Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Hard to witness to those who knew me in the old days, hard to to go back to the old hometown and share my faith with them.

They remember the old Kevin and they can’t get past that,

they see the change, the difference, but there is an indifference to that because they can’t get past their prejudice

We pickup at the start of Marks gospel and the Lord Jesus, after a spectacular and indeed successful ministry tour around the Galilee area, is now coming back home to place he spent the majority of his earthly life - Nazareth

In his own country he would be reunited with family, he would be reintroduced to old acquaintances and friends, and he would face many people who couldn't get past their prejudice.

Many people are like this today when it comes to the Bible, when it comes to Jesus, or indeed even when it comes to Church practice.

They just can’t get past their prejudice to the real Jesus, to the real Christian faith, to the real truth of the Age of Grace we live in.

Challenge - I wonder is that you this morning, are you trapped by your presuppositions, by the opinions you have built up, which have boxed you in, confined you and kept you from truly coming to Christ and walking in his strength and power?

If that is you this morning then I want to urge you to get past your prejudice and allow the Lord to work in your life, because as we will see, Jesus homecoming is full of those that couldn't get past their prejudice and as a result they restricted the work of God in that community.

Notice with me firstly then that initially the people where

The Crowds Reaction To Christ

Astonished by His Practice vs2

Jesus is teaching in his home Synagogue on the Sabbath

This is the second recorded time of His teaching at his hometown

The first was almost a year ago, and is not recorded by Mark, but is recorded by Luke

Luke 4:16-29

Ref Isaiah Isaiah 61:1-2

notice where the Lord Stops - and the day of vengenece

why stop there?

because it wasn't that time!

So Jesus has taught before at Nazareth and look how they reacted

They wanted to stone him

why does he come back you say?

Home is where the heart is, isn't that what they say?

although this world was not His home the Lord I believe had a soft spot for those he had grown up with

30 years remember!

What compassion and grace

Jesus’s teaching once again leaves them blown away

You see they can’t comprehend how this can be

“From whence hath this man these things” vs 2

he didn’t learn this at carpentry school

“what widsom” vs 2

“what works” vs 2

they should have connected the dots and rejoiced at this Son of Nazereth who was much more that a carpenter

Angered by His Person vs 3

here comes there prejudice

“is this not”

you can hear the venom and the spite with which this is said can’t you

“the son of mary”

could indicate Joseph was dead by this point

or they could be slandering Christ

“brother of”

This seems to prove conclusively that Mary had other children after the birth of Jesus, her Firstborn (Matt.

1:25).

Now Rome claims Mary was a perpetual virgin, so what happens with this verse

Catholics claim, correctly, that the Greek terms for "brothers" and "sisters" in these verses could also refer to male and female relatives, not necessarily literal brothers and sisters.

However, the intended meaning is clear, they thought Jesus to be Joseph's son, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, and the brother of the unnamed and unnumbered sisters.

Father, mother, brother, sister.

It is straining the meaning of the text to interpret “brothers” and “sisters” as "cousins" or "relatives" with the mentioning of Jesus' mother and father.

All mention Jesus' mother with His brothers.

If they were His cousins, or the sons of Joseph from a previous marriage, why were they mentioned with Mary so often?

The idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary cannot be drawn from Scripture.

It must be forced on Scripture, in contradiction to what the Scriptures clearly state.

Because of who he is they are “offended” vs3

“offended” in the Gk. is Skandalizo

to be or become filled with disgust or revulsion for someone, conceived of as stumbling and falling

they could not explain him so they rejected him!

Why the rejection?

they acknowledged his works and his wisdom, yet they rejected!

Why? because they couldn't get past their prejudice

Jesus wasn't educated in the rabbinical schools

he wasn't qualified

he was just a common carpenter

there was no way they would accept Christ as anything but their idea of who he was to them, the uneducated common carpenter

Now, must never despise education, we must seek as much as we can get in one sense, and not be fools for the sake of it.

We must never think that this world's awards mean anything in the spiritual realm.

and so their prejudice kept them from Him

he wasn't a qualified rabbi he was just a common old Nazarene who had gotten to big for his station

illustration - Middlesborough winning award for worst place to live in uk

They looked at Jesus at couldn't see then Son of God, just the son of Mary, the son of a carpenter that they had grown up with for 30 years

They couldn't get past their prejudice..

So that is the crowds reation to Jesus but what of

Christs Reaction to the Crowd

Addresses their Prejudice vs 4

“a prophet is not without honour” vs 4

familiarity breeds contempt, isn't that what they say

not true of course - wife :)

depends on the context doesn’t it

in this case it bares truth

often harder to witness to those that you have grown up with

they no the old you

and to them that will always be you

illustration - Clare writing comment on Davy J’s facebook feed

they cant get past their prejudice

I think of witnessing to my own family especially my peers

Father/grandmother

“I changed your nappies”

now you want to tell me about!!!

Accepts their Position vs 5-6

“he could do no work there”

God works in response to faith.

Unbelief ties the hands of Omnipotence, except in judgment, and the hour for judgment had not yet come- ironside

Jesus never forces himself upon people

no mighty works were done

think about what we have just witnessed in the lead up to this

the woman with 12 years of disease - healed

the daughter of 12 years dead - raised to life

we have saw the power of people faith and who Christ responded to that, but now we have the effect of unbelief and how Christ responded to that

“he marvelled because of their unbelief”

What made Him marvel was their unbelief despite all they had been privy too!