SCANDALOUS
Jason Grissom
MARK: THE SERVANT WHO WAS OUR SAVIOR • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 45:40
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I want to focus on the last sentence of verse 3 “and they took offense at him” and hyper focus on the “offense”. Offense is the Greek word skandalon, from which we get our word scandal. It says they were scandalized by him. What does that mean?
During a sabbatical in Cambridge, England, my wife and I had occasion to take a taxi the evening before national elections, and our taxi driver volunteered his unsolicited political views. He said that though he did not like Margaret Thatcher, he was going to vote for her because he respected her. Then he added, “Even though I can’t stand her middle-class accent!” Our cabbie, who certainly did not speak Oxbridge English, disdained Margaret Thatcher for her common accent—it betrayed her origin as a green grocer’s daughter.
There are people who find it personally offensive if someone who was one of them yesterday should have become much more today. Montaigne, the famous French philosopher, politician, and writer, said that at home he was considered just a scribbling country proprietor, in the neighboring town a man of recognized business ability, and farther away a noted author. The greater the distance away, the greater he became.
There may be a reason familiarity breeds contempt: when you get close to others, you see their inconsistencies, foibles, and contradictions. But not so with Jesus. His ethos was perfect. The better people knew him, the more they experienced a growing respect. This was (and is) always true with Jesus. This jealous, rung-dropping attitude toward Jesus by his hometown was simply “part of humanity’s contempt for itself.”5 As a result of their contempt, “they took offense at him.” Knowing his claims, they were faced with the great trilemma of C. S. Lewis: he was either the Lord, a lunatic, or a liar. They chose liar and a demonized one at that.
We must never let our growing familiarty rob us of the dazzling wonder and demands of our faith.
The Scriptures reveal that Jesus was amazed both by faith and unbelief. In one case he was amazed at the great faith of the Gentile Roman soldier, the centurion who urged Jesus to just say the word and his servant would be healed. “When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith’” (). How marvelous it is to amaze God with the extent of one’s faith!
But here Christ is astounded at his own people’s lack of faith. How terrifying it is to amaze God with one’s unbelief!
I know some people like that. They have seen the power of God in others’ lives—they have seen it in their spouses’s life and in family members—and they just “blow it off!” Everything is neatly psychologized and rationalized. Jesus’ personal witness through his Body, the Church, is despised. What darkness—to have made such a cavalier rejection of Christ! Why is this so terrifying? Because such disbelief ties Christ’s hands, so to speak, so that healing power, miracles, and grace cease to come. “He could not do any miracles there” (v. 5). Unbelief hinders God’s power.
Let me make it clear: Jesus could not do miracles because he would not. Omnipotence is not omnipotence if it is bound by anything but its own will. Jesus was morally compelled not to show his power. Matthew makes this clear: “And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith” (13:58). Unbelief freezes the exercise of God’s power. I have experienced this as a preacher. I have sometimes preached sermons which I sensed were used by God, and at other times the hearers were ice sculptures.
The eminent Scottish preacher A. J. Gossip once had the more famous Scottish divine Alexander Whyte ask him why he wasn’t at the evening service as usual. Gossip replied that he was preaching to a certain congregation. “And how did you get on?” asked Whyte. “I found it very cold,” answered Gossip. “Cold,” cried Whyte, “cold—I preached there two years ago and I have not got the chill out of my bones yet.”6
Unbelief robs the Church of its power. We can add new programs until we do not have enough hours in the day to administrate them or enough bulletin inserts to advertise them. But without a believing expectancy in Christ and his power, nothing will come of it. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” ().
If we want to please God, to know his pleasure and power, we must believe that the God revealed in the Old and New Testaments exists and that he acts equitably in behalf of his children. Do you believe this? Christ was amazed by faith as well as the lack of it. What about us amazes him?
The disciples, which now included the Twelve, sat transfixed in Nazareth’s synagogue as they watched the tragic exchange between Jesus and the hometown crowd. They learned some important things. They had seen his astounding displays of power, such as calming the sea. But now they saw that there were situations in which “He could not do any miracles”—times when faith was subverted. To serve him they must believe. They also learned that it would not be easy out there.7 If Christ found it hard to work, how much more would they? With these lessons in place, Jesus sent them out to the unbelieving world.
“Jesus went out from there,” meaning Capernaum where He had been ministering in the prior chapter; we saw that. “He went out from there and came in to His hometown;” – that would be Nazareth – “and His disciples followed Him. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, ‘Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at Him. Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in His hometown and among His own relatives and in His own household. And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief.”
The Bible doesn’t say that Jesus wondered, or was astonished, or was amazed, except for two times: here, and on an occasion when He was amazed at the faith of a centurion – as recorded both by Matthew and Luke. The Bible tells us the people were constantly amazed at Him. They were astonished at Him. But only those two times was He amazed at them. Once with the centurion He was amazed at his faith. Here, He is amazed at the unbelief in His own hometown.
For example, Eve exercised unbelief in the Word of God and brought the entire human race down into a curse and eternal judgment. In the days of Noah, Noah was a preacher of righteousness warning the world. The world would not believe, and the world of unbelievers brought down a flood upon their own heads that drowned all of humanity with the exception of Noah and his three sons and their wives and his own wife. Unbelief caused the destruction of the whole human race and all creatures and all life living on the earth.
It was unbelief on the part of Israel in the wilderness that caused them to die there before ever entering into the Promised Land. And the story of Israel’s ongoing unbelief even after they entered the land of Canaan is clear for all to read in the Old Testament. They were judged again and again by God for their apostasy and their unbelief.
Being a little more individual and looking at the power of unbelief, we remember Aaron’s unbelief led to three thousand people being slaughtered. We remember that Moses’ unbelief kept him out of the Promised Land. We remember that Achan’s unbelief, resulting in his disobedience, brought about the execution of himself and his entire family. You might remember Sennacherib’s unbelief, the Gentile king, led to his assassination by his own sons after an angel of the Lord had massacred 185,000 of his troops.
And, of course, then there is the unbelief of Judas, which led to his suicide and his everlasting punishment. The Pharisees and the scribes were unbelievers to the very end with few exceptions. And like all other unbelievers, their unbelief resulted in them dying in their sins, and forfeiting heaven, and gaining hell.
The New Testament has a lot to say about believing. It has a lot to say about faith. But it has an awful lot to say equally about unbelief. In the familiar words of , “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged, but he who does not believe is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
It was unbelief that brought a curse on all of humanity. It was unbelief that broke up the fountains of the deep, and brought down the rain from heaven, and drowned the entire human race. And it is unbelief in the Son of God that catapults people into eternal hell. Unbelief activates divine wrath. Unbelief activates divine judgment. It is a force, this unbelief.
So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He? Since He says, ‘Where I’m going you cannot come’?” And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above. You’re of this world, I am not of this world; therefore I said to you, ‘You will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.’” The warning that our Lord gave many, many times: “Believe in Me or perish. Believe in Me or perish.”
Some came close among the Pharisees and the scribes.
Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;
That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.
talks about the horrible tragedy of Israel’s unbelief.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
talks about the fact that no unbelieving person will ever enter into heaven.
talks about the fact that no unbelieving person will ever enter into heaven.
And so I say unbelief is a mighty force. It has brought a curse on the whole human race. It drowned all of humanity. It activates the judgment of God. And it brings about the forfeiture of eternal life; it brings about eternal judgment. That passage that we just read, I think perhaps more than any in the Gospels, puts on display the power of unbelief, the power of unbelief.
Now just some general thoughts about this text. It is a concluding text of the first section of Mark’s gospel. The section began with an introduction of the purpose of the book, to talk about the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we immediately saw that His coming was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. And then as the gospel begun to unfold, we saw Jesus preaching the gospel in the first chapter, and then in the first chapter calling out His disciples. And then in the second chapter and third chapter, teaching and healing the people.
