MARK

Mark Chapter 6

Jesus returned to His own country with His disciples and taught on the Sabbath day in the synagogue. This astonished the listeners. They had heard teaching before but this man taught with authority and power. He taught as if He knew what He was talking about. The wisdom of this man was astonishing. The works of healing and miracles always followed His teaching to confirm the Word spoken.

Christ is not believed by His own people.

• Mark 6:1 And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
• 2 And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
• 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

They thought, this is an ordinary carpenter. They knew of His mother, father, sisters, and brothers. This was an ordinary man. They supposed that He had no right to teach in such a manner. Their attitude was, "Who are you to teach us, you are just the same as us and no better."

We have the same problem today in some circles. They judge someone's ability to teach and preach by their degrees and seminar credentials. If God calls someone without those things and fills them with the Holy Spirit, that is greater than having the greatest degree in theology that one can obtain in the world we live in.

God can use the highly educated also and He does. We can never limit God and assume that He only uses those that are unlearned. Paul the apostle was in a high position and educated, Peter and John however were fishermen and considered ordinary. It doesn't matter how we are before we encounter the Lord in our lives. The Holy Spirit is our necessary teacher and the one we depend on after coming to the Lord. We just have to realize that even if we are considered ordinary by the world's standard, we can be used of God.

The closer Jesus got to His own people, the less He was believed. They knew His background and knew that someone of their environment could not possibly be someone special. That sort of tells us that they had a low opinion of themselves.

This always causes us to consider that the Jewish people of that day were looking for a king like savior. They did not look for an ordinary person. This is why many rejected Jesus. They were not looking for a man to tell them that they needed to repent of sins and become a new creature by being born again by the spirit. They were looking for a great leader to deliver them from Roman oppression.

Repenting takes humility but getting victory over the Romans was exaltation and power. Now from scripture we can see clearly that this will occur in the future at His second coming. The ones who follow Jesus will reign with Him in power and authority. The nation of Israel will one day be restored and Jesus will rule over them and they will rule the world, but first must come the repenting, being born of the Spirit and submission to the authority of God.

The sin problem had to be dealt with first. Someone had to come and pay the price for sin so that those that believed upon Him could be delivered from the consequences of sin and inherit eternal life.

There is only one way of salvation. Repenting and being born again by the Holy Spirit. Receiving  what Jesus did by believing on Him and Him alone, believing that He died for our sins, was buried in an actual grave, was raised from the dead and is now on the right hand of the Father in Heaven until He returns in power and glory.

• Mark 6:4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
• 5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
• 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

Jesus knew that a prophet is not honored in his own country and household. Notice also that unbelief hinders the work of God. More than anything else I see as I study the New Testament, is  that unbelief is the main cause of unanswered prayer. If a man were giving away free $100 bills to any person who would come and receive it, only those who believed it, would wait in line for hours to receive. True unbelievers would not even bother to go, some would go and stand back out of curiosity but the real believers would find a place in line and stay there until they receive their hundred dollars. True faith causes action, determination, and steadfastness.

Jesus did only a few miracles where there is unbelief. It says here that He could do no mighty work here. If unbelief hindered the very Son of God, how much more will it hinder us from receiving answer to prayer.

The best way to build faith is to stay in the word continually and feed upon it, continuing instant in prayer and communion with God. Fasting helps in this also.

• Mark 6:7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
• 8 And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:
• 9 But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.

Now we see the beginning of the ministry of His disciples. They were to do what Jesus did. This shows that the preaching of the gospel, the healing of the sick, and power over unclean spirits were to continue and was not limited to Jesus when He was on the earth. The disciples were to go in the power of God and do the work that Jesus did. They were to trust God for their provisions and not even take extra clothes or money.

They also must continue instant in prayer and communion with the Lord in order to minister the will of the Spirit. In other words they were to present the gospel and do the work of the Lord, not seek entertainment. It is good to have fellowship with people and show the love of God but we must remember that we all without exception need to be alone with God in prayer and bible study continually. We must not let ourselves be robbed of this.

Wanting to be by ourselves may sound selfish to some but we must realize that we are dependent upon the Lord not only at home but everywhere we go. It is not selfish to need fellowship and be alone with the Lord. Jesus took time apart to pray and He was God. How much more do we need to pray? Maybe the reason some of us feel defeated all the time is that we are too busy even doing good things that we don't pray.

• Mark 6:11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorra in the day of judgment, than for that city.

This verse should cause us to have respect and awe for the preaching of the word. It is a very serious error to neglect the word of God. Whoever did not receive even a disciple would be in danger of a more severe judgment that Sodom and Gomorra will get in the day of judgment.

• Mark 6:12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
• 13 And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.

The message of repentance is part of the gospel and should be preached today. We don't just receive Christ as savior without repenting. Changing from a life of doing our own thing to a life following Jesus Christ is necessary. Walking in the Holy Spirit that He gives to those that obey Him will is also necessary because we can do nothing without the Holy Spirit abiding within us.

A changed life, a new birth, and turning around will follow true salvation. Not all will probably change overnight; we all have our ups and downs; some of us take longer to grow spiritually. The old man is to pass away and all things become new in a true conversion eventually. If our conversion to Christ does not yield these things, then we are holding back and may be still in our sins.

