MARK 6: 1-13

Jesus and His Disciples are now in Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus. He is among friends, or should be among friends.

The fact is that then and now, the miracles of Jesus are embraced by a few, and rejected by the masses.

His family and friends had seen the healings, and deliverances that Jesus had done before their eyes but they began to “reason” in their heads. Take note of what happened in the town of Nazareth that should be a lesson for us today.

The people began to say, “Who does He think He is?”

“We know Him, He is the Carpenters son, His mother and brothers and sisters live here among us.”

The end result of their UNBELIEF limited Jesus from doing the mightier works He could have done among them.

Good IS almighty, and God CAN do anything, but God has limited Himself from being a Dictator over mankind. God has given to each of us free will and it is our responsibility to make choices. We are provided God’s Directives in the Bible and it is up to us to learn what He says and what He wants, and then to believe and receive what He says, to act upon it, that is FAITH.

His “Homies” were OFFENDED at Him. “He can’t be better than we are, we know Him!”

The text tells us that “Jesus could do no mighty works there, among family and friends, because of THEIR UNBELIEF, except to heal a few of them.” (apparently, a few had some faith)

We can easily say that the people of Nazareth were simple-minded. Why did they not believe what things Jesus had been doing all around them? His fame had spread everywhere!

Perhaps the teachings they had learned from the Instructors of Scripture had clouded their understanding. Some time when we read the Bible we already KNOW what the text means because some well-meaning teacher of the Word has misinformed us; indoctrinated us with what they misunderstood the text to mean. IT is critical to read the Bible for ourselves, and to allow Holy Spirit to open our eyes to understand what is communicated from the Scriptures.

So, Jesus moved to Capernaum and set up His Ministry Headquarters there. Note again that Jesus does NOT MAKE people do right. He offers us to participate with Him. Our agreement is required to be a participator in the works of Jesus.

One lesson for us from this text is that we can limit the works of Jesus in and through our lives when we do not believe and act upon what He tells us.

We have good reason to question the things that we hear today; there is so much lying, manipulating, and deceiving, that is perpetrated upon us from multiple communication sources that we can get into information overload and become calloused to trying to think about and searching for truth. Maybe we should turn OFF some or all of those communicators and do some learning on our own. The Holy Bible is a reliable document from which to learn.

Be ready because there is soon coming a revival of the works of Jesus, the POWER of the Holy Spirit of God. There will be mighty miracles and things we have never before seen; there will be healings and deliverances. AND it will ALL be what God is doing!

Will Jesus come Himself and do it, the answer is YES, it will be Jesus that is doing it, but He will do those miracles through people that look like us, although it is His POWER working THROUGH those people, because they agreed with Him to participate, to work with Him. Jesus is a “groupie thinker.” He wants everyone to be in His Group!

John 3:16 -17 “For God SO loved the WORLD that He gave His only begotten Son so that WHOSOEVER believes in Jesus should NOT perish but should have everlasting life.” Live forever! “For God sent not His Son into the world to CONDEMN the World, but rather that the World through Him could be saved.”

And there is more also that Jesus wants: guess what He did with His Disciples, which also continues today for those who are His disciples?

After they moved to Capernaum Jesus called His Disciples around Him and gave them power to cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead! The power He gave to them is the AUTHORITY OF HIS NAME, telling them that they were, even as we of today are today, His Ambassadors, acting in His behalf, assisting Him with His works.

So Hie sent them out in groups of two, telling them to take nothing with them, no provisions for eating or purchasing or anything because He provides in ways that look accidental, but they are the supplies that He provides.

When the Disciples returned they had fantastic reports of those things that happened, the dead were raised, demons were cast of of people, and they healed people, or so it appeared because each of them were the physical body there but the truth is IT WAS THE POWER OF HOLY SPIRIT doing the work. It is the same with us today, the works, great or small are done through us because we say YES to Jesus in agreement that we will work WITH Him.

Ramona: 07/12/2024

Ramona,  Master in Ministry Arts, BA in Biblical Studies, I am an Ordained Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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