And then it goes on to the completion of the twelve who are going to be identified as the future preachers of the gospel. Chapters 4 and 5, more preaching, more teaching, more miracles of healing, deliverance from demons and danger and death. In fact, just prior in chapter 5, verses 21 to 43, we saw the great healing power of Jesus as He raised the dead daughter of Jairus. And on the way to Jairus’ house, He healed a woman who had a bleeding problem for twelve years.
concludes with the crowds astonishment at his raising Jairus daughter from the dead. Don’t let astonishment lead you to believe that they were saved. Astonishment does not equal faith and repentance does not equal salvation. Astonishment did not equate to conversion just curiosity. There were many seeking miracles but not the Messiah. many came to watch a show but few were looking for a Savior. They saw Jesus as nothing more than Barnum and Biailey Circus.
Primarily the response was curiosity and astonishment. That does not equal faith, that does not equal repentance, therefore it doesn’t equal salvation. But there was interest and there was curiosity. There were lots of thrill seekers and people who wanted to be healed and delivered from demons, and who wanted to see the exhibitions of the great power of Jesus. And they were literally astounded as well at His teaching.
seeking relief from earthen afflicition but they had no appeitie for eternal But there was interest and there was curiosity. There were lots of thrill seekers and people who wanted to be healed and delivered from demons, and who wanted to see the exhibitions of the great power of Jesus. And they were literally astounded as well at His teaching.
And we could say then the general attitude was one of superficial acceptance. I guess you could say that there were many in the populace of Galilee, many in the crowds of Galilee who would fit into the soils parable at the point of the rocky soil and the weedy soil. The word goes in, there’s an immediate emotional response, they’re there. It looks like the appearance of life; no root, however, no fruit. But not open hostility, not yet, anyway.
Open hostility was already in full motion with the leaders of Israel, the Pharisees, the scribes and the Herodians as well. We learn earlier they were already plotting together to kill Jesus very early in His Galilean ministry. But for the most part, the crowds were accepting, because they wanted the benefits of His power. They were astonished at what He did. But now, when He goes back to His hometown of Nazareth, no large crowd appears there, no large crowd. And He, this time, is astounded. Usually it was the crowd that was astounded, here it is the Lord that is astounded.
A little bit of background is probably pretty necessary. He had no acceptance at all in His hometown, none, not even from His intimate family. His family’s attitude is conveyed to us back in
And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
; they thought He’d lost His mind. They thought He was a maniac. For all that they knew, He grew up there for thirty years as a quiet carpenter, and now all of a sudden, He’s catapulted Himself on to the public scene. He hadn’t done miracles as such in Nazareth, but the word about the miracles was running rampant all over everywhere.
they thought He’d lost His mind. They thought He was a maniac.
They simply did not believe
For not even his brothers believed in him.
John
They were trying to process all of this with a great measure of skepticism and thought that He had lost His mind, and actually they found Him in verse 31: “His mother and brothers arrived, and standing outside sent word to Him and called Him.” The objective was to get Him out of the public situation He was in and save both the public from His madness and Himself as well. We read in John chapter 7 that His family did not believe in Him, His brothers did not believe in Him.
Now Luke tells us about His earlier visit to Nazareth. In :16-30, He comes to Nazareth where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He always did this, every Sabbath day He went to the synagogue. He was faithful to do that, to worship.
But in , He is beginning His ministry in Galilee, verse 14, in the power of the Spirit. News about Him spread throughout all the surrounding district. He’s teaching in synagogues, and He’s praised by everybody, and this is early in the Galilean ministry. First year was in Judea, and the second year and even maybe a portion of that first year, and then a long full year and even more in Galilee, and He is teaching in synagogues as He begins. And right away, somewhere at the beginning, He comes to Nazareth where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He always did this, every Sabbath day He went to the synagogue. He was faithful to do that, to worship.
He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. This was traditional. This is what the visiting rabbis were invited to do when they came to town. And He had such a reputation already building up, they wanted to hear about Him. Word had come from Judea during the first year, and now more word from Galilee. He opens up the book of the prophet Isaiah – we won’t go into the detail – He reads from it two messianic prophecies about the Spirit of the Lord being upon the Messiah. The Messiah arriving to preach the gospel and proclaim release to the captive, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed, and proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. He then closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, sat down. Everybody was looking at Him. They were fixed on Him. And He said in verse 21, “Today the Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Wow. And that’s only what He began to say. The rest was He told them He was the Messiah. He told them He was the Messiah.
Verse 22: “They were speaking well of Him” – how could they not? – “and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips. But they were puzzled and said, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’ And Jesus says, ‘No doubt, you just want more magic, you just want more miracles.’ So you’re going to say to yourself, ‘Whatever was done at Capernaum, do it here.’ But He said, ‘I know your attitude.’ – verse 24, and here’s the first use of this axiom, this truism – ‘No prophet is welcome in his own hometown. All experts come from out of town.’” We all understand that.
And then as His sermon unfolds, He basically says, “I am the Messiah. I am here to preach the gospel to the poor, prisoners, blind, and oppressed – the people who are spiritually poor, spiritually in prisons, spiritually blind, spiritually oppressed.” In other words, “The people who know they’re trapped in sin and death, I’m here to preach the gospel.”
The implication is, “You’re not going to receive it, because you’re just like previous generations.” And He tells them the story about Elijah. There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the famine came, and yet God never sent Elijah to any widow in the land of Israel. There wasn’t a widow in Israel worthy of a prophet, and he had to go to a widow in Zarephath, the land of Sidon, which was Gentile area where they worshiped Baal. In other words, the prophet Elijah turned his back on Israel in his day because of their unbelief.
And then he talks about the prophet Elisha. There were many lepers in Israel, but God didn’t go to any of them, but rather to a border terrorist by the name of Naaman who was a Syrian, and God healed him. It’s the same old story, Jesus is saying, “God has never been able to move with power among you because of your unbelief, because you will not recognize you are the poor, prisoners, blind, and oppressed, in a condition of utter sinfulness, desperately in need of saving grace.”
Well, the response in verse 28 was, “They were filled with rage at this indictment, leaving themselves to be righteous.” This was unacceptable. “They got up,” – in verse 29 – “drove Him out of the city, led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built in order to throw Him down the cliff.” Wow. One sermon and they wanted Him dead. And these are the people who knew Him best, in a small village, His own family involved. They tried to kill Him after one sermon; but passing through their midst, He went His way.
So that was the attitude of Nazareth toward Him. And this is His second and last visit before us – and you can go back now to Mark. Nothing has changed with their attitude, except that at this time they don’t try to kill Him. This is about, however, final rejection, the final rejection of Nazareth. It’s kind of a microcosm of His final rejection in Jerusalem by the whole nation.
Unbelief is really powerful. It’s amazing what unbelief does in the face of full evidence. It is so startling that it even amazes Jesus. Nazareth, such hard soil; with all that they had heard from Him, all that had been reported to them about Him, never denying His miracles, confessing to the graciousness of His teaching and the uniqueness of His teaching and the power of His teaching; and yet they’re so hard-hearted that He can only wonder at such unbelief in the face of such revelation.
So to understand this account, we have to start at the end of it. So we begin at the end, verse 6, “He wondered at their unbelief.” “Wondered,” thaumazō is the Greek verb. It appears about thirty times in the New Testament usually to describe the people’s reaction to Him.
If you track with the gospel of Mark, go back to chapter 5, verse 20: “He went away, began to proclaim into Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.” When the demoniac went out simply to preach the gospel, or preach the good news concerning Christ and told the story of the things that Jesus had done, even as a second-hand or a first-hand witness, but a second-hand source, what the man said made Jesus amazing to the people. That’s the idea of the wonder and the amazement. There was a typical response.
Over in chapter 6, verse 51, He got into the boat with them, the wind stopped, and they were utterly astonished. This particular word and other synonyms describe for us the typical reaction of the people. When Jesus in chapter 12, verse 17 of Mark said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” they were amazed at Him. And so was the standard response. Even Pilate, according to , was astonished, amazed at Jesus. That’s a very understandable response to our Lord.
