The Unbelief of “Believers” | Mark 6:4–6
4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without
honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own
household.” 5 And he
could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick
people and healed them. 6 And
he marveled because of their unbelief. And
he went about among the villages teaching.
Others marveled at Christ (5:20; 15:5), but here, Christ is
astounded at faithlessness amid His truth and verifiable miracles. Last time, we considered the scandal of Christ,
that He brings the truth too near to bear on the collective soul of Nazarene
people. They knew Him as a child, so
they couldn’t believe that He had the power to heal, even though they were
witnessing it firsthand. The bigger
stumbling block was that He now preached repentance and belief in His gospel
message (1:14–15; 6:2). Their initial excitement
faded to offense. They may have believed
in God, but they disbelieved they needed to apply His message.
They disbelieved by
not coming to Him. We never read
that faith was a prerequisite for Jesus’s miracles—He even raised a dead girl
who would be unable to exercise faith! Yet,
in Nazareth, we read that He “could do no mighty work there, except… a few” (v.
5). In other words, in cities like
Capernaum where He’d essentially eradicated all sickness, relatively few Nazarenes
came to Him to be healed. Sure, they’re near Jesus in proximity or by blood, but
their hearts are far (cf. Mt 15:8).
They disbelieved by
rejecting His message. In v. 4, He places Himself on par with the
prophets, and He was indeed recognized by others as a prophet (v. 15; 8:28; Mt
21:11, 46; Lk 7:16; 24:19; Jn 6:14; 7:40; 9:17). However, He implies that He’s without honor, for
His own family thought He’d lost His mind (3:21; cf. Jn 7:5). Now, their embarrassment turns to outright
rejection.
Thankfully, none are too far or too near for Him to
save. His family would eventually
believe. After He appeared resurrected
to His brother (1 Cor 15:7), His family joined the disciples “with one accord”
in prayer (Acts 1:14). James and Judas (Jude)
would pen the New Testament books bearing their names, and James even became
the leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13; Gal 1:19). He saves those who grew up with Him, such as in
church, who previously never came to Him.
Repent and believe today.
