Why did the townspeople
reject Jesus? Why did the townspeople even become hostile against Jesus? They
had the Law, prophets, worship, promise, and the patriarchs of faith. They were
proud of having Moses and Elijah and King David in their ancestry. Furthermore,
they had been eagerly awaiting for the coming of the Blessed Messiah throughout
the centuries. But when the Messiah came to his own people according to the
Scriptures, they failed to recognize him, nor honored him as the Christ of God.
It is a mystery. In Romans 10, Paul says, “For I can testify about them that
they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.” (Romans
10:2) Jesus could not perform any miracles in his hometown because of their lack
of faith. Instead, Jesus preached villages to villages and called and sent out
the twelve disciples, giving them authority to raise the dead, to heal the sick,
and to drive out demons in the name of Christ. Jesus healed and cured the people
who repented and accepted the invitation of God, listening to the word of
Jesus. Even now those who hear the word and accept the Christ as the Lord will surely
experience of healing and restoration of heart and mind. Anyone who responds to
the invitation call of God in heaven shall live forever! But those who persistently
refuse to accept the Christ shall not live.
“Jesus left
there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath
came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. ‘Where
did this man get these things?’ they asked. ‘What’s this wisdom that has been
given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the
carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and
Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him. Jesus
said to them, ’A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his
relatives and in his own home.’ He could not do any miracles there, except lay
his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of
faith.’” (Mark 6:1-6)
The townspeople
of Nazareth experienced the amazement and wisdom at the hearing of the teachings
of Jesus. Yet, they refused him and even became hostile against Jesus. Why? Because
they thought they knew of him. In fact, they knew of Jesus’ brothers and
sisters as well. Jesus lived there quite a long time enough for the townspeople
knew of him at least in physical level. But what they failed to know of was
that he was the Christ of God. The teachings and miracles and wonders Jesus
gave and performed were the evidence that he came from God. There should be no
mistake to identify Jesus as the Promised One of God, because what he said and
did was representing the exact picture of him according to the Scriptures. Jesus
himself said so, “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he
can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the
Son also does.” (John 5:19)
However, the townspeople
did not go on searching for who he really was. They could have asked Jesus’
mother what had happened and how he was born because the mother Mary knew of
him. Resources were available if they wanted to dig in. Instead, they assumed that
they knew all. It is still true to all people. There are many false ideas and
teachings about Jesus of the Nazareth. Prejudice and misunderstandings are rampant
and widespread in all corners of the world just like in the days of our Lord
Jesus Christ in the first century.
But God did
not leave us alone in an island of no men, but gave us the words and the
witnesses, let alone the universe itself. There are the prophets and the patriarchs
of faith. The history of the people of God tells the volume of the power of the
Almighty One. The invisible hand of God has been marvelously displayed and
demonstrated in the history of humanity individually and corporately. Though
tried many times, no evil overcomes goodness ever. It is exactly the opposite. Goodness
wins over the dark forces of evil one always.
Above all and
more than everything, God sent his Son Jesus Christ to die for the sin of the
world although the people of the world did not even know that they were sinners
and transgressors. Christ died even when we were still the enemies of God. The
incarnate God, Jesus Christ, left home and came down to the earth to take away
the sin of the world. “Behold, the Lamb of God,” John the Baptist cried out at
the dawn of the first century as the forerunner of the Messiah. There are ample
resources available around us if we really wanted to search for the truth like the
Bereans. It is worthwhile to examine ourselves whether we wanted to open the
Scriptures or not. It is a good litmus!
“Now the
Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they
received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day
to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
Jesus Christ came
and did exactly what the Law and the Prophets had prophesied. All the pages of
the Old Scriptures are repeatedly telling the coming of the Messiah of God over
and over again like “Someone is coming, someone is coming!” It was not too hard
to miss seeing and knowing of Jesus as the Christ Jesus who was walking and
speaking on the streets and in the villages and synagogues openly and plainly. But
as it was difficult and hard to recognize and honor him as the Son of God those
days, so it is now these days. Only a few paid their honor and respect for the
Son of God. They were the poor and lowly in spirit. They knew by their heart
that Jesus came from God for his deeds and the words spoken out of his mouth amply
demonstrated the truth, the life, and the way. For example, a born blind man
testified before the Sanhedrin that God heard of the righteous man.
Jesus draws
and brings anyone through the word to the Father when they respond to the divine
call of heaven though there are a few. “No one can come to me unless the Father
who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:44) Those
who are humble and poor in spirit before the Lord can enter the kingdom of
heaven, Jesus says. Being poor and humble doesn’t mean financially and physically.
Spiritual poverty and humbleness lead them to enter into the house of the Lord
God as his family. Being poor in spirit is what God intended us to be since the
beginning. We are made that way, inadequate, poor, weak, fragile, and insufficient.