What amazes Jesus, however, in this case is the hard-hearted unbelief of the people in the face of such powerful, powerful revelation. This speaks to the tragedy of human responsibility, doesn’t it? It speaks to the fact that the sinner has the duty to respond to the gospel, and is guilty and culpable for his own unbelief.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
:, and verse 39, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life. And these are they that testify about Me, and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” , He looks at Jerusalem and said, “I would have gathered you, but you would not.” The sinner is unbelieving and unwilling to come, and bears the responsibility for that unwillingness and that unbelief.
, and verse 39, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life. And these are they that testify about Me, and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” , He looks at Jerusalem and said, “I would have gathered you, but you would not.” The sinner is unbelieving and unwilling to come, and bears the responsibility for that unwillingness and that unbelief.
He looks at Jerusalem and says;
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
The sinner is unbelieving and unwilling to come, and bears the responsibility for that unwillingness and that unbelief.
“I would have gathered you, but you would not.” The sinner is unbelieving and unwilling to come, and bears the responsibility for that unwillingness and that unbelief.
In J
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
, “They said to Him, ‘What shall we do so that we may work the works of God?’ He answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’”
It is amazing that those who were there during our Lord’s divine power display were so stubbornly unbelieving, the people of Nazareth of all people.
Jesus leaves Capernaum and makes the 25 miles southwestern journey to Nazareth. In leaving He is basically closing up shop in Capernaum. It will no longer be the center of his ministry. He will occasionally visit but only in passing. Capernaum does not need any more information or revelation. They have heard and seen enough. They have seen enough to believe.
Furthermore, there is the growing power and hostility of the Pharisees and the scribes. Capernaum was becoming dangerous. Not only was it dangerous but it was doomed.
Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Matthew 11:20Listen to : “He began to denounce the cities” – verse 20 – “in which most of His miracles were done, because they didn’t repent. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sack cloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it’ll be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.’ That is to say, it’ll be more tolerable in hell for idolatrous Gentiles than it will be for religious Jews who rejected Christ.
That is to say, it’ll be more tolerable in hell for idolatrous Gentiles than it will be for religious Jews who rejected Christ.
‘And you, Capernaum’ – verse 23 – ‘will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles that occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you, it’ll be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. In hell it would have been better for you to be a homosexual pervert living in Sodom than to be a synagogue-attending, self-righteous Jew living in Capernaum.’” That town is cursed.
Well, He left there and came to His hometown. We know His hometown is Nazareth. Chapter 1, verse 9; chapter 1, verse 24 tells us He’s from Nazareth. Chapter 10, verse 47; chapter 14, verse 67; chapter 16, verse 6 all say “Jesus the Nazarene,” referring to the town of Nazareth. Where is it? Twenty-five miles away from Capernaum. Twenty-five miles, you go directly west from the north tip of the Sea of Galilee, directly west and directly south.
Now when we think about Nazareth, we have all kinds of imagination as to what that place was like; and maybe I can help you with it a little bit. It is in its ancient configuration about sixty acres on a rocky hillside on the road to nowhere. The best guess is the town had about five hundred residents, not exactly a booming metropolis, about five hundred residents. It is so obscure that it is never mentioned in the Old Testament, never mentioned in the Jewish Mishnah, never mentioned in the Jewish Talmud, never mentioned by Josephus. And no church ever appeared there until the fourth century A.D.
Our Lord returns to this little, small town for one final visit to the people who were most familiar with Him. If you grow up for thirty years in a town of five hundred, you know everybody, and everybody knows you. About a year earlier, He’d made that other visit when they tried to kill Him.
Well, this time His disciples followed Him. Why? Because they were going to learn a lesson about rejections. Part of their preparation, by the way, because in verses 7 to 13, He sends them out on their first trial run, and they’re going to experience rejection. So here is an opportunity for them to see it firsthand.
This is not a private family visit; He came for public ministry. And the disciples come along as spectators to the rejection as kind of a preparation for what they’re going to experience. No large crowds show up in Nazareth. There is no interest in Him there. His family, I guess, has convinced the town that He is a madman. They try to bring Him home and spare the public from His maniacal machinations unsuccessfully.
Nonetheless, there’s so much curiosity about Him, and He is recognized as a rabbi, that when the Sabbath came in verse 2, He is given the customary right as the visiting rabbi to speak. Who knows what they thought. But here we’ll see in a small way, a microcosm, , “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” That was true of the nation, that was true of the world, and that’s certainly true of His own town and even His own family.
But at least they’re curious enough that they want Him as the visiting rabbi to speak. They know how gifted He is. Remember , the first time He came? They marveled at His gracious words. They were astounded at His teaching. They couldn’t resist giving Him this opportunity.
Alfred Edersheim says that many times in a situation like this when a visiting rabbi came, he had to sometimes had to speak through a local speaker. In other words, he would speak into the ear of the speaker, and the speaker would speak in his behalf. And Edersheim points out that this was because they were so much in to oratory that they wanted to make sure that there was the appropriate kind of persona there.
Edersheim says, “This is what was to be expected of a speaker in a synagogue. He was to have a good figure, a pleasant expression, a melodious voice, his words coming like those of a bride to a bridegroom, fluency, speech sweet as honey, pleasant as milk and honey, finely sifted like fine flour, diction richly adorned like a bride on her wedding day, and sufficient confidence never to be disoriented. And above all, he had to be conciliatory and avoid being too personal.”
So to help them assure that that might happen, they picked a guy who had those kind of qualities and let the visiting speakers speak through him. In this case it doesn’t seem to have happened, because they knew that even though Jesus was bound to be personal and not too conciliatory, He could speak for Himself. And He did.
And we don’t on what subject He spoke, but we do know the result, “And the many listeners were astonished.” That’s a really strong verb: “astonished,” not thaumazō, ekplēssō. Plēssō means “to strike,” “to smite,” or “to blast,” and in a passive form, “to be hit,” “blasted.” And then you add a preposition on the front, that’s plēssō; make it ekplēssō, and it’s an intensified word. We would say today, and this would be a perfect parallel, “He blew their minds. He blew their minds.” They were just blown away.
Scripture describes His teaching in many ways.
(authoritative)
(knowledgeable)
(powerful)
(unmatched)
No man ever spoke like this man spoke and all that without having a master rabbi who mentored Him, without having all the formal degrees, a formal education, He was nothing a man of the earth, a commoner. This perceived lack magnified their astonishment.
And all that without having a master rabbi who mentored Him, without having all the formal degrees, a formal education, He was nothing but an am haaretz, a man of the earth, a commoner. But as again they listened to Him, they are astounded at what He says. They meet it strangely enough with outright unbelief. And it is that that I want to address in the moments we have left.
I want to show you four things about unbelief. And I know you’ve experienced them, because this is how you’re treated by unbelievers. This is how I’m treated by unbelievers.
Unbelief obscures the obvious.
Unbelief obscures the obvious.
And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?
Look at it in verse 2. Here is their response: “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? You know, where did this come from? What is this source of this wisdom?” They were more concerned about where it came from than about what it was, because they were in to all these layers and layers and layers of rabbinical teaching.
They were more concerned about where it came from than about what it was, because they were in to all these layers and layers and layers of rabbinical teaching.
There is only one sensible answer to where it came from, and that is it came from God, that He is who He says He is: He is Messiah. There’s no need for such silly questions like, “What’s the origin of this? What else could it be, this kind of healing power, connected with this kind of teaching?” Well you can say that the healing power came from Satan, as the Pharisees did, but certainly you wouldn’t say that the teaching came from Satan. And so the package is very obviously from God.
But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
we read, “The testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John, for the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish the very works that I do testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.” There’s no other explanation for what He did than the power of God.
There’s no other explanation for what He did than the power of God.
But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
He says – verse 45: “Because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me?” And He goes on to say, “Because you are not of God.”
He says – verse 45: “Because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me?” And He goes on to say, “Because you are not of God.”
The obvious, the only obvious answer to where His teaching and His power came from was God.
