I’m going to try to tackle two sermons in one this morning. I should perhaps have broken the text into two messages. But somehow I felt that the faster pace of Mark’s gospel lends itself to a faster paced exposition. We can spend a lot of time on historical details, and so forth, and not place the proper emphasis on the principles being taught. And I don’t want to teach you a prolonged history lesson this morning. But I want to present what I think are life changing principles in regards to the gospel of Christ, which I believe are evident in these verses.
So as we have previously noted, Mark is not writing a biographical history here, but a gospel. That is; the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came to earth as a man, in order to present the truth of God concerning His plan to redeem mankind from the penalty of death and to give him life. In the passage before us today we see first the example of Jesus presenting the gospel, and then in the following verses we see the application of the disicples taking the gospel to the surrounding region. This good news of God’s plan is meant to be shared, and in these 13 verses, we see that plan practically worked out, first by Jesus returning to His hometown, the place where He grew up and lived, and then His delegation of the ministry of the gospel to His disciples. And as a commentary on how the gospel is carried out, I have called today’s message the denigration and the delegation of the gospel.
Let’s look first at the denigration of the gospel. To denigrate someone means to disparage, to criticize unfairly, to slander or defame someone. And we see that here as Jesus returns to His hometown and the reception of Him there is to denigrate Him and scorn His message. Now you will remember that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He grew up in Nazareth, and He lived during His ministry in Capernaum. Nazareth was about 20 miles from Capernaum. It was an extremely small town, only about 500 people at that time.
This is the second time that Jesus came to His hometown. About a year earlier He had come there, and if you remember that account in Luke chapter 4, when He had finished speaking in the synagogue they tried to kill Him. Luke 4:28-29 “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.” I’ve had some bad reactions to some of my messages before, but so far no one has tried to kill me. So I guess I shouldn’t feel so bad when people reject my message, because they also rejected Jesus’s message. And perhaps that is the primary reason that we are given this incident, so that we may know to expect opposition to the gospel, even hostility towards the messenger. For if they were offended at Christ, then it stands to reason they will be offended at us. I think it illustrates that rejection of the message and denigration of the messenger is often the first response to the presentation of the gospel.
Well now it’s a year later since that first visit, they have obviously heard of the fame of Jesus during that time. They have heard all the amazing things He had been doing. And so Jesus comes back again, to give them one more opportunity to respond to the gospel. And as was His practice, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and preached.
And notice the response. They don’t necessarily try to kill Him anymore, but they are incredulous at the wisdom of His teaching. They say, ““Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.
They admit that Jesus taught with a special wisdom, they admit that He has performed miracles, and yet their recognition of such things is overshadowed by their disdain for Him. And I think that the reasons for their disdain is evident in their comments. First of all, they call Him the carpenter. I think the purpose in that title is to emphasize that He is not a priest, He is not someone classically trained in the school of the rabbi’s. But He is a mere blue collar worker, a common carpenter. Whether or not Jesus actually spent much time practicing carpentry is a matter of speculation. No where else in the scriptures is this statement made. In Matthew’s version of this event, He says that they said Jesus was the carpenter’s son. Mark has a different emphasis which would be consistent with the practice in those days of a father passing on his trade to his son. But we don’t know if that was necessarily true or not, it was just their accusation. And while there is nothing wrong with being a carpenter, I think the emphasis was on discrediting Him as not being of the right school, not being backed up by the right institutions.
And I can confess that sort of criticism can take you down a notch. I never graduated from seminary. I never even completed university. And from time to time someone will approach me after a message and ask questions about my training or lack of it. So I understand the criticism and how it can be intended to denigrate you.
Secondly, they try to discredit Him by inferring that He was the illegitimate son of Mary. You need to remember that Mary was technically unmarried when she gave birth to Jesus. And the public perception was such that Joseph her husband sought to put her away privately. So this charge of being born out of wedlock was something that was hurled at Jesus from time to time, and now here it is again in His hometown. And this is a small town. Everyone knew everything about everyone. And his own family, His mother and brothers and sisters, were undoubtedly right there in attendance.
There is a possibility that the whole family clan wasn’t thought of all that highly. They seem to disparage Jesus because they not only know Him and had known Him all His life, but they know HIs family. Sometimes some members of our family can give the whole clan a black eye, can’t they? We don’t know much about a couple of members of His family. We know James, who became the leader of the church of Jerusalem a few years after Pentecost, who also wrote the book of James. And we know Jude, who wrote the book of Jude. But the other two brothers, Joses and Simon, are not known. Perhaps they were the black sheep that hurt the family reputation, I don’t know. And of course, they mention that Jesus had sisters. Now there is some controversy about this, because the Catholic Church contends that Mary was a perpetual virgin. So they say that these were either children from another marriage of Joseph, or they were cousins. I don’t find any reason to believe they were not Jesus’s natural born half brothers and sisters. The Bible doesn’t teach that Mary was a perpetual virgin.
