Know His Mighty Works

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household."  And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching. And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, "Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.  And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them."  So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. - Mark 6:1‭-‬13 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Danger 1: Familiarity

When Jesus arrived at home, he started teaching. This was the same as in other places. There is recognition that Jesus is doing miraculous things. But in the very next breath, they consider his background. They know his brother; they grew up with Him. So what happened is that they took offense to Him. What can this guy who we watched grow up teach us? 

So the people of Jesus' hometown had no faith in Him. They did not expect anything of Jesus. They were not expectant of anything miraculous from Jesus. So it can be with those who have been Christian for awhile or for those who grew up in the church. We can lose our awe of Jesus and God. It is not because God is not awesome, but we have become callous to the gospel and forgotten who God is. We can see this in our prayer life. Do we pray for God sized acts of power? 

Danger 2: Despising the Ordinary

Jesus was a carpenter, a blue collar worker. The people were like, who is this guy. The son of Mary was an insult. People were traditionally referred to by their father. This was probably alluding to his illegitimate birth. They did not expect Messiah to come from a poor, working family. They expected a Messiah to come like a King. 

God works extraordinary things thru very ordinary things. Could it be through these very groundhog-like days that God is seeking to do something miraculous? So we should be careful not to minimize our ordinary days. 

Encouragement: Ordinary people doing extraordinary works

The disciples had been watching Jesus perform these miracles and teach the people. And now Jesus tells them it's their turn. How does Jesus do it now? How about his modern day followers?

1. There should be a deep dependence upon God. 

Jesus sent them out with the clothes on their back. They had to depend on God to support them and not only minister, but also to survive. So it should be for us. We need to prayerfully stand on God and walk with God.

2. There will be interdependence with other believers.

Jesus sent them out two by two. We need to go with other believers as teams. We need support from one another.

3. Deep contentment

The disciples were to stay where they were welcomed. To deal with little annoyances and small, trivial troubles. Annoying neighbors, problematic roommates. We need to stay put in ministry. To be content in God's provision.