If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
, “If I do not do the works of My Father, don’t believe Me. But if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father.” The only explanation, again, is that God is present in Him.
“If I do not do the works of My Father, don’t believe Me. But if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father.” The only explanation, again, is that God is present in Him.
The only explanation, again, is that God is present in Him.
, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His work. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Believe because of the works themselves.” He keeps going back and forth in the gospel of John, “Believe Me for My words, believe Me for My works.” Combine the two, it is obvious where this comes from, both this wisdom and this power.
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
John 14 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His work. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Believe because of the works themselves.” He keeps going back and forth in the gospel of John, “Believe Me for My words, believe Me for My works.” Combine the two, it is obvious where this comes from, both this wisdom and this power.
\ “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His work. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Believe because of the works themselves.” He keeps going back and forth in the gospel of John, “Believe Me for My words, believe Me for My works.” Combine the two, it is obvious where this comes from, both this wisdom and this power.
Nobody ever denied his signs.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.
, even the Pharisees said, “This man is doing signs. This man is doing miracles.” And at the end of the gospel of John, the last two verses tells us that if there was a record of everything He did, the books of the world couldn’t even contain it.
And at the end of the gospel of John, the last two verses tells us that if there was a record of everything He did, the books of the world couldn’t even contain it.
It was obvious that He had divine power. It was obvious that He taught divine truth. But unbelief obscures the obvious. And in
He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
Jesus said, “If they don’t believe Moses and the prophets, they’re not going to believe the one rose from the dead.” He did, and they didn’t believe.
He did, and they didn’t believe.
By the way, “What is this wisdom given to Him?” it’s not “Him” in the Greek, it’s “this fellow,” which was an expression of disdain.
Unbelief by nature obscures the obvious. It blocks out the obvious. According to
For not even his brothers believed in him.
John 7:5, “Even His own brothers in His own family, even after the influence of His mother who must have communicated to them who He really was, did not believe.” The Jews in :15were astonished, and they said, “How is this man become learned having never been educated?” Jesus said, “My teaching is not Mine, it’s His who sent Me.” This is the nature of unbelief. It will go everywhere but to the truth. It will go everywhere but to the reality, the obvious.
“Even His own brothers in His own family, even after the influence of His mother who must have communicated to them who He really was, did not believe.”
The Jews in
The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”
John
were astonished, and they said, “How is this man become learned having never been educated?” Jesus said, “My teaching is not Mine, it’s His who sent Me.” This is the nature of unbelief. It will go everywhere but to the truth. It will go everywhere but to the reality, the obvious.
The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”
So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
were astonished, and they said, “How is this man become learned having never been educated?” Jesus said, “My teaching is not Mine, it’s His who sent Me.” This is the nature of unbelief. It will go everywhere but to the truth. It will go everywhere but to the reality, the obvious.
This is the nature of unbelief. It will go everywhere but to the truth. It will go everywhere but to the reality, the obvious.
It elevates the irrelevant.
It elevates the irrelevant.
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
it elevates the irrelevant. Verse 3, look at these ridiculous questions: “Is not this the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” What does that have to do with anything?
What does that have to do with anything?
They couldn’t possibly have focused on the power; they couldn’t possibly have focused on the profundity of His teaching. They have already rejected Him wholesale, and now they want to attack Him by attacking His family. He comes from a local well-known family of very common people. To imagine that He’s the Messiah, His family’s probably right, He is a maniac. He comes from an obscure town and an obscure family; He can’t possibly be who He says He is. And they speak with disdain of Him. “Is not this the carpenter, the carpenter?” Not a rabbi, not a clergyman, not a Pharisee, not a scribe, not a local synagogue leader, ruler; He’s a carpenter.
Now trades were honorable. says, “They said, ‘He’s the carpenter’s son.’” So you compare the two accounts, as always in these parallel accounts in Scripture, the carpenter’s son who Himself is a carpenter, that fits perfectly because fathers taught their sons their trade.
This is meant to be a demeaning expression. Carpenters is the word tektōn, tektōn. We get the word “tech” from that. We get “architect” from that, somebody who builds an arc, arch. It refers to a builder. The word tektōn could refer to a mason, a stone mason, a smith, somebody who worked with metal, a ship builder, a sculptor. Even physicians were referred to by that term. It’s a very, very broad term; and what would be best to say would be that He was a builder. A builder of what, we don’t know; but He was a builder.
The early church held that Joseph and Jesus were carpenters who made yokes and plows. That we find in A.D. 155, about a hundred years, of course, after the main part of the New Testament era; and this from Justin’s dialogue with Trypho where he refers to Jesus and Joseph as those who made yokes and plows. Well, that’s a tradition we really don’t know, but He was a builder; and from their perspective, He wasn’t a part of the elite, He wasn’t a part of the clergy. And so they focused on what is irrelevant.
And then they dig even deeper: “The Son of Mary. The Son of Mary.” When we say that, we say that with love and respect, don’t we? That’s not how they said it. In , He is referred to this way: “Is not this Joseph’s Son?” That’s how you referred to people in a respectable way. You referred to someone as the Son of the father. We still have that today, right? When you get married, you take the man’s name: “You are the son of.”
In many, many languages, people’s last name is simply the son of whoever. I have a name: Mac. Well, Mac means “son of,” “son of Arthur.” And that’s how people generally are referred to. But here He is called Son of Mary.
Some have speculated maybe Joseph was dead. But even if Joseph was dead, you would still refer to Him genealogically as the son of Joseph. It’s very possible that they’re calling Him the Son of Mary, because they’re slandering Jesus for what they’ve come to believe is an illegitimate birth, an illegitimate birth.
Listen to . Jesus is talking to the Jewish leaders. In verse 41, He says, “You’re doing the deeds of your father.” Here’s their response: “They said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication.’” Woo, that’s a slander, that Mary, because Joseph was not the father of her baby, Jesus was an illegitimate son, His father was unknown.
These are very slanderous things, but they’re all irrelevant. They’re focusing on earthly family instead of seeing a divine person. It’s amazing how unbelief can elevate the irrelevant. And they say, “You know, Your brothers there: James and Joses and Judas and Simon.”
James we know about; he became the leader of the Jerusalem church, and eventually wrote the epistle of James. And Jude we know about, because he wrote the epistle of Jude. They were the half-brothers of Jesus. As far as Joses and Simon, we don’t know anything about them.
And then it mentions, “Are not His sisters here with us?” So there were sisters, plural. We don’t know exactly how many. Matthew says, “All His sisters,” which would take it beyond two, and make it three or more. So, you know, Mary may have had ten children, who knows? She was not a perpetual virgin, by the way. But they’re stuck on the idea that this is a nobody from a nowhere family, with a perhaps an illegitimate birth, who’s a common am haaretz, man of the dirt, man of the earth. This is typical of unbelief to focus on the irrelevant.
It assaults the messenger.
It assaults the messenger.
End of verse 3: “They took offense at Him.” Skandalizō, they were scandalized by Him. It was an absolute blasphemy in their minds that He would claim to be God, the Son of God. This is scandalous. This is the same word you’ll find in where the gospel is a stumbling block, a skandalon to the Jews.
Repeatedly the Scripture talks about how they stumbled over the reality of Jesus and over the gospel. This is adamant antagonism. This is the attitude of an unbeliever when pressed with the truth, when the truth is obvious and the truth is relevant. He tries to obscure the obvious, elevate the irrelevant, and then turn on the messenger.
Now we’ve all experienced that. We have all experienced that. I can promise you that there are few days in my life when having taught the truth about something in the Word of God, I am not attacked personally. And that’s one of the ploys that unbelief uses, it assaults the messenger. It’ll use an ad hominem attack. It’ll will try to diminish the person who is proclaiming the truth by attacking him.
Jesus prepares His disciples in the next section of Mark. The extended version of that preparation is found in . Listen to what He says when He sends them out: “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men. They will hand you over to the courts, and scourge you in their synagogues.”