Maybe we are trying to hold on to part of our old nature. Yes, we are saved by faith but true faith will produce action. I want to warn here that we need to apply these scriptures to ourselves and not use them to go around trying to pick on others if they don't live the way we think they should. Instead we need to encourage others to search the scriptures also. We have to teach ourselves first before teaching someone else.

Notice that the healing of the sick and casting out devils accompanies the preaching of the gospel and no where in the bible does it teach that signs and miracles should stop. I believe when at the Second Coming of the Lord when He reigns forever, then and only then will everything be perfect and the gifts of the Spirit will no longer be needed. We cannot for one moment say it is perfect now. As long as there are sick people, demon spirits and troubles, we need the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

• Mark 6:14 And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
• 15 Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.
• 16 But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.

People are now really starting to take notice of Jesus. They are making decisions. How are they going to understand this man who is different than any man they have encountered before. He is hard to just ignore.

It's no different in today's society. When the masses of humanity hear the name of Jesus, it is hard to ignore. They usually either except or reject; some may take the message lightly but all have an opinion one way or another as to who Jesus is. One thing we have to note; it's hard to believe He could have been an ordinary good teacher like some religions say. Either He had to be the very Son of God who came to die for our sins or He had to be a lunatic. He could not have been just a good teacher. An ordinary teacher does not raise the dead and heal the sick.

Some men said that He was the Elias that was prophesied in the prophets that he would return before the coming of the Lord, others acknowledged that He was a prophet of some kind but Herod declared Him to be John the Baptist raised from the dead. No ordinary king would say this. Raising from the dead was a miracle.

The king who thought John had risen from the death must have been ridden with guilt at the killing of John. He knew there was something different about John even though John did not do miracles. His teaching on repentance brought conviction from the Holy Spirit.

• Mark 6:17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her.
• 18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.
• 19 Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not:
• 20 For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.
• 21 And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;
• 22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
• 23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
• 24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.
• 25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.
• 26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.
• 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
• 28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.
• 29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

The king did not want to kill John yet in his weakness he promised anything after a young woman danced before him. The woman inquired to her mother what she should ask for and the mother wanted revenge upon John. She desired to see him killed. John told them the truth and was killed for it. Not all people want to hear the truth. The truth is not always received gladly. All we have to do is read the word of the prophets in the Old Testament to see that they were treated very badly even though their words would have saved the people from judgment if they would have listened to the prophets.

Times have not really changed much. People today would much rather hear words of joy, gladness and prosperity than words of judgment. They call them preachers of doom, if they warn of judgment. I realize there has been those who preach judgment and doom who have been out for themselves to draw followers after self and not Christ but that shows how really clever the enemy is. When people hear those kinds of preachers and a true preacher comes along with the same message only in the right spirit, they do not listen because they assume he is like the others.

Yet when we look at the sins of America, it is clear when we compare the United States with the state of Israel in the Old Testament when they got away from the truth, Sodom and Gomorrah, and other wicked nations that sacrificed their own children to idols; that judgment will come here too. If we do not repent and change our ways, God's patience with America surely cannot last.

Look what we do in this country: God has blessed us above every other nation before us. We have prospered and become great. We have tried to police the whole world. We have a great army. We are richer than any nation before. We appear to be righteous and care about other nations. We try to help when there are starving and oppressed people abroad. Yet are we really righteous?

We allow the murder of thousands, maybe even millions of babies every year even up to the ninth month of a woman's pregnancy. To justify ourselves, we use the words, "A woman's right to choose." This makes is sound so nice and democratic. After all, are we not a Democratic government where everyone has a right to choose? Yet do we really believe in a right to choose? If a young unmarried girl goes to an abortion clinic for counseling, is she ever encouraged to choose for herself? Is she not encouraged to abort the baby? After all they say, she is young and has her whole life before her, why should she be tied down to a baby? Have fun while you can, get education, get a life; but in order to do that, she must allow the taking of another life. The baby has no right to choose.

We allow anything and everything to be taught in the public schools but woe to anyone who dares bring a bible to school or to pray. That is considered unconstitutional. The very God who gave us this great country and allowed us to enjoy all this prosperity is now considered unnecessary, private and not to be talked about in public.

We ignore the teachings of the bible which warn of lust, sin, adultery, fornication and even call preachers who warn against these things, bible thumpers, bigots, hate mongers.

Do we not think God sees all this?

Herod's lady friend; she was not his legal wife according to John the Baptist, thought she had a right to kill the one who dared try to interfere with her chosen lifestyle. How dare he tell her that she was committing adultery. She hated John for telling the truth and as a result John was killed and Herod had to live with his conscience the rest of his life.

John the Baptist was such a fine example of a servant of God. He came to do God's will without compromise. He did not "get a life." He preached what God wanted him to preach knowing it would make people angry even enough to kill him. He did not live softly but in the wilderness. He lived to serve God and when the Son of God began His ministry, John recognized that Jesus was here now and he, John, had to depart to be with the heavenly Father.

