(Read Mk. 6:1- 31
Introduction: Jesus returns to His own country/community, after having done so many powerful deeds to arouse the curiosity in surrounding places with His teachings, mighty works, etc. However, He found a group of skeptical people, saying: Why this is only the carpenter. We know his brothers and the rest of the family; who is he to have any directions worth heeding? In response,Jesus cites a principle that perhaps we see often: A person is often "without honor" in his "own country, among his own kin, and in his own house"!
1. A point worth pondering, it seems, is that "he
could there do no mighty works,.." However, he marveled, at "their
unbelief." (Vs. 1-6). Yet, He went "round about the
villages, teaching." We, likewise, must not given up or in, just because there
are skeptical people who may show contempt for us and the message we deliver.
2. He sent His disciples on their limited commission
(Mk. 6:7-13). He sent them in pairs, and "gave them power over
unclean spirits;.." He told them to take nothing, evidently expecting the
people they contacted to provide for them. They were to teach where they were welcomed,
and to
"shake off the dust" off their feet when people
would not receive them or hear them. This points to the privilege it is for people to have
the message from heaven, and the terrible consequences for people who have no inclination
to listen or heed. That was true then even as it is today. Compare this section with
(Mt.10:5-15).
3. Jesus' presence and reputation of performing mighty deeds causes flashback
for Herod, who had been told by John that it was "not lawful" for him to have
the woman he had, who was his, "brother's wife," even though Herod had in fact
"married her." (Vs. 14-29) Under pressure from
Herodias, Herod had sent forth and laid hands on John and put him in prison, even though
he "feared John, knowing that he was a just man."
At a birthday for Herod and in the company of some of his lords, Herodias' daughter danced
and please Herod and he make a foolish pledge: "Ask of me
whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee." Herodias, being
instructed of her mother, who wanted John dead, said: "give me
... the head of John the Baptist"! In turn, Herod, being
"exceedingly sorry" complied. But now, seeing Jesus, he thought that
John the Baptist had been raised from the dead!
4. The disciples gathered themselves together with Jesus and told Him "all things
they had done" and what they had taught. He directs them to go into a "desert
place" so they could have some "leisure" because they had been so pressed
that it was even difficult for them to find time to "eat." (Vs. 30-31). Compare
this with (Lk. 10:17-20), how the seventy rejoiced!
Questions:
1. What kind of reception did Jesus receive when He returned His "own
country"?
2. What did Jesus say about a prophet being "without honor"?
3. At what did Jesus marvel and what could He NOT DO?
4. When He sent forth "the twelve" what did He tell them to "take"
with them for their journey?
5. What was the basic content of the preaching of the twelve? (V. 12)?
6. What did Herod surmise when Jesus' "name was spread abroad"?
7. What had John told Herod and how did Herod feel about John (Vs. 14-20)?
8. How did it come about that Herod beheaded John (Vs. 21-29)?
9. When the apostles "gathered themselves together," what did they tell Jesus
(v. 30)?
10. What did Jesus tell the apostles to do and why?