And just exactly what would the crime be? What is the crime? Did they rob? Did they kill? Did they plunder? Did they break the law? No. No. “You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, don’t worry about what you will say, it’ll be given you in that hour what you’re going to say. And it’s not you who speaks, it’s the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Brother, even your own brother will betray brother to death, a father his child. Children will rise up against parents, cause them to be put to death. You’ll be hated by all because of My name. But it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. And when they persecute you in one city, flee to the next.”
I mean that’s to be expected: they will attack the messenger. That’s what unbelievers do. They ridicule, they show disdain, hostility, fierceness, persecution, and even martyrdom as their response to the truth.
on the Upper Room Discourse, Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know it hated Me before it hated you. If you are of the world, the world would love its own. But because you’re not of the world, I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
It’s hard, isn’t it, sometimes? When you, out of love in your heart, want to give the gospel to somebody in your family or some friend, or in some environment, in some class, or to some professor, or somebody at work, and they turn on you. And it’s especially true if they know you well and you’re not from out of town. And that’s why Jesus responds with that axiom, that self-evident truth, which He also referred to on His first visit back in : “A prophet is not without honor except in His hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And you have a sort of decreasing circles in His hometown and narrower among His relatives, and finally in His own house.
If Joseph was dead, He had only one person in that house who believed in Him. Not His brothers, not His sisters. They came to believe after the resurrection, according to the book of Acts. But at this time, they don’t. He was believed to be a prophet outside of town. You can look through the New Testament. Look up the word “prophet” and see how many times it’s used to refer to Christ. He is deemed a prophet again, and again, and again, and again, and again – and I’m not going to take the time to drag you through all of that.
Even down in chapter 6 of Mark, verse 15, there were some who were saying, “He’s a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” And when the disciples are asked by Jesus, “Who do men say that I am?” What do they say? “Some say You’re Jeremiah, or Isaiah, or one of the prophets, one of the prophets.”
After Jesus had raised the dead son of the widow of Nain, Luke writes, “Fear gripped them all,” – – “and they began glorifying God saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us, and God has visited His people.’” A great prophet. There was clear evidence that He was a prophet.
Listen to where the disciples on the road to Emmaus say, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people.” People thought He was a prophet, one who spoke for God. But in His own hometown, He had no honor whatsoever as a prophet. They thought He was a man who had lost His mind. Animosity in His own family, and they attack Him. And His response: “A prophet is not without honor except in His own hometown among His own relatives and even in His own household.”
Unbelief obscures the obvious, it elevates the irrelevant, and it resents the messenger. And that resentment comes from hatred of the message. It attacks the messenger. And, of course, Christ lived that out , didn’t He? They killed Him because He was the messenger of the most wonderful message ever preached.
Unbelief spurns the supernatural.
Unbelief spurns the supernatural.
Unbelief spurns the supernatural. Verse 5: “He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.” He shut down the whole supernatural operation. Same thing is stated in .
What is this about? Was it a power problem? It’s not a power problem, it’s a purpose problem. What is the purpose of miracles? To attest to the truth. If you’ve rejected the truth, there’s no need for the miracles.
As I said, if you had a person in your midst who could heal all your diseases, conquer death, deliver from demons, who could provide by a word a sumptuous meal for untold thousands of people, who showed compassion, who could show you the way of life and every aspect, is this the person you want to kill? But that’s what it was. “Give us Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. Kill Jesus.” That is so bizarre. And this is the ultimate disaster of unbelief; it literally shuts a person off from God. He can do nothing if you don’t believe.
So you’re left to yourself. You are the master of your fate, in one sense. You are the captain of your soul, with the exception that you’re also a servant of Satan and the kingdom of darkness, and on your way to eternal hell.
How foolish is unbelief? Unbelief chooses hell. Unbelief chooses Satan. Unbelief chooses sin. Unbelief chooses to “go it alone my way in the kingdom of darkness” with no divine intervention. Is that really what you want?
So you don’t want to be blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, right? You don’t want love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. You don’t want prayers answered. You don’t want divine intervention in your life, supernatural wisdom, supernatural direction, hope, the promise of heaven, peace that passes understanding. You don’t want those things, right?
Well, unbelief spurns the supernatural. It shuts out God. Nazareth can be added to Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. It’s over. With a few exceptions, there must have been a few believers. And maybe He did a few miracles just to let His disciples know that He still had the power; it wasn’t a power issue, it was a purpose issue.
That was enough for our Lord in . He warned, “Don’t give what is holy to dogs. Don’t cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” The hardened unbeliever hates the truth, cuts himself off from all sacred supernatural blessing. Jesus just turns His back and leaves, never to come back again. It reminds me of :9where Paul faced the same unbelief, and turned and left the crowds, and went and taught in the school of Tyrannus.
So the power of unbelief, tremendous power. It never has enough evidence. It always does biased research. It will reject the facts, because it is totally self-centered and self-protective, and will shut itself off from all divine power.
I don’t know about you, but I would rather live in this world and the world to come under the full influence of God – wouldn’t you? – His power and His goodness. , “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who doesn’t will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” I’d rather have the full blessing of God in eternal life than to have the eternal wrath. Unbelief spurns the sacred supernatural, the blessings of God. And no wonder Jesus was so amazed.
Thank You for a wonderful time this morning in worship, Lord. Thank You for reminding us of the magnificence of the heaven to come, and the gathering of all the saints who will be there in Your presence, in joy forever and ever. We thank You, Lord, for the call of the gospel, for its clarity, its truthfulness that we do not follow cunningly devised fables, but are eyewitnesses of His majesty; for we have read the eyewitness accounts. We thank You for the power of Scripture to convey to us the truth concerning Christ.
I pray, Lord, that anyone here who is still in unbelief will think deeply about the power that that exerts over their life in time and eternity. May they turn to Christ so that the windows of heaven can be opened, and the flood of blessing poured out on that life now and forever. Amen.
END
Hughes, R. K. (1989). Mark: Jesus, servant and savior (Vol. 1, pp. 133–134). Westchester, IL: Crossway Books.
We’re looking at the book of Mark, the life of Jesus in the gospel of Mark. Today, the key word is this word took offense in verse 3. They were offended at him. It’s the Greek word skandalon, from which we get our word scandal. It says they were scandalized by him. What does that mean?
To be scandalized, to be offended, according to the Bible, is not just to disagree with what somebody says or does, but to viscerally reject and to be hostile, to feel hostility toward what someone said or did.
The point of the passage is; Jesus will offend everyone in every place and those who follow him will do likewise. Now that you know the point let’s close in prayer.
Jesus always, everywhere offends people and evokes visceral rejection and hostility, and if you follow him, you will too. That’s the point.
J.P. Meier, who is a historian and scholar who says it this way. “What is beyond dispute is that in the ministry of two or three years, Jesus of Nazareth attracted and infuriated his contemporaries, mesmerized and alienated the ancient world, unleashed a movement that has done the same ever since, and thus changed the course of history forever.”
Unless you understand the offensiveness of Jesus, you really won’t understand who he is or what it means to follow him.
Le’t s drill down into three truth’s from today’s text.
The extent of Jesus offensiveness, the example of his offensiveness, and the embodiment of his offensiveness.
THE EMBODIMENT OF HIS OFFENSIVENESS
THE EXTENT OF HIS OFFENSIVENESS
THE EXTENT OF HIS OFFENSIVENESS
You see this right at the top because we’re told in verse 1 Jesus went to his hometown (this is Nazareth) accompanied by his disciples, and they took offense at him. Now let’s put this together with everything else we’ve seen. In , we’re told the civic and religious leaders from Jerusalem were offended at Jesus. Those are the elites.
We’re also told in chapter 3 both the Herodians and the Pharisees plotted together to kill him. In other words, both the leftwing and the rightwing of the elites were offended at him. These are two groups of people who didn’t agree on anything else. They hated each other, but they agreed Jesus had to go. So the elites have been offended, and the left and the right have been offended.