By this time, it is believed that Joseph was long dead. And so Jesus as the oldest child would have responsibility for the family as the head of the house over seven or more other siblings. Therefore, it is possible that Jesus worked at carpentry until the other sons were old enough to take responsibility before leaving home. Under those circumstances they probably were very poor. But that is speculation. In fact, the only Biblical record we have of Christ’s activities prior to His public ministry is when He was 12 years old, and then we see Him in the temple, about His Father’s business. And afterwards He returned to Nazareth, where it is said in Luke 2: 52 “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”
But as we see, when Jesus left Nazareth to begin His ministry, He fell out of favor with His hometown. They became offended at Him. And so in response to their criticism, Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” Sometimes your own family, your neighbors, have the hardest time accepting the fact that God decided to use you in some way. They think they know all about you, and certainly God wouldn’t have passed over them to reach you. I guess the modern equivalent of that is the saying we have today, which is familiarity breeds contempt. Having grown up around them, even though His behavior was beyond reproach, they find it offensive that He should now be in the position of teaching them concerning righteousness. They find it impossible that He could be the Messiah. He was too common looking. He wasn’t the type of person that they thought the Messiah would be like.
Whether they realized it or not, they were fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53 which says, “He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
I find such critical attitudes prevalent today in the church. I often hear people begin a sentence with the phrase, “I am looking for a church that….” The idea often expressed is a personal preference based on a perception of what they think constitutes the perfect pastor or the perfect church. It’s a dangerous thing, actually, to look for a church that fits your template. God doesn’t necessarily work that way. He picks the foolish to shame the wise. The weak things, to shame the mighty. (1Cor.1)
These Nazarenes identified the one thing which was the definitive thing about Christ. And that was His teaching was the wisdom of God. It was the truth. And Jesus taught in John chapter 7 that if you believed His word, then you would believe that He had come from the Father. His message was truth, and truth was of God, and so therefore, He was of God. That is the opposite of how we would approach a messenger, isn’t it? If someone came to your door and said I have a message from God, we would probably say we want to see some identification. Some sort of proof that they were from God. And if we could validate their credentials to our satisfaction, then we would be more inclined to believe the message. But Jesus came with the message, and He says the message is the truth and it authenticates Me. Believe the truth and you will believe in Me.
But people don’t look for the truth like that. People look at the presentation, they look at the packaging. They are more interested in presentation than it’s substance. And Jesus didn’t have the right pedigree. He didn’t have the right package for them. So Mark says that Jesus was amazed at their unbelief. Let me tell you what constitutes this great sin called unbelief. Unbelief is prejudiced rejection of the truth. It doesn’t mean that you don’t understand, but that you reject it based on prior prejudice against it. Unbelief is nothing short of hatred. It’s the kind of prejudice which causes things like racism. It’s a refusal to see the truth, because you don’t want to believe it, not because it isn’t so.
And so it says that Jesus could not do no mighty works there, because of their unbelief. Not that Christ had no power in himself to work miracles, because of their unbelief, but it was not fit and proper that he should do any there, since such were their prejudices against him. Faith wasn’t required for the miracle, but belief was the means by which Christ was pleased to exercise miracles. So it was not that He could not do miracles, but that He would not do any mighty works in such a hostile climate.
But if some will not believe, then Jesus leaves those and goes to other villages where He might find a more receptive audience. If those who were first invited will not come in, then we are to go into the highways and byways and seek others. Jesus is the sower, and He sows the seed in fields here and abroad in hopes of finding fertile soil where it will be received and take root. So to that end, Jesus not only goes to preach in other villages, but He sends out His 12 disciples to do as He does, preaching and healing and casting out unclean spirits throughout the farthest regions of Galilee.
Now there are seven characteristics of the disciples ministry that are given to us. And I have to believe that since Jesus sets these standards, they are applicable for us in the church today. After all, we are commissioned to do the same thing they were doing, to go into our neighborhoods, our hometowns, and to the surrounding regions and preach the gospel, to make disciples of all men. So as we look at this last section, I want to identify these seven areas that are fundamental to the ministry which the Lord has delegated to us. And that is what the church is to be about. Proclaiming the gospel to the world. That’s job one.
So the first point I want to make is that there were 12 ordinary men. Even as Jesus was criticized for a lack of pedigree, you can lay the same charge against these men. They are ordinary men. They are mostly blue collar types, fishermen, tax collectors, guys without any formal training other than they had been with the Lord now for about 2 years. Not a priest among them. No rulers of the synagogues. No saved rock stars or ex pro athletes. Just 12 regular guys that were probably the last guys you would have picked to set the world on fire. Now they were not just following Jesus anymore, but they were stepping out on their own, and following the example that He had given them in ministry.
Notice Jesus sent them out two by two. That’s a good model for ministry by the way. You can encourage one another. You can help one another. You gain strength from one another. But I hope that the lack of a companion doesn’t hinder you from proclaiming the gospel. As they become more mature in the days after Pentecost, you will see more of them stepping out alone. So don’t fail in ministry because you don’t have a partner.
