Is Jesus the Savior of your Life or the God of Death?

Mark 6:1-6
Focus Scripture: “And He could do no miracles there . . . .”


Jesus left the home of a little Girl whom He had raised back to life and went back to His hometown. Before that, He had been walking the countryside where a throng of people were pressing in on Him. They were following Him because He was teaching them the Word of God. He was also healing the sick, feeding the hungry and casting out demons who were binding the people so that they could not see, or hear or speak properly.
When Jesus went to His hometown, His disciples came along. It was Jesus’ custom to go to Church. So on the Sabbath; He gave a lecture in the meeting place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. And they said "We had no idea He was this good!" "How in the world did He get so wise all of a sudden, get such ability?"
For a few minutes, their minds knew and accepted that this cannot be who we thought He was. In that moment, they knew that there was something different – something more than what we know about Him. Someone more than who we see standing before us. If only their minds had stayed right there – with those thoughts! Christ would have become the God of life to them. They would have believed His report, repented and accepted salvation.
But in the next breath they were cutting him down to size – chipping away at what God was trying to get through to their minds. "He's just a carpenter—Mary's boy. We've known him since he was a kid. We know his brothers, James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and his sisters.
It seems that no matter how successful you become – no matter how long you stay away from your family and friends – you can become the President of the United States – but when you go back home, back to your family and around the old neighborhood – you are just the boy they remember seeing growing up, running around the neighborhood. And thus, it was with Jesus.
No matter how elegant He talked, no matter how much it sounded like the truth, they couldn’t get past the fact that they knew Him as He grew up. In this way, Christ became the God of Death to them. In other words, their sins remained because they did not hear, repent and ask for forgiveness so that they might be saved. Reminds me of a song: “What can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus!”
These people tried to prejudice the minds of the people against him by reminding them of His background. They wanted Jesus to stay in the family box where they had Him.
When people ask you “who is your mama”? Or “Who is your daddy?” “Where are you from?” They are trying to label you and put you in a box. What labels they put on you depends on your answer?
Is not this the carpenter? Jesus had worked with his hands – hard, dirty labor. We can imagine that He had probably worked in that business with his father Joseph. By doing so, He forever gave honor to mechanics – people who work with their hands, and gave eternal encouragement to all persons who eat by the labor of their own hands.
While He was still talking the people were whispering, “Who does he think he is?" In this way, they tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they never got any further.
Now to trip means literally to stop moving forward - something got in the way - they got in the way – their own thought patterns. They couldn’t move beyond the natural knowledge that they knew about Him to the divine information that He was trying to get into their heads.
An example: You’ve known the preacher in your church for a good little while. Long enough to revere and believe that the Word he preaches is sent of God. You’re enjoying the benefits of walking by faith. Then wham, somebody tells you something negative – or you simply hear something negative about the preacher or about the church.
Before hearing the bad report, you could learn from that preacher and enjoy serving in that church. Your mind was focused on Divine things.
But after hearing the bad report, your mind was taken off of divine things and you started to focus on the preacher as a human being and on human faults. Your mind could not get beyond what you had learned about the preacher and you began to tune the preacher out – block out the teaching – not understanding you were actually blocking out the Word of God which gives life. You had never quite gotten why we light the candles on Sunday – which signifies that Jesus Christ was both human and divine and therefore so is the church!
This is what happened with Jesus. The people couldn’t get beyond His humanity. They couldn’t get beyond what they already knew about Him.
Verse 5 “And He could do no miracles there . . . “ You see Christ is continuing to do miracles in our lives everyday as He advises us on the right choices to make. When we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, we are able to make wise decision. Decisions that help us get around the enemy, avoid danger and continue on the path God has set before us. Only then can we live out the Plans God has for us. Plans to prosper us and give us good health and long life.
The minute you stop believing that God is real and stop consulting the Holy Spirit – that is the minute you stop growing spiritually. You will trip over your own unbelief.
In this passage of Scripture, the people were there, but– their minds closed down and they could no longer gain the benefits from hearing Jesus preach the Word – When their minds tuned Him out, they shut themselves down spiritually! And they continued to the road that leads to death.
Jesus couldn't get over their stubbornness or unbelief. These Nazarenes, the people from Jesus’ hometown lost out when they denied Him praise by saying “Amen!” Instead, He was despised in His own hometown. They became stubborn and prejudiced against Jesus!
Today, God still cannot get over stubbornness and unbelief. Don’t let the preacher or anyone else send you to Hell. God gives us the power to look beyond the human and see the divine.
My prayer for you: Lord help our unbelief. May God’s grace deliver us from that unbelief, which renders Christ a savior of death, rather than the God of life to the soul. Let us, like our Master, go out and teach others the way of salvation.
Benediction: And now unto Him who came to earth to teach us the way. To the only wise God our Savior Jesus Christ who died and was raise again to life. To Jesus Christ who is able to present us faultless before His Father in Heaven. To Jesus Christ belong the glory, dominion and power forever and ever. AMEN, AMEN and AMEN!