Now we come to Nazareth. We almost know nothing about it. It was a real nowheresville. We almost know nothing about it except Jesus is from there. It’s hardly ever mentioned in history. Nathaniel, in , says, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? How could the Messiah come from a little place like Nazareth?”
However, this place that knew him best was offended at him too. This is the very opposite of the elites, and they’re offended. This is everybody!
Take note of those who hated him. They also hated each other but they were unified in their offense of Jesus. How is this possible? All these different groups don’t like one another. They hate each other, so how would it be possible that all of them seem to be offended at Jesus? The answer is Jesus does offend everybody, but in very different ways.
In other words, every one of these groups has a very different reason for why they’re offended at Jesus. In fact, a lot of them would be offended at why you’re offended at Jesus, but they all agree he’s offensive. They all viscerally reject him for different reasons. This is very important to understand.
For example, in American culture, you find some people love certain things about Christianity. They like the grace aspect. They like to talk about forgiveness but as soon as you say, “Jesus is the one true and only Lord and Savior of the world,” they start to shake their head.
This is a way that American or Western Culture is often offended by Jesus. However, in Eastern or traditional culture the offense is different. They would not find the narrow path of Christianity as offense but they would find such teachings as forgiving 70 times 7, or turning the other cheek, or give your cloak and tunic. This would be highly offensive. They’d say, “You people have no integrity! You people have no honor! You’re nuts if you think you could live like that.”
Every place and people are offended by different parts of the gospel. What we’re really learning here is no matter who you are, when Jesus Christ says,
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
J, “If the world hates you, remember it hated me first. The world hates me.” He doesn’t say, “Well, the northern hemisphere hates me more than the southern hemisphere,” or, “The eastern hates me more than the western,” or “Wealthy people hate me more than the poor people.”
He is not saying, “Well, the northern hemisphere hates me more than the southern hemisphere,” or, “The eastern hates me more than the western,” or “Wealthy people hate me more than the poor people.”
He doesn’t say that. He says the world, every part of the world … There is no people group, there’s no class, there’s no group of people who is friendlier or more likely, naturally, to receive Jesus. Jesus offends everyone, but for different reasons.
If Jesus is the Son of God from heaven, risen from the dead … If he’s from outside the world, he’s going to offend you in some way because he’s from outside the world, and therefore every single place in the world, every mindset, every culture, at some point, will be offended by him.
Because, you know, the thing you like about Christianity, some other culture hates. The things you don’t like about Christianity and think are regressive, some other culture thinks are progressive. So for you to just stay away from Christianity because it’s regressive, that’s very narrow of you. What you’re saying is, “My culture’s problems with Christianity are different than anybody else’s.”
But here’s what I want you to think. If Jesus is the Son of God from heaven, risen from the dead … If he’s from outside the world, he’s going to offend you in some way because he’s from outside the world, and therefore every single place in the world, every mindset, every culture, at some point, will be offended by him.
You inhabit some part of that world. So if he really is from outside, of course he would offend you. If you’re sitting around saying, “Well, I accept Jesus as long as … I wish he didn’t say this,” or “I wish the Bible didn’t say this,” or “I wish Christians were like this, because that offends me …” If he’s real, he will have to offend you someplace. So here’s the question. Is Jesus Christ the Son of God risen from the dead?
Then you have to accept him with the part about him that offends your part of the world and your cultural because he’s real. In fact, if he is real, of course he would offend you in some way. Either he is the Son of God risen from the dead and you have to take him with his offensiveness, or he’s not, and so who cares?
Sometimes I ask people who say, “This part of Christianity offends me …” I always say, “Do you mean that because that part offends you, Jesus couldn’t be the Son of God risen from the dead? Are you saying that because that offends you, Jesus couldn’t be risen from the dead?” They say, “Well, no, I don’t mean that.” I say, “Well, you have to figure that out. If he’s risen from the dead, of course he’s going to offend you some way because you inhabit some part of the world and he says, ‘The world hates me.’ ”
THE EXAMPLE OF HIS OFFENSIVENESS
THE EXAMPLE OF HIS OFFENSIVENESS
Now some of you may say, “Well, wait a minute. You just said every single group of people, every time, every age, every culture, and every mindset is offended by Jesus in different ways.” Yeah, but there are some themes, and I think when we see what led his hometown folks to viscerally reject him and be offended by him, we’ll understand a little bit about why Jesus is so widely offensive.
Notice what they say in verse 3.
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
Now what’s going on here? Are they saying, “Well, I just can’t believe the Messiah who is going to save Israel would come from such humble socioeconomic stock”? Probably. I’m sure that’s part of it, but I think there’s something much more here. Bill Lane, in his commentary on Mark, puts it beautifully when he says about his hometown, “Their discernment could not penetrate the veil of ordinariness that surrounded him.”
Now what’s going on here? Bill Lane, in his commentary on Mark, puts it beautifully when he says about his hometown, “Their discernment could not penetrate the veil of ordinariness that surrounded him.”
“If this is the Messiah who is going to save us, he couldn’t be so ordinary. He’s just so ordinary.” That offended them, and here’s why. The ordinariness of Jesus offends the normal human understanding of how salvation works. Jesus’ ordinariness subverts the normal way in which our hearts think of and want salvation to be in two ways.
First of all, Jesus’ ordinariness subverts the path of salvation.
There’s a really great little book. It’s like a booklet. It’s called The Scandal of Jesus. It’s written by Vinoth Ramachandra, from Sri Lanka. He says there “All other religions offer as salvation some form of liberation from ordinary humanness.”
Ultimate salvation, in all other religions, he’s saying, is always seen as someday escaping the shackles of our humanity, the shackles of our individuality, our physical embodiment, getting away from the ordinary human life of eating, drinking, sleeping, and working. Every other religion says salvation means we’ll someday be released and liberated from ordinary humanness into a kind of ethereal, esoteric, transcendent, pure spiritual existence.
Ramachandra goes on to say, “But biblical salvation lies not in an escape from this world, but in the transformation of this world. You will not find hope for this world in any other religious system or any other philosophy of humankind. The biblical vision is unique.” Now do you hear what he’s saying? The ordinariness of Jesus subverts and contradicts what every other religion except biblical religion says about salvation.
Every other approach says salvation means God releasing us from ordinary human life, but when you read the Bible, when you see the life of Jesus what do you see?
God comes down into our humanness. He gets entangled in it. He immerses himself in ordinary human life. He becomes the kind of person who needs to know, “Where am I going to eat tomorrow? What am I going to drink tomorrow?”
He not only gets involved in just simple, ordinary human life, but also in the vulnerability, pain, and suffering of our human life, and eventually he dies to redeem it.
You would have said, “Well, a week later …” This is what it says in . “A week later, Jesus appeared before his disciples, and his beauty and effulgence was such that they fell onto the ground and worshiped him.” Instead, he shows up, even though the doors are locked, and they say, “What are you doing here?” They’re scared and they pull back.
Salvation is not the release from ordinary human life but its redemption. This is the whole purpose of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection is to redeem it. The new heavens and new earth is our goal. God is not removing us, but he’s coming down to renew ordinary human life.
He says, “A spirit hath not flesh and bones. Let me prove it to you. Give me a fish.” So they give him a fish and he eats it. “See?” he says. Who would have made up anything like that? Why is the risen Christ so ordinary? He says, “Give me a fish and I’ll prove I’m not a ghost.” They watch him eat the fish. Who would have made up something like that? That’s nuts. That’s crazy.
But here’s what it’s saying. The reason it’s crazy to us, the reason it’s nuts, is because our understanding of salvation is release from ordinary human life, and the whole purpose of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection is to redeem it. The new heavens and new earth is our goal. God is not removing us, but he’s coming down to renew ordinary human life.
In the new heavens and new earth, we are not going to be floating six feet above the ground. We will march. We will walk. We will dance. We will hug. We will kiss. We will eat and drink in the kingdom of God. In the new heavens and new earth, there’s going to be food! There’s going to be music! There are going to be arts and sciences. There are going to be sea and sky. There are going to be oceans lapping on the shore.