We are made to live by depending on God in everything from a single breath of
life to washing the dishes. When we become poor and weak, God will manifest his
power in and through us.
“Then Jesus
went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he
began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. These
were his instructions: ‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread,
no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Whenever
you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will
not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your
feet as a testimony against them.’ They went out and preached that people
should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with
oil and healed them.” (Mark 6:7-13)
What
did Jesus do? He retreated from the town of Nazareth and went around teaching from
village to village. Jesus sow the seed in the heart of people to grow. It is
the word of God Jesus planted. It shall either save or judge people who listen
to the word. Those who keep on accepting and obeying the word will be saved and
given more truths in abundance. But those who keep on rejecting and disobeying
the word will receive the due consequences and be judged by the Righteous Judge
on the day of the Lord. This is what our Lord has been doing for centuries
after centuries, days after days, planting the seed in the heart of humanity,
appealing them to come unto him and be saved and have eternal life in Christ.
So
is true now. God has been sowing and planting the words of truth from the
beginning. As rain drops and falls on the land, so it produces crops and fruits
and grows plants, vegetables, trees and grass. The rain doesn’t fall on the ground
in vain ever. If the land doesn’t produce the fruits and crops then the thorns and
thistles will grow and ruin the land. Likewise, if the word of God fallen and sown
in the heart of mankind doesn’t grow, then it will be filled with every kind of
falsity and deception. There are only two choice, either to accept or reject
the truth. Those who accept the truth shall grow in maturity in the faith of
Christ. Those who reject the truth shall be subject to the wrath of God which
they would get what they wanted to. They would be separated from the grace of
God as long as they reject the truth. But when they repented they would be
accepted and forgiven by the merciful and compassionate God through the blood of
Christ.
“The
wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and
wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what
may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”
(Romans 1:18-19)
Then
Jesus called the twelve disciples and began to send them out two by two. Jesus
called his disciples to teach and equip them with the truth. They were ordinary
people just like us. They were born and raised in the Jewish families and
learned of the Law and the Prophets. They knew of the animal sacrifices and
worships in the house of the Lord. They also knew of the promise of the Lord
that the Messiah would come to save the nation. As young Jews, the disciples were
zealously waiting for the hope of the nation, the coming of the Promised One
who would come and vindicate the people of Israel. The disciples didn’t know that
Jesus was the Messiah initially but gradually they came to believe that he was
the One to come according to the Law and the Prophets except Judas Iscariot. Jesus
never intended to make his disciples the supermen. Rather, Jesus helped and
opened their eyes of heart to see and believe that he was the Christ whom God
the Father sent according to the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus
called his disciples and sent them out and gave them authority over impure
spirits. The disciples didn’t have such an authority but given from the heaven
above in Christ Jesus. They were given authority to drive out impure spirits
not because they were special or Jews but because they were called to be sent
out. It is a divine power which no one can have naturally or through anything out
of the world. This power is given to all believers in Christ. Because in Christ
we are not fighting against the flesh and blood but against the principalities of
evil and darkness in heaven. The devil who deceived the woman in the Garden is
still roaming around the believers in Christ to make them stumble and fail to
live by the hope of salvation in God. That is why the Lord Jesus gave authority
over impure spirits to his disciples. So has he given the same power and
authority for us in Christ!
The
disciples didn’t have anything with them but completely trusted in the Lord. When
they were sent out they experienced the amazing things like raising the dead,
healing the sick, and driving the demons. It happened exactly what the Lord
Jesus said to them when they went out to the villages and towns in obedience. The
power of God was released through the disciples. It is the picture what is
going to happen in the realm of spirit. So is true to all believers in Christ all
time in history. It happened to his disciples in physical level.
But
to us it doesn’t necessarily have to happen physically but rather spiritually. For
example, how can we remain in rest and peace in times of stress and troubles? How
can we defeat anger and hatred boiling in our hearts? How can we win over jealousy
and wariness? How can we put down the defeated and depressed mind and heart? How
can we overcome the wounds and scars in the midst? How can we win over lust and
passion? The enemies are within us as our Lord says the things coming out of us
are defiling us. The desires and passions from within we cannot control with
our own strength and will. It slips so quickly like wind just like Peter denied
the Lord three times. We are in need and want the authority and power of God.
The
Lord God is willing to give us what we need to win over the dark forces of evil
one through the Lord Jesus Christ who has paid the price to redeem us for
freedom from the bondage of the devil. The Lord Jesus is stronger than the
devil whom he bound and released the prisoners. We were bought at a price and
adopted into the family of God. We are now guarded and protected by the power
of God through faith in Christ until we receive our salvation kept in heaven. Now
is the time to respond to his word and to obey him by loving one another as
Christ loved us. This we shall do continually until the day of the Lord. We will
given more and more truths when we do respond to his call to love each other and
obey him.
“Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has
given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by
God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in
the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
January 30, 2019
© 2018-2019 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
