Passage: Mark 6:1-6

The Big Idea

Unbelief ruins everything we care about and keeps us from everything God wants to give. In Jesus’ hometown, the people heard His gracious words and were amazed, but they were offended. They thought they already knew Him, and they didn’t think they needed Him. Unbelief always carries two lies: a good opinion of myself and a bad opinion of God. Faith corrects both, and every morning we need to come back to Jesus in humility and faith.

Two Lies

David Guzik has described faith as the capacity to receive what God wants to give, and unbelief as the willful refusal to receive what God wants to give.

Horatius Bonar wrote: “In all unbelief there are these two things: a good opinion of one’s self and a bad opinion of God.”

God is amazed when we carry these two lies:

Lie #1: I am good. “You’re fine. You’re whole. You know what you need. You understand. You’re good enough. You’ve got it. You’re in a good place. You can do it. You’re self-sufficient. You can be your own boss.”

Lie #2: God is not good. “God needs me. God requires payment. God wants me to impress Him. I have to earn His help. He doesn’t really want to help. He’s distant, slow, indifferent. He just wants me as a slave.”

I’m capable, and God is unloving.

But faith carries two truths: a correct view of myself, and a correct view of God.

Back to Nazareth (Mark 6:1)

Jesus left there and came to His hometown, and His disciples followed Him.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem.
His family fled to Egypt for a time, as the angel told Joseph.
Then they returned and settled in Nazareth. That was His hometown.
Nazareth wasn’t a cool place to be from. It was a tiny village of perhaps a few hundred people. Nobody famous came from there, and nothing important happened there. Nathanael even asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

This was at least the second time Jesus returned to Nazareth during His ministry. The first time He taught there, they tried to throw Him off a cliff! He’d given them some time to cool off.

The First Visit (Luke 4:16-30)

Luke tells us what happened that first time. Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, as was His custom, and stood up to read. He was handed the scroll of Isaiah and found the place where it says the Spirit of the Lord is on Him, because He has anointed Him to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Isaiah 61:1-2). Then He rolled up the scroll, sat down, and with every eye fixed on Him, said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

We’ve read this text from Isaiah many times in Mark. It lays out God’s mission for the Messiah:

Good news for the poor and brokenhearted.
Liberty for captives. Sight for the blind.
All good things for broken people.
And all free gifts. We call that grace.
The Messiah is all about bringing grace to people like us: free gifts of His power, healing and love. He wants to shower us with blessings.

And everyone spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words coming from His mouth. They understood exactly what He was saying: “I’m here to give you grace. I want to give you what you need. I love you, and I’ll provide for you.” Not words about what you must do to prove yourself, but what He would do for you. That’s Jesus!

But then they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

They wouldn’t accept His grace. They were too familiar with Him. They thought they knew Him and His limits. They didn’t think they needed His help, and they were offended that He’d offer it.
That’s pride.
It’s remarkable: the way you respond to Jesus will always reveal your heart, pride or humility. Every single time.

Jesus said, “No doubt you’ll quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in Your hometown what we heard You did in Capernaum.'”

Jesus exposed their thinking: they assumed the problem was with Him, and that’s why they weren’t seeing His works in their lives.
I hear this all the time: “Why doesn’t God do anything for me? He never gives me a break. He doesn’t hear me. He doesn’t care.”
But the problem isn’t with Jesus. It’s with us. We refuse to believe or place our faith in Him.
When we aren’t seeing God work in our lives, the issue is almost always simple faith.

Then He said, “Truly, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. There were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s day, during the famine, yet Elijah was sent to none of them except a widow in Zarephath in Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in Elisha’s time, yet none was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

Both were outsiders who showed simple faith, trusting God’s grace rather than themselves.
Even imperfect trust is enough for God to work miracles. Faith like a mustard seed, right?

Everyone in the synagogue was filled with rage. They drove Him out of town and took Him to the brow of the hill their town was built on to throw Him off the cliff. But He passed right through the middle of them and went on His way.