In the new heavens and new earth, all of that is there but cleansed.
In , we’re told the creation, all of nature, is groaning. It’s standing on tiptoes. It knows it’s subject to decay. It knows it’s not what it ought to be. It knows it hasn’t been cleansed. It hasn’t been made everything it ought to be. It can’t wait. It’s standing on tiptoe for the glorious liberty of the children of God.
On the last day, a glory is going to come down into us and will not just transform us, but the entire world. Then, we’re told in , the trees of the world will be dancing and singing for joy, and if the trees of the wood can sing for joy, what will you and I be able to do? That’s why Ramachandra, when he’s asked this question (this is a terrific reply, because you’ll be asked this question too) …
He says, “When people ask me, ‘Is there not salvation in other faiths too?’ I always ask them, “What kind of salvation are you talking about? Not this kind. This kind of salvation is in no other religion. No faith holds out the promise of eternal salvation for the world, for the ordinary world, that the cross and the resurrection hold out. They don’t even claim to.” Now it’s offensive to say only Christianity is even claiming salvation for this world, for the ordinary world, ordinary human life.
“When people ask me, ‘Is there not salvation in other faiths too?’ I always ask them, “What kind of salvation are you talking about? Not this kind. This kind of salvation is in no other religion. No faith holds out the promise of eternal salvation for the world, for the ordinary world, that the cross and the resurrection hold out. They don’t even claim to.” Now it’s offensive to say only Christianity is even claiming salvation for this world, for the ordinary world, ordinary human life.
The ordinariness of Jesus, the ordinariness of the gospel, the ordinariness of all that tells us only Christianity is even promising that kind of salvation. That’s offensive. You say, “Don’t you believe all religions are going to the same place?” No. They have totally different paths. They don’t even claim to be going to the same place. Is that offensive? Yes. The ordinariness of Jesus Christ subverts our understanding of the path of salvation.
The ordinariness of Jesus Christ subverts our understanding of the graciousness of salvation.
In , is the great story of Naaman. Naaman was a great Syrian general, and he had leprosy. He heard about the great God of Israel, and he decided he was going to go to the God of Israel and to his prophet, Elisha, to get the healing from God.
So he took everything he thought he would need in order to get it. He took a whole lot of money, his resume, letters of recommendation from the king of Syria and the prime minister. He brought everything, and he also brought his sword in case the God would say, “You must do some great deed in order to win your salvation.”
But when he gets there, Elisha doesn’t even come to the door. He sends his messenger and he says, “You want your healing? Go into the Jordan River and wash.” Naaman is furious,
says that he went away in rage. He’s offended by the ordinariness of God’s prescription. In other words, “Are you saying,” says Naaman, “my money doesn’t mean anything? My sword doesn’t mean anything? My my accomplishments mean nothing? Any idiot can wash in the Jordan River! Are you trying to say I’m on the same level as anyone else?”
He’s offended by the ordinariness of God’s prescription. In other words, “Are you saying,” says Naaman, “my money doesn’t mean anything? My sword doesn’t mean anything? My prowess and my accomplishments mean nothing? Any idiot can wash in the Jordan River! Anybody can wash in the Jordan River. It doesn’t make any difference. Are you trying to say I’m on the same level as anyone else?”
The servants beg him to reconsider.
But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
2 Kings 5:1They say, in , “Master, if the prophet had told you to do some great deed, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?” See, he expected to be asked for a great deed; that would have been fine. He thought he would say, “I would like your salvation, oh Lord God of Israel,” and he expected the prophet to say something like, “Bring me the broomstick of the wicked witch of the West,” or, “Do you see yonder dragon on yonder mountain? Slay the dragon and return.”
ou to do some great deed, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?” See, he expected to be asked for a great deed; that would have been fine. He thought he would say, “I would like your salvation, oh Lord God of Israel,” and he expected the prophet to say something like, “Bring me the broomstick of the wicked witch of the West,” or, “Do you see yonder dragon on yonder mountain? Slay the dragon and return.”
Had the prophet asked him to perform so great deed, as he expected, that would have been fine. Naaman’s visceral reaction reveals to us how the human heart often responds to the ordinariness of Jesus’ gracious offer of salvation.
You know, in that case, Naaman would have said, “Yeah. Now there’s a salvation. There’s a crunchy salvation. There’s a salvation I can get my teeth into. There’s a salvation that fits my ego. There’s a salvation that fits the human ego.” You see, on the one hand, if he had been told, “Do some great deed to earn your salvation,” then he could have said, “Yeah, I don’t really need charity. I don’t really need charity, at least not total charity. I just need a chance to show what I can do and to put things right.”
Naaman was looking for a salvation that fit his ego. There’s a salvation that fits the human ego.” You see, on the one hand, if he had been told, “Do some great deed to earn your salvation,” then he could have leverage over God, and you know what that means. He can’t just ask anything of you. You have rights. You’ve paid your dues. You have some control.
Also, the great deed kind of salvation gives you leverage with God because if you’ve done some great deed or you’ve done this or done that, and then God takes you and gives you his salvation because you’ve lived such a good life, or you’ve studied the Bible, or you’ve prayed so much, or you’ve rescued some damsel, or you’ve done whatever, then you have leverage over God, and you know that. He can’t just ask anything of you. You have rights. You’ve paid your dues. You have some control.
But the ordinariness of God’s offer, the graciousness of it, levels him. Basically, he says, “Just go wash in the Jordan River.” He knows what that means. It means a prostitute could do that as well as a man of moral virtue like himself. Everybody is on the same level. Everybody is a sinner. Everybody is lost, and everybody can be saved only through sheer grace equally, and he hated that. Do you know why? It offended him. Do you know why? It offended his pride.
Guess what, friends! The gospel of grace, the ordinariness of the gospel of grace … I can’t tell you how many times over the years people have said, “What do I have to do to be connected to God?” When I tell them, they say, “That’s it? That’s all there is to it? You mean it doesn’t matter how I lived up to this moment? I can just do it right now? Is that it? Too easy.” Their pride is offended, and your pride in your heart is the thing making this world a miserable place.
The gospel of Jesus Christ does offend everybody, but it offends the part of your heart that’s making this world a miserable place. It offends the part of your heart that needs to be challenged, or there’s no hope for the world. Do you see it? The ordinariness of Jesus Christ offends people because it shows us a salvation that offends our pride, and therefore it offends everybody.
It says morally virtuous people and morally failed people are on the same level. Conservative societies don’t want to hear that! But it offends liberal and secular societies, because it says, “No, it’s not true that everybody can find God in their own little way. You have to come through the grace of Jesus Christ.” So everybody is offended.
There is a beattitude in Matthew that is very helpful
And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
What he’s saying is anybody who really gets to know him will feel offense, will wrestle with the offense.
If you’ve never wrestled with the offensiveness of Jesus Christ, you haven’t actually come to understand the path of his salvation. You haven’t come to understand the graciousness of his salvation. You really don’t know what he stands for. If you’ve never felt the offensiveness of Jesus Christ and sensed it and struggled with it, you don’t really know what the gospel is.
So you should feel the offense, but you mustn’t take offense, because he says, “If you take offense, my blessedness cannot come into your life. If you don’t let my gospel offend the part of you that is trying to keep you from me, I can’t do miracles in your life. I won’t do miracles in your life, because you have to receive me. You have to embrace me.”
THE EMBODIMENT OF HIS OFFENSIVENESS
THE EMBODIMENT OF HIS OFFENSIVENESS
Jesus shows us if you follow him, just as he offends people, and therefore just as he evokes visceral rejection, you too will offend people and evoke visceral rejection. He’s preparing them for rejection.
First of all, he says, “I don’t want you to go with a war chest. I don’t want you to go with so much money you can live on the outskirts of town and kind of commute in in order to preach on the square. I want you to be dependent on the hospitality of the people you’re ministering to. I want you to really live among them.”
