The Shackling of Omnipotence
Introduction
The gospels record that the Lord Jesus visited his hometown on two occasions after He began his public ministry. It was here that Jesus was raised as a boy and worked as a carpenter until 30 years of age. Luke 2:52 says, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." It is apparent from the text before us that unbelief affected the ministry of the Son of God in His hometown and among His own people. Always keep in mind that Mark 6 is preceded by Mark 2:-12 and many other recorded miracles. Maybe our Lord had hoped that word had preceded Him and prepared His way. His heart yearns for "His own country" and "His own people."
The people of Nazareth needed to heed the warning of Hebrews 3:12, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."
Charles Darwin said that belief was "the most complete of all distinctions between man and the lower animals." If this observation is true, it suggests that lack of faith on man's part puts him on the same level as the animals.
Agnostic orator, Col. Robert Ingersoll, described a believer as "a songless bird in a cage." You would probably agree that his words better describe an unbeliever!
“Jesus looking for a people that will allow him to be himself.”
It has now been a year since Jesus had been to Nazareth where before He had been rejected by the people and evicted from the synagogue
(Luke 4:16-30). Here we have the story of a people that did not take Jesus seriously.
I. THE FEARLESSNESS OF THE SON OF GOD 1-2a
A. HIS DEVOTION. 1
Jesus had been in Nazareth a year earlier and received harsh treatment, but His devotion brought Him back. Luke 4:29: “And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong."
How patient God has been with each of us. 2 Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." How many opportunities has He given you to open your heart to Him?
B. HIS DETERMINATION. 2a
Jesus identified Himself with a place where the word of God was read. It is wonderful when a man of God takes the word of God and teaches the children of God in the power of the Spirit of God in the house of God for the glory of God.
The synagogues in those days were built in such way that they pointed toward Jerusalem. He was facing Calvary, facing the cross where He was going to die for the sins of the world. Jesus was determined to preach in Nazareth in hope that someone would believe.
II. THE FAMILIARITY AT THE HOUSE OF GOD 2b-4
A. THE APPRAISAL AND ATTITUDE. 2b-3
v.2 "astonished" - to strike by blow, being stung by a lick, amazed, flabbergasted. “You could have touched me with your finger, and I would have fallen over.” expector expired! Mind blowing, dumbfounded. Why? Jesus was commonplace to these people. They were too familiar with Him. This can happen to a church. We hear so much about Jesus and the things of God that they get to be commonplace and we are unmoved. The truths of the Bible become so ordinary that they don't stir us anymore.
Not impressed with Jesus.
Mark 12:37: “Therefore David himself call Him ‘Lord;’ how is He then his Son? And the common people heard Him gladly.”
ILLUSTRATE: Old Gypsy Smith was an evangelist. Someone said to him, “Mr. Smith, why is it you have maintained your enthusiasm? How have you been able to stay so excited about the Lord all through these years?” Mr. Smith replied, “It’s because I’ve never lost the wonder of it.”
ILLUSTRATE: We are in the Bible Belt; no other country on earth has had more opportunities to hear the Word, to know God, to go to Heaven, than the citizens of America.
Gospel Hardened!
1. His wisdom criticized.
2. His works criticized.
“mighty” – dunamis; supernatural power exerted in their performance.
V3 Familiarity breeds contempt.
The people of Nazareth were too familiar with Jesus. Enchantment comes from afar.
“son of Mary” – that was a slur; the suspicion of illegitimacy. In that day you identified a man by calling him the son of his father.
“they were offended” – stumbling block; scandalized. “They could not explain Him, so they rejected Him.” (Wvest) “disapproved of Him.”
They didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary from someone so close to home.
Did anyone expect FBCW to rise?
Central Oak Ridge STORY: A tourist, eager to see everything in the art gallery, fled from picture to picture scarcely noticing what was in the frames. “I didn’t see anything very special here,” he said to one of the guards as he left. “Sir, the guard replied, “it is not the pictures that are on trial here, it is the visitors.”
B. The Assessment 4
Honor – deference, reverence
John 1:11-12
“He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
Are you family?
“His” house
Maybe you were brought up in a Christian home and the gospel is all too familiar to you. Something you take for granted.
III. THE FRUITLESSNESS OF THE WORK OF GOD 5-6
A. Jesus’ Ministry 5
Jesus is God and God is omnipotent: all powerful. It is not that He wouldn’t, but that He couldn’t. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
Matthew 28:18: “all power is given unto me”
“no” – not even one. Jesus chose to limit Himself in accordance to human response.
Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Miracles attest to the truth and reveal Himself as Lord, thus lead sinners to saving faith; their rejection was in stone.
B. Jesus’ Marvel 6
Why? Unbelief. Lack of faith in Him. Sin of unbelief. This tells me that God’s power can be limited in a church by the congregation’s lack of faith. God has connected His power to the belief or unbelief of a human being. He says, “I will not come into a life where I am unwanted. I will not dwell in a heart where I am unwanted.”
ILLUSTRATE: Dennis with the sound.
STORY: Jesus and the Centurion
Matthew 8:5-10: “Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”
The marvel of belief.
The marvel of unbelief.
CONCLUSION
“Is not this the carpenter?” Jesus one day laid down the hammer and the saw and picked up a spiritual tool box in order to build lives.
One day they took the carpenter and nailed Him to a cross prepared by another carpenter. They probably said, “That’s the end of Him.” But it wasn’t. If you will listen you can still hear the sound of His hammer. Because Jesus Christ, the carpenter, is still at work. He is building His church, He is building lives. If you will bring Him the wreckage of your life, He will put it back together again.