SECTION SIX OF MEN, AND MORE Mark 6:1 to 7:23 1. OPINION OF THE Mark 6:1-6 (Matthew 13:54-58; Luke 4:16-31) 1 And he went out from thence;--From Capernaum, where he had raised from the dead the (laughter of Jairus. Not only from the house of Jairus, but from the city of Capernaum. Then ended his stay in Capernaum. and he cometh into his own country;--Nazareth and its neighborhood. His mother and Joseph lived here before his birth (Luke 1:26-27; Luke 2:4), and Jesus was reared there (Matthew 2:23; Mark 1:9; Luke 2:39; Luke 2:41; Luke 2:51), and was called a "Nazarene" (Matthew 2:23; Mark 1:24). Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but occurs first in Matthew (Matthew 2:23). It derives its celebrity from its connection with the history of Christ. and his disciples follow him.--The twelve (verse 7) and probably many others who went with him from place to place. 2 And when the sabbath was come, he began to teach in the synagogue:--[Synagogues had been built in all the towns of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, and in the towns of the heathen nations wherever Jews in any number dwelled. The synagogue was the house of meeting. With the building of the synagogue came the weekly meeting, reading the scriptures, and the abandonment of idol worship by the Jews. They met in the synagogues every Sabbath to read the scriptures. Jesus, in traveling around through the country, habitually entered the synagogues on the Sabbath to read the scriptures and teach the people. In these teaching journeys he healed the sick and relieved the suffering, and was praised and glorified of all. The early ministry of Jesus had a seeming success that the latter did not. This is often true of any cause. Truth commends itself to the hearts of the common people. Often a cause is popular until the opposition has time to organize and strengthen itself, and then difficulties arise, old prejudices are aroused. Then the fairweather friends turn back and walk no more with the truth; only the true and steadfast will stand in such trials.] and many hearing him were astonished,--Probably the multitude is meant. There was a freshness, an originality in his teachings that compelled their attention and excited their wonder. saying, Whence hath this man these things?--The designation is contemptuous--"this man" that we all know. The wisdom with which he spake created the inquiry into these things. and, What is the wisdom that is given unto this man,--[Jesus manifested no miraculous power until the Holy Spirit came upon him as he came up out of the waters of baptism. After he received this Spirit and had been tempted he returned into Galilee, working miracles through the power bestowed upon him, and the fame of this power went abroad throughout Galilee and adjoining countries.] and what mean such mighty works--There were whispers already circulating that he had learned in some way, since his residence in Nazareth, to use the powers of the Prince of Darkness, and this was the explanation of his miracles. wrought by his hands?--Which so recently were employed in servile and mechanical work. Let the Lord's day find you at the Lord's house, and let it find you ready to teach always the clear revelation of God's will which must be an astonishment to the worldly. 3 Is not this the carpenter,--Not as indicating that that business is low or unworthy, but as putting him on a level with themselves. Among the Jews there was nothing degrading in a trade. Even the rabbis learned trades. Said they, "He who does not teach his son a trade, is much the same as if he taught him to be a thief." "A boy with a trade is like a garden well fenced." Justin Martyr says that Jesus made plows and the like. Matthew has, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" indicating his reputed sonship to Joseph. Probably both sentences were uttered in the busy whispering which went on in the congregation. the son of Mary,--His mother was also well known. Joseph, perhaps, now was no longer living, otherwise it would have been natural for his name to have been mentioned here. In his previous visit they spoke of him as "Joseph's son," a reference to Joseph as then living, or still remembered. (Luke 4:22.) and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon?--Words should be taken in their first and ordinary meaning, unless there are some reasons for not doing so. These reasons are entirely wanting, and these "brothers" are to be considered the sons of Mary. (Matthew 12:46; Galatians 1:19.) The scriptures allude to Mary as the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus, her first born. (Matthew 1:25; Luke 2:7.) and are not his sisters here with us?--After Jesus was born, Mary became the mother of at least six other children. The fair interpretation of this passage is that these were the sons and daughters of Joseph and Mary. The people in the neighborhood thought so, and spoke of them as such. and they were offended in him.--That is, the foolish prejudice arising from familiarity, and disinclination to allow their equals to be exalted above themselves, caused them to stumble at his claims, and finally reject them. 4 And Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country,--A proverbial saying, doubtless, and expressing a worldwide truth. It is rarely that a community realizes the greatness of its own sons till they come back with the stamp of greatness from the outer world. Cities contend to be considered the birthplace of men dead, who could scarcely find shelter therein when living. This is a fact in human experience, presenting a general truth, of which the treatment of Jesus in the present instance was an example. A stranger sees the public and spiritual acts of a prophet, and recognizes his heavenly character; but neighbors and acquaintances fix their thoughts upon his earthly relationships, to a partial or total exclusion of his higher excellences, and thus come to a wrong conclusion. Prejudice and rejection are the result. That our Lord as a prophet should receive such treatment was highly unreasonable and wicked on the part of his former neighbors and acquaintances. His wisdom and miracles should have overcome all prejudice and unbelief. and among his own kin, and in his own house.--Among his relatives, and in his own family, with whom he was brought up from childhood. His brothers did not believe on him. (John 7:3-5.) This proverb was strikingly illustrated in this instance, when the Son of God himself, with power to work miracles, could prove to be no exception to the general rule as expressed by this saying. Jesus advances this as a general truth. There might be some exceptions to it, but he was not an exception. Everywhere else he had been more honored than at home. 5 And he could there do no mighty work,--A most significant sentence this, as showing even the miracles of Jesus to depend upon the receptivity of the subject. Their prejudices kept them from hearty faith in him; and this seems to have extended to almost the entire community. They did not believe, and they could not be healed. The frequent mention of faith as the medium of healing in the miracles that he wrought prepares us for this as an explanation of failure. It applies as well to the healing of the malady of the soul. It depends upon the sinner as much as upon God. The teaching that faith is a direct, special, and irresistible gift of God is untrue, because then the Savior would have been without excuse in failing to heal. The needy one exercises faith, and instantly the healing power responds. The reason for not doing mighty works was unbelief. And he went round about the villages teaching.them.--[They had heard the report of his healing the afflicted in Capernaum, but did not believe it, so asked that he should do the same in Nazareth. Jesus had grown up quietly as a boy among them, with no display of power. They were slow to believe great and wonderful things of him, and demanded the evidence in a spirit that hindered his doing it. Their spirit was one of defiant unbelief like that which demanded, "Let him come down from the cross" if he be the Son of God. He stated the truth that we are slow to believe one reared among us, whom we have known as a common associate, as our companion and equal, can do great things. He had done many works in Capernaum--more than he had in his native city.] 6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief.--He is spoken of here simply in his humanity. To his serene spirit, which lived in an atmosphere of perfect faith, it was a marvel that his countrymen, the chosen people of God, should reject salvation when it came directly to their doors. And he went round about the villages teaching.--Practically shut out from the city, he would not abandon the district, and therefore went among the little hamlets of which there were so many in Palestine, where no houses are built entirely alone. Not being received in Nazareth, his own city, he pursued the course he required of his disciples, by going to other places. Though rejected in his own city and by his own people, he did not allow this to keep him from going on with his mission. He moved on in his field of operation, from village to village. He now leaves Nazareth forever. A sad thought indeed.