Dealing with biased sceptics (Mark 6:1-6)

I have to admit that I am biased.  I want Christianity to be true!

I want it to be true because my parents believe it, and I would hate to let them down.

When I went to college in Dublin, I decided that I would take Christianity more seriously.  I used to explain this in high-minded terms saying that I had reached a point where I would discover Christianity to be true and follow wholeheartedly or false and walk away.  In truth, I had no intention of walking away!

I still want it to be true.  After all I am a pastor, and I would lose my job if my faith fell apart.

But just because I am biased, and want this to be true, does not make Christianity false.

In our reading we see that the people of Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth, were also biased.  They did not want him to be the Son of God.  In truth everyone has biases!

1.      Jesus amazed people (1-2)

Jesus travelled from Capernaum, his adopted home, to Nazareth, where he grew up.  It was a journey of about 160 kilometres.

On the Jewish sabbath (Saturday) he went to the synagogue (where they met locally for worship).  He was invited to teach.  He would have been given a scroll of some of the Hebrew scriptures, translated it into the local Aramaic, and then explained its meaning.

The people were struck by the wisdom with which he taught.  They also were aware of the miracles that he performed.  In other words, they had evidence that this was no ordinary man.  But did they accept this evidence?  No!  They were actually offended by him.

There is still evidence today.  I have an interest in researching miracle stories—and I set the bar high as to what I would be sure is a miracle.  This gospel goes on to record the greatest of all miracles—the resurrection.  Even apart from the biblical accounts there is evidence that a man called Jesus lived and was crucified by the Romans.  The gospels tell us that his followers were self-confessed cowards.  Yet in the following years the Christian movement spread throughout the Roman world.  It is hard to explain without a risen Jesus!

2.      Jesus was rejected by his own (3-4)

One of the reasons they gave for rejecting Jesus is that they thought that they knew who he was.  ‘This is no rabbi, this is just a local carpenter,’ they claimed.

It is the same today.  People think they know who Jesus is.  Many of our family and friends will reject the notion that this is the Son of God but would be happy to think that he was simply a great teacher.  But C. S. Lewis points out that good teacher is not an option for Jesus.  After all, just look at the things he said.  They are not the words of a man who simply thinks he is a good teacher.

If I came into this room and claimed to be able to do things that only God could do (e.g. forgive sin), and said that I was going to die and rise from the dead, and that my death would pay the debt owed by your guilt, and that I would come back at the end of time to take my people to be with God forever, you would not say I was a good teacher.  You would say that you always thought that I was an egotist who had finally lost all sense with reality.  Good teacher is not an option for Jesus.  He was either mad, bad or the Son of God!

They also mentioned that Jesus was the son of Mary.  Why not mention Joseph, that would have been the normal thing to do in a patriarchal society?  Most commentators think that at this stage Joseph wad dead.  But that would not have stopped them referring to Jesus as Joseph’s son.  It seems that what they are doing in mentioning his parentage is bringing up the scandal of his past.  Matthew and Luke tell us of the virgin birth.  They people of that town simply knew that Mary was pregnant before she was married (which was shocking in that society).  Maybe they thought that Joseph wasn’t the father?  There are inuendo’s here.

So, they rejected him.  Probably with a little small-town mentality: ‘he didn’t choose here to do all those miracles, he had to choose somewhere else.  Does he think he is too good for us?’  Maybe they did something very Irish, they were begrudging.  We like to bring people back down to size!

So, Jesus is rejected in his hometown.

Jesus was surprised by the people (5-6a)

The people of Nazareth thought that knew who Jesus was, ‘he is just a local carpenter who has got too big for his sandals.  Afterall, he is just the illegitimate son of Mary.’

Because of their rejection he could perform no miracles there.  I don’t think this implies that he was unable, but rather that he was unwilling.  You see, his miracles were designed to point to who he is, and because they are so hostile to him it would be pointless to perform such signs amongst them.

‘He was surprised by their lack of faith’.  Their issue was not a lack of evidence—they heard the wisdom and knew about the miracles.  The issue was the stubbornness of their hearts.  They were biased against him.  They simply did not want to believe!

Conclusion

I admit that I am biased.  I want to believe that this is true.  But just because I want it to be true does not mean that it isn’t.  I believe that there is good evidence for Jesus, particularly relating to the resurrection (although I won’t pretend that I never struggle with doubt).

But the truth is that everyone has biases when it comes to Jesus.  The people of Nazareth didn’t want to believe that this could be the Son of God.  In one sense, they are like all of us, until the Holy Spirit begins to open our eyes.

Why do our friends have a bias against God?  Why are people not asking us to tell them about him?  There are many reasons.

It may be pride.  After all, Jesus says I have not come to call the righteous but sinners (2:17), or as the Good News Version translates it, ‘I have not come to call respectable people but outcasts.’  The 'good teacher' Jesus can give us rules by which we can prove ourselves by.  They saviour Jesus calls us to face the very worst in ourselves, and to embrace his forgiveness.

It may be fear.  What does Jesus mean when he says, ‘follow me!’ (2:14)?  Who am I going to have to love?  What idols am I going to have to stop living for?  When will this involve swimming against the cultural tide?  It is all a bit scary!

It is also a case of wilful ignorance.  Most people don’t even bother to think about what following Jesus would involve.  Therefore, they miss out on the infinite love, the peace of forgiveness, the opportunity to live for something greater than self and the sure hope of eternal joy.

Christian, don’t forget who Jesus is!  Let his grace humble you every day.  Think of what he has done for you and be transformed by gratitude.  Pray for the opportunity to people to others about what Jesus has done for you.  Pray that he would melt the hardness of their hearts and draw them to himself!