January 6, 1999

EXPLORE THE BIBLE:
Resisting the expectations
of the hometown crowd
___ Mark 6:1-6a, 51-52; 7:5-8
___By Dillard Wilbanks
___Travis Avenue Baptist Church, Fort Worth
___The hometown crowd back in Nazareth "down-sized" Jesus. In reducing him to merely "the carpenter, the son of Joseph and Mary" they resisted his wisdom, teaching and miracles. The result of this resistance was forfeiture of his supernatural power and provision.
___ Resistance by unbelief (6:1-6a). Jesus' return to his hometown was not social. He came with his band of disciples as a teacher and on the Sabbath went into the synagogue to teach. This may well have been their first time to hear him speak. However, these residents were aware of his mighty miracles performed elsewhere (v. 2).
___While acknowledging both his wisdom and power, they responded not with wonder but with contempt. A contempt bred by familiarity. They were "scandalized" that a man of his background would say and do such things. He had no rabbinical training. The very fact that he was a working man, a man of the people, was to them a stumbling block. To us that is his glory. God came to earth taking upon himself the common life with its common tasks.
___In reality, this Son of God was the agent of creation and enjoyed the place of universal authority at the right hand of his Father. In Nazareth, both his power and provision were restricted by an environment of unbelief. In relation to the recent WWJD questions, we find here an answer to the question: "What would Jesus do with unbelief?" Absolutely nothing.
___How different is the climate in our churches today to that of the synagogue in Jesus' day? Are we so familiar with Jesus that he is actually stifled in his efforts to do anything for us and through us? When we minimize his authority over us, we neutralize his power through us.
___ Resistance by hardness (6:51-52). Jesus had sent his disciples into the storm, seen them in the storm, and now he appears once again to calm their fears.
___Perhaps this was a test. They had just witnessed the feeding of the 5,000 in the presence of Jesus. Could they trust him in this period of absence to protect them on the journey he had assigned them? If so, they failed the test. Their continuing amazement had yet to mature into faith sufficient to get them through the inevitable storms. Their fear preceding his presence was rooted in a "hardness of heart" (v. 7).
___While Jesus may not always still the storms around us, he will calm the storm within us if our hearts are open and our faith maturing. In the presence of his Holy Spirit Jesus never will leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). "Take heart" that he's always in the boat and the storm won't last forever.
___ Resistance by substitution (7:5-8). Another delegation of fact-finding religious leaders from Jerusalem arrived on the scene. To this delegation of Scribes and Pharisees, good religion was external acts with no regard for what was in the heart. They substituted laws of human ingenuity for the laws of the voice of God. The disciples' violation of their hand-washing ritual brought these legalists into confrontation with Jesus. Quoting from Isaiah 29, Jesus accused them of hypocrisy--not just acting, but a life of play-acting with no sincerity.
___While weighing our own religious traditions against the clear teaching of Scripture, we must be careful in this culture of substituting "political correctness" for biblical authority.

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