus’ family. Jesus and the disciples went back to Jesus’ hometown which would have been Nazareth. F. F. Bruce’s commentary says that Nazareth was 20 miles west southwest of Capernaum (page 1163). It’s interesting that no crowds are following them. They must have got there before Friday because it says when Sabbath came which means that they were there before Friday evening. I think that He was teaching on Saturday morning.
It says that the people were amazed when He taught them. That tells me that Jesus never taught the people of Nazareth before He began His public ministry. Was it because Joseph was still alive for most of that time, and thus, only Joseph, the patriarch of the family, would have been asked to speak? After Joseph’s death, would the older brother be asked to speak so that Jesus as the youngest would have never been heard? Did Jesus just naturally stay away from teaching in the synagogue? We know that He could teach and understand scripture well even at twelve years old because of the temple story. “Three days later they found him in the Temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and posing questions to them. All who heard him were amazed at his intelligence and his answers.” (Luk 2:46-47). Thus, if the people of Nazareth were amazed at Jesus’ understanding and teaching, it had to have been because they had never heard Him before. That may have been because society had restricted His speaking, or it may have been because He knew that it was not yet time to call attention to Himself, or He felt that He was not yet ready to teach.
It always strikes me as strange how the people in the synagogue went from amazement to offense. First, they were impressed by Jesus’ teaching, but then for some reason, they started talking themselves out of it. It sounds to me like these people may have had the culture of poverty problem of not being happy when one of their own succeeded more than usual. Also, the jealousy culture of the Middle East may have been present.
This passage is interesting because it gives the name of Jesus’ brothers: James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon and tells us that Jesus had sisters who lived there in Nazareth. In fact, many of the people there may have been related to Jesus through marriage if it was anything like my County, which would explain the comment “A prophet is without honor only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own home” We know that Jesus’ brothers tried to tell Him what to do and came when it was reported that He was crazy to try to see Him. It also says that His relatives tried to restrain Him saying that He was crazy. Maybe, it was some of these same people from the synagogue.
It says here that Jesus could not do any miracles there except for healing a few sick people. First of all, the idea that only healing a few people is a negative rather than a wondrous accomplishment indicates the great quantities of miracles that Jesus performed every day. Second, was the reason that He could not perform miracles because of a lack of faith in the people that showed up or because no one brought their demon-possessed or crippled people to Him. It says that Jesus was amazed by their unbelief, and other places talk about faith being a necessary component in people’s healing, so it may have been because of their unbelief and only a few of the sick people that came to Him could be healed while the others remained as they were. F. F. Bruce’s commentary says that there are only two places in scripture where it says that Jesus marveled at something. One was the unbelief of His townsfolk and the other was the faith of a foreigner in Luke 7:9. This commentary also adds an interesting idea as to why Jesus could not do miracles in Nazareth.
(Revelation of God) God operates within the principle of not forcing people to come to Him. Jesus’ principles would not allow Him to force healing on someone who was unwilling (page 1163). Thus, one reason why faith is necessary for healing is that it demonstrates our willingness to allow Jesus to work in us. God will only work in us to transform us to the depth that we let Him, not because He does not have the power or needs our openness, but because His very being will not allow himself to force us in any way, including healing us. Our faith is the affirmative that allows God to work within us.
(Application and Prayer) I wonder if Jesus is frequently amazed at the unbelief present among people who claim to be part of His church. I hope that You are never amazed at my unbelief. I pray to have faith to allow you to perform miracles in my life.
(Understanding the Text) Jesus went first to Nazareth and after the Sabbath and the lack of miracles, He left Nazareth and began traveling around to the other villages around it.
I wonder if Mary had a hard time living in Nazareth among such unbelief. Maybe, the culture that Jesus’ brothers grew up in counteracted Mary and Joseph’s influence of faith. We know that James and Jude changed and believed after Jesus’ resurrection, but did the other brothers retain their unbelief? Was one of the reasons that Jesus gave Mary into John’s care so that she would not have to return to Nazareth?