Mark Vol. 1 - Week 16 (6:1-13)

Mark 6:1-13

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The King Who Offends

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Mark 6:1-13 〰️ The King Who Offends 〰️

This week, we get to an interesting passage in Mark. Chapter six opens with Jesus and His disciples returning to His hometown in Nazareth. Now, you're likely familiar with the town of Bethlehem as Jesus' birthplace, but if we look back at Matthew 2, we'll read that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus fled to Egypt out of fear of Herod. They later left Egypt and settled in Nazareth, about 70 miles north of Bethlehem. In this week's passage, Jesus and His disciples are coming to Nazareth from their time in Capernaum, about 20 miles north of Nazareth. Last week's passage opened with Jesus and His disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, where Jesus ministered and healed the bleeding woman and Jairus' daughter. We're able to follow Jesus' journey from one side of the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum and now down to Nazareth.

In Mark 6, we get a glimpse of the residents of Jesus' hometown, Nazareth. In v2, Mark writes that "many were astonished" at Jesus' teachings, but this isn't necessarily taken as an exclusively positive response. The residents very likely knew Jesus and grew up alongside him, as the local population is estimated to have been around 400 at that time.¹ So, with everyone likely living with Jesus and His family, they knew Him as a child and, more importantly for this passage, as a laborer. Jesus is known to have been either a carpenter or a stone mason, and here He has returned as a Rabbi (Teacher) with students. The Nazarenes would likely have heard rumors or stories of a prophet teaching and performing miracles in the surrounding areas and have been surprised to see that it was the same Jesus they knew as a child. This blue-collar worker is now suddenly the miracle-working Son of God? No way.

We then read in v6 that Jesus "was amazed at their unbelief," and because of this, was "not able to do a miracle there" (v5). The Nazarenes' unbelief likely stemmed from what they thought they knew about Jesus. They knew Him and His family and watched Him grow up, so they thought they knew exactly who He was. Their previous experience and understanding of who they thought Jesus was prevented them from seeing who He really was. We see a stark contrast when we flip back to Mark 5:21-43 and see the radical faith of Jairus and the bleeding woman. They both came to Jesus and believed before they saw Him do anything, while the Nazarenes heard His teachings, saw Him heal, and still did not believe. 

With this in mind, we can better understand why Jesus rounds up the disciples in 6:7-13. He equips them to share the Gospel, preparing them for the inevitable rejection that will come. He also granted authority to the Disciples over unclean spirits so they could heal and share the good news of Christ, as we'll see later in Acts 5. In v10-12, Jesus gives some instructions for sharing the Gospel as well. They're to stay with one household and not impose on others' hospitality or entertaining "better" offers for lodging or accommodations. The bottom line for this is that they're to honor those who offer hospitality, a reminder that they're not doing any of this for personal gain but for the Lord. Sharing the Gospel can be one of the scariest things we do as followers of Jesus, as rejection and embarrassment can cause paralysis. But Jesus' teaching here can give us some comfort.

Rereading v11, Jesus says, "If any place does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet..." Jesus tells them that when they are rejected, they're to leave and move on ("shake the dust off their feet"). "Devout Jews did this when they left Gentile (alien) territory to show that they were dissociating themselves from it. This would tell Jewish hearers they were acting like pagans in rejecting the disciples' message."² This was Jesus looking the disciples in the eye and reminding them that this was the Lord calling people to Him; to reject the message of Jesus was to reject the God of Israel, which so many people worshipped their whole lives. We can grab hold of these words from Jesus and find further comfort, knowing that-- should we be rejected-- we can shake the dust off our feet and release it to the Lord. We are not responsible for how others receive God's Word, and our obedience and faith aren't measured by our "success rate" in evangelizing to those around us. God calls us to Him, asking that we proclaim the Gospel to the world. Paul wrote this: "For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift— not from works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9).


Discussion Questions

  • What stood out to you from the passage?

  • Does anything in this passage remind you of another part of Scripture?

  • Do you have any questions?

  • What was the response of the people in v3?

  • Why do you think the Nazarenes didn't believe in Jesus?

  • What are some fears you have about sharing the Gospel?

  • How can we prevent the opinions of others from discouraging us?

  • Jesus told the disciples to shake the dust off their feet, let it roll off their shoulders, and move on after rejection. How can this encourage us as we share the Gospel with the people around us?

  • Read Ephesians 2:8-9. How can this provide comfort for us and propel us to spread the Gospel to our colleagues, friends, and neighbors this week?


1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazareth#History

2.  John D. Grassmick, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 128.

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Mark Vol. 1 - Week 17 (6:14-29)

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Mark Vol. 1 - Week 15 (5:21-43)