The gospel of grace offends our pride.
They didn’t think they needed grace, so why would they accept Someone who only operates by giving it?
They hated the message and the Messenger. His friends, His neighbors, the people who knew Him best, tried to kill Him.
That’s what pride does to our relationships. We end up trying to destroy the very people we were supposed to love.
Pride keeps us from the grace that would transform us and fill us with love. So bitterness and hatred grow in our hearts, until we say and do things we never thought we could.
If you’ve been proud, thinking you can do life without God’s grace, you’ll slowly turn into a monster.

The solution? Confess our pride, put our hope and confidence in Jesus alone, humble ourselves before Him, and trust His hand to supply everything we need.

A Second Chance (Mark 6:2-3)

And now Jesus came back to His hometown. No bitterness. No anger. Giving them a second chance to believe.

Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, the city that killed the prophets: how often He longed to gather her children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but they were not willing (Luke 13:34).

Our God is a God of second chances, not frustrated, grudging second chances, but truly patient, genuine ones. Jesus pursues us. As long as there’s breath in your body, Jesus is full of love and grace toward you. He’ll bring His truth, and you’ll have to decide whether to accept it and Him, or reject Him.

If we’ve been proud, we have a chance today to turn back to Jesus.

When the Sabbath came, He began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things? What’s this wisdom given to Him? How are such mighty works done by His hands? Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.

Pride can’t understand grace.
A proud, self-sufficient heart can hear Jesus and even be amazed, but it only leads to confusion.
They were bewildered. How could He do these miracles? How could He be this wise?
By the power of God, of course! But pride wouldn’t let them see the simple truth.
They thought they knew something that made it impossible: “We know His mom and His brothers and sisters!”
Many people today form opinions about Jesus based on the people they think represent Him: the church.
Pride made them question silly things, then mock people who had little to do with the real issue. And pride’s end result was that they refused to believe.
Pride and faith can’t mix. Either you trust yourself or you trust Jesus. Either you hold on to the lies you’ve been told, or you believe Jesus’ words.

Amazed at Their Unbelief (Mark 6:4-6)

Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household.”

Jesus nailed it. They thought they knew. They wouldn’t listen. Pride equals unbelief.

He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled at their unbelief. Then He went around the villages teaching.

Was the all-powerful Jesus really limited, like some powerless prophet? No. He was “limited” because they refused to receive things His way.

Tim Keller made a helpful point: Jesus’ miracles weren’t magic tricks to prove His power; they were signs of the kingdom, showing how His redeeming power works. His miracles always healed, restored and delivered people in ways that revealed how we find Him by faith and are transformed by Him. He “could not” do a deed that wouldn’t redeem.

Is God really hindered by our unbelief? It’s not that He couldn’t, but that He wouldn’t work apart from faith.

“If it isn’t by faith, I’m not doing it.”
“I only work one way: grace. You trust Me in humility, and I’ll give you everything you need by My power and grace. Deal?”

Give always means grace.

These people built a wall of unbelief, and so they cut themselves off from God’s good work.

Have you?

Every Morning

Is Jesus your only hope? Or does your heart drift away from Him, like mine does?

Every morning I wake up and my default setting is self-sufficiency. It takes me a while to realize how dangerous that default is. Usually I notice when I start saying and doing things that hurt the people I love.

What I need every morning is to come to Jesus in humility and faith: “Jesus, I need You. Jesus, I trust You.”

How do I do that practically? I get alone with my Bible and read. In humility, I admit I can’t go a day without His power, love and grace. And in faith, I look to Him to give them through His Word.

Remember Bonar: unbelief is “a good opinion of one’s self and a bad opinion of God.” Reading the Word corrects both lies I wake up with every morning.

I’m not going to ask you to commit to doing this. I’m asking you to be convinced that you need Him. That’s humility: “I’m not capable.”

I’m not asking you to promise me you’ll change. I’m asking you to believe that He will change you by His grace, not by your efforts, but by His power. That’s faith: “God is loving!”

Grace Takeaway

Nazareth heard Jesus’ gracious words and still walked away empty, because pride told them they knew Him and didn’t need Him. Unbelief always thinks too highly of self and too poorly of God. Jesus is patient and keeps offering second chances. Let His Word correct both lies every morning, admit your need, and trust His love. That’s where His mighty works begin.

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Why Nazareth Couldn’t Be Helped