In the last part of this passage, Jesus shows us if you follow him, just as he offends people, and therefore just as he evokes visceral rejection, you too will offend people and evoke visceral rejection. He’s preparing them for rejection. That’s what the dust off the feet thing is about. But if we look more carefully, you’ll see Jesus is calling us to highly selective offensiveness.
What do I mean by that? Well, look, first of all, at the directions. What is he saying to people here? He’s coming to them and he’s saying, “When I send you out, I want you to go out into the villages to minster like this,” and it’s extremely interesting. First of all, he says, “I don’t want you to go with a war chest. I don’t want you to go with so much money you can live on the outskirts of town and kind of commute in in order to preach on the square. I want you to be dependent on the hospitality of the people you’re ministering to. I want you to really live among them.”
You have to remember in those days, hospitality was a much more sacred thing than it is now, and therefore, for them to come with the message of Jesus but depend on the hospitality of the people there, to live among them, and to become dependent on them was an act of tremendous respect and humility.
Secondly, they don’t go just talking. They go acting. They go serving. Notice they anoint the sick. They heal the sick. They exorcise demons. They’re not just going simply to tell people things. They’re going to minister. They’re going to serve. They’re going to meet needs. Also, they were supposed to come with amazing integrity and simplicity of life with regard to money.
But Jesus says, “In spite of the fact that you’re going to go and serve people … In spite of the fact that you’re going to pour yourself out for people, you’re going to get rejection, because,” he says, “in many cases, people will reject you, and then you have to shake the dust off your feet.” This was just an ancient Near Eastern way of saying, “You are now responsible for what I told you. I’ve told you about Jesus. I’ve given you the information, and now your responsibility belongs to you. It’s not on me anymore.”
So here’s what Jesus is saying. “You should be incredibly attractive. You should go out loving people. You should go out sacrificially giving to people, serving people, healing the sick, and exorcising demons. In that sense, you’re going to be incredibly attractive, but on the other hand, you’re still going to be telling people I am the only Lord and Savior of the world, and that’s going to be very offensive.”
This mixture of attraction and offense is exactly what we see in the history of the early church. Historians will tell you on the one hand, the message of Jesus Christ, the message of the early Christians, was the most exclusive and therefore offensive message the pagan world had ever heard. The pagan world said, “Everybody has their own god. You have your god, they have their god … Everybody has their own god.” Along comes the Christian saying, “No. Jesus is Lord!” That was the most exclusive and offensive message they had ever heard.
But on the other hand, Christians were the most inclusive-acting people the world had ever seen. They were the most exclusive-sounding people they had ever heard, but they were the most inclusive-acting people they had ever seen. Christians cared for the poor in the way the pagan world didn’t do. Christianity included the different races. It brought the races together. It brought the classes together in a way the pagans just thought was completely improper.
The most exclusive-sounding group of people in history up to that point was the most inclusive-acting group of people in history, and as a result, they were both incredibly attractive and they grew like wildfire and incredibly offensive, and therefore they were often persecuted. They were not offensive to everybody but not attractive to everybody.
Now by the way, that’s a test for us.If you never are offensive, you are either a coward or inconsistent.
If you’re constantly offensive, if you’re constantly clashing with people over your Christian beliefs and over your Christian practice, if you’re always in conflict, if you feel like people are always picking on you for it, if you feel like you’re always being offensive, may I suggest you’re being persecuted for obnoxiousness’ sake, and God doesn’t promise any help in that case.
It doesn’t say, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for obnoxiousness’ sake.” It says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” If you add personal obnoxiousness, abrasiveness, majoring in the minors, fighting over everything, acting like a victim all the time, being very unwise in the way in which you speak … If you add personal obnoxiousness to the natural offense of the gospel, you’re going to find yourself constantly being offensive and really not very attractive to anybody.
This is kind of frightening to me. According to the Bible, if you find yourself always being offensive or never being offensive, if you find yourself being attractive but not offensive or offensive but not attractive, there’s something wrong. But that’s how most all of us are. We tend to be one or the other.
Now nobody has been offended at us in five years. Why? Do we pass the test? I don’t think so. If we don’t pass the test, where do we get the power to be selectively offensive? Here’s where you get the power. It’s a very important power. Where do you get the power to be exclusive-sounding but inclusive-acting like the early Christians? The answer is right here.
Do we pass the test? If we don’t pass the test, where do we get the power to pass the test? Here’s where you get the power. Where do you get the power to be exclusive-sounding but inclusive-acting like the early Christians? The answer is right here.
We really miss the ultimate put-down. We miss the ultimate way the hometown people bashed Jesus. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What is this wisdom that has been given to him? Who does he think he is? He thinks he’s hot stuff, but we know this. Isn’t this Mary’s son?” You probably didn’t notice that as being the incredible put-down it is, but you have to keep something in mind.
This is a patriarchal society, and therefore this is a patrilineal society. This is a society in which the name, descent, and lineage of every person is always traced through the father, never through the mother. No one is ever named Jesus Bar-Mary. Never. It’s always Jesus Bar-Joseph. That’s the way it was. To call someone “Mary’s son …”
What does that mean? You and I probably know what it means. This is the hometown. You can’t hide things in a small town. One of the things you can’t hide is when Joseph and Mary get married in June and a baby is born in September. Small towns never forget things like that. They never, never, never forget things like that.
Do you know what they’re saying? It is really pretty scathing. They’re saying, “You think you’re such hot stuff, Jesus Christ? We don’t even know who your father is. We have no idea who your father is. It could be Joseph, but it might not be. We don’t even know who your father is, and therefore you’re a man without a father. In our culture, that means you’re a man without an identity. You’re nobody. You’re a bastard.”
“Well,” you say, “how unfair that this disgrace and shame would be assigned to Jesus when he didn’t deserve it!” Yeah, but that’s what he came to do, because on the cross, Jesus Christ truly became a man without a father. When he said, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” why was that happening?
Because on the cross, he got the only visceral rejection that can really destroy you. He got the rejection of God. He stood in our place and took the penalty and punishment for everything we have ever deserved and anything we’ve ever done, and he did it voluntarily. He did it out of love. He got the ultimate rejection so we could get the ultimate acceptance. His rejection is our acceptance, and our acceptance, in order for that to happen, meant his rejection.
Now we are children of the King, of the Father. Sons and daughters! We have a name! We have a place! That means we can take any other kind of rejection there is. It doesn’t matter what they call you. It doesn’t matter what they say. Who cares what they think? Who cares what the peasants think when you have the love of the King of all, the King of the universe?
Do you see Jesus Christ doing that so you could handle rejection? Do you see him being rejected, getting the ultimate rejection, the only rejection that really could have destroyed you, so we could be brought into the family of God? Does it melt you? Does it change you? Does it affirm you? When you see that, now we have the truth that doesn’t lead to exclusivity, but inclusivity.
What do I mean? People say, “If you think you have the truth, you’re going to be exclusive.” Well, it depends on what you think the truth is. If the core truth of your life is a man dying for his enemies, people who don’t believe what he believes, how can that lead you to be superior, mean, self-righteous, and exclusive toward people who have different views?
The man dying on the cross is not just a man, not just anybody. That would be a moving example, but if he’s really the unique Son of God, if God himself, when he comes unto Earth, does that, then I know at the heart of the universe, in the heart of ultimate reality, is self-giving love, not power and conquest.
This gives me both the power and the reason to turn to people around me who don’t believe what I believe, who maybe are even enemies, and to pour my life out for them anyway. That is the most exclusive truth possible. The Son of God himself has come and died for me. But it leads me to the most inclusive life possible.
Do you see it? Are you willing to be both attractive and offensive? Can you be?
The closer you get in heart and life to what Jesus has done, to that ultimate visceral rejection he got on the cross, the more you will be come the most attractive and offensive person.
Most of us aren’t either. You know that. We’re kind of just blah, but if we ask God to make this truth real to our lives, we might start to actually begin to become the attractive, offensive people who can really make a difference in this world.
Hughes, R. K. (1989). Mark: Jesus, servant and savior (Vol. 1, pp. 132–133). Westchester, IL: Crossway Books.