• Mark 6:30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
• 31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
• 32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

After the apostles ministered the word and returned to the Lord, He encouraged them to rest. We all need a time of rest and refreshing.

• Mark 6:33 And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.
• 34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

This should be our attitude. Compassion. If we lack compassion we need to really seek God. His Holy Spirit can give us a heart of compassion.

Here we see the very heart of Jesus. He cared, He loved, He had compassion on the suffering, and the lost condition and the lack of a shepherd these people had. Remember Jesus reflects God. Jesus was like God in every way. That means that God has compassion, God loves and God cares. While I know the healing of the sick brings God glory and shows people that this is the Christ when the sick are healed, I can't help but believe that God heals the sick simply because He wants to. I believe He wants the sick to get well. I don't know why it's so hard for us to believe that. I can't believe our Heavenly Father enjoys seeing so much suffering and sickness.

• Mark 6:35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:
• 36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

The passages here shows that the Lord not only has compassion for the sick and afflicted but also the hungry. Physically hungry. He refused to let the people depart for home without strength and nourishment to keep them on the way. Some must have come a great distance.

• Mark 6:37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
• 38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
• 39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

I could imagine what the disciples must have felt when Jesus told them to feed the people. Using the modern vocabulary a little. The disciples tell Jesus that the people need to leave so they could buy food. Jesus tells them. "You give them something to eat." They probably said, "Say what!" or "You got to be kidding." "How can we feed all these people?" They must have temporarily forgot who they were talking to. Jesus only required them to start passing out what they had and start believing.

• Mark 6:38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
• 39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
• 40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
• 41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
• 42 And they did all eat, and were filled.
• 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.
• 44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

 I notice that Jesus really cared about the needs of those listening to His message. He really cared about them. He cared about their spiritual needs and also their physical needs.

• Mark 6:45 And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people.
  46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.
  47 And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land.
  48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them.

Here again Jesus sends the crowds away and departs into a solitary place to pray. I cannot stress the importance of this enough. It is not being selfish to take time apart to be alone with God in prayer. It shows our need and dependency upon Him. We cannot accomplish anything without His infilling and anointing. Try preaching or teaching on our own. Unless we happen to be a gifted speaker that knows how to speak, our words would fall flat.

Even gifted speakers need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to produce the right results and draw people to Christ and not to themselves. Let's face it. We all need God. We need His presence and anointing to win the lost to Christ.

Jesus even though He went alone to pray still was aware of the peril of the disciples. Yet, notice that Jesus would have passed them by had they not cried out to Him.

• Mark 6:49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out:
• 50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.
• 51 And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.
• 52  For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened. 

God does not force Himself upon us. We must seek Him. His Holy Spirit draws but we have to answer and receive. Jesus was there in time of trouble but the disciples did not see Him at first, they thought He was a spirit or ghost and cried out in fear. When Jesus calmed the storm the disciple were surprised even after the miracles of the 5000 that were fed. It says here that their hearts were hardened. They forgot the former miracles and were producing fear again.

Just a thought here; but maybe we do the same thing when we forget how the Lord once delivered us from certain problems, sicknesses etc. When these things come back upon us we begin to fear and doubt and mistakenly think it must be the Lord's will that they come a second time. Some think that sickness is the will of God for some and healing for others. I really have trouble with that thinking but I don't know everything that's why I'm studying this word. I'm trying to find out.

I believe it is God's will for us to find out. He said in the book of James, James 1:5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

When we do not understand something that happens, we are told to just trust God, and that we may not find the answers but we are to believe anyway. We might think; that may be right, it sounds good and holy but does the scripture actually teach that way? If any lack wisdom, we are to ask for it. We are to ask in faith fully expecting an answer because the second part of that verse says, "It shall be given him."

I realize that the Lord told Paul at one time when he sought the Lord for deliverance from him "thorn in the flesh." The Lord said to him "His grace was sufficient." This should make us want to continually search the scriptures and study diligently. So many wonderful things to learn. It's so easy to call up someone for advice and maybe get the wrong advice, how much better it would be to seek God and search the scriptures for our life's problems. Maybe we can start getting it right for once.

I for one do not have all the pat answers, I'm glad I don't. I want to encourage all of us to search the scriptures for themselves. I really don't want people asking me for advice. Who am I? I would much rather they search the scriptures and seek a relationship with God themselves.

We need to hear good preaching, worship with fellow believers, and have fellowship with bothers and sister in the Lord but what all of us need more than anything is a relationship with the Lord that is personal and does not depend upon church, fellow believers, and preachers. That never means for us to pull apart and try to make it on our own because that causes people to become "Holier than thou" and selfish.

We can't love one another as Christ loves us, if we never fellowship with anyone else. Our personal relationship with our Lord though should not depend upon them. A time may come when we find ourselves somewhere where our brothers and sisters in the Lord are not present. We all need to depend on God alone for our strength.

• Mark 6:53 And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore.
• 54 And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him,
• 55 And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was.
• 56 And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.

The end of chapter 6 in Mark shows again Christ's ministry that I believe He wants us to continue until He comes again; preaching the gospel, making disciples, healing the sick. DC