Secondly, they were to be in total dependence upon the Lord. Jesus told them not to bring money, or food, or even a change of clothes. I think this principle is probably the least employed today in the church. If you’re looking for an excuse not to minister, then you are probably going to claim the lack of funds, or the lack of resources, or the lack of support as a reason that God is not leading you in it. You’ve heard the quote, “where God guides, He provides.” Well, my suggestion is that is overused. God wants us to step out in faith, without a safety net, so that we might be totally dependent upon Him. It doesn’t mean that we don’t plan, or that we don’t prepare, but that we don’t rely upon favorable circumstances or favorable winds before embarking on ministry. If God says go, we say, how far. We just go, and let God take care of the provision.
I’ve found in 16 years of ministry that more often than not God has let me think I was going to starve, that I was going to run out of gas, or whatever my fear in the circumstances provoked, but in reality God never left me without enough to do what He wanted me to do.
And I can’t help but see another principle hidden in this instruction of vs 8, He added, "Do not put on two tunics.” They weren’t even to have a change of clothes. That’s pretty radical evangelism there folks. But the principle I think is this, that as Christians, we are not to be about collecting wardrobes, collecting cars, or houses - all the financial emblems of success in the world. Not tied down by things, by financial commitments that keep us from being devoted to the business of the kingdom. These things of the world keep us so busy that we are of little use to the kingdom. The point is that the extra weight of this world’s goods will slow you down. Hebrews 12:1 says “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Well, for that principle to be effective, it must be tied to the third principle. Third, they encouraged hospitality. Vs.10 And He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.” Fellowship is essential to the practicality of the gospel. Fellowship or communion was to be the ordinance of the church in a formal congregation, but there is also a need in practical everyday Christian fellowship. It’s the principle of sharing, and providing for one another’s needs. It’s important to spend time with one another and get to know one another. Christian doctrine is not all just theory, but it also needs to be practiced. And the way you do that is to practice hospitality with one another. Invite someone to your home to eat, to hang out, to get to know one another. And I will suggest that you reach out to a broader spectrum of people than you would in a secular setting. Don’t just gravitate towards the kind of people that you like. Deliberately seek out the person that never gets asked out to a meal. Deliberately seek out those who might be alone. Christian love is to be made practical by practicing hospitality and putting the needs of others above your own.
Fourth, they experienced rejection. Jesus told them in vs.11 "Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them." Listen, Jesus was rejected by His own family, by His hometown. So they would experience no less. In John 15:20 Jesus said "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”
There are going to be some that reject the truth, or reject the messenger of the truth, and there will be some that will believe. But we are not responsible for their belief or unbelief. Results are not due to our charisma, or to our personality or lack of it. We are responsible to sow the seed. God is responsible for the growth.
But notice that Jesus said to shake off the dust off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them. That was a practice among Jews that they would do when they had to walk across a Gentile area. They had a view of anyone that wasn’t a Jew, that they were dogs, like wild, snarling, dirty dogs, and so when they could they avoided walking through a Gentile area, but when they couldn’t avoid it, they would stop on the other side, in plain view of the Gentiles of course, and ceremoniously take off their sandal and shake the dust off them as if to say “I don’t want to even track your dust back into Israel.” It was a kind of condemning thing to do. And so here Jesus is instructing HIs disciples to use that same method against the Jews who did not accept His gospel.
But in the Lord’s case, it wasn’t meant to be mean, it was meant as a judgment against the unbelieving town. In Matthew’s version of this event we read that He adds, “It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.” In other words, Sodom would have repented at the preaching of the gospel and the accompanying signs that were given in Galilee. Jesus would give that same judgment against Capernaum, the other hometown of Christ, in Matt. 11:23-24 where He says "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”
Listen, not everyone who hears will believe. But God has sent us to preach the gospel to everyone, so that everyone will be without an excuse on the day of judgment. There are many people that have rejected my preaching, but I still fulfill my ministry that they might be judged for their unbelief. A lot of people are not going to have an excuse on the day of judgment because they heard the truth and they rejected it. And it’s not going to matter if they didn’t like the preacher, or they didn’t think he was funny enough, or nice enough or refined enough. They will be held accountable for hearing the truth and walking away from it, just as the people of Nazareth and Capernaum will be judged for looking at Christ and saying, “Nah, He doesn’t look like a Messiah to me.”
Fifth, they preached repentance. Ah! that’s why people rejected them. Vs 12 "They went out and preached that men should repent.” It’s not simply enough to believe, it’s also necessary to repent. That was the message of John the Baptist, he preached a baptism of repentance. That was the message of Christ, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” And that is the message of the disciples. On the day of Pentecost, it was still the message of the Apostles. Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Repentance needs no interpretation here. I preach it every week. But once again I say that to repent is not merely to feel sorry that you were caught, or to feel sorry about the consequences of your sin, but a desire to turn from your sin and go in the opposite direction. And perhaps your sin has such a hold on you that you don’t feel that you can turn, then turn to God and confess your sinfulness and that you need Him to change your heart, and change your mind and will and take away your desire for that sin. Call on Him with all your heart and mourn for your sin. That is repentance.
And I got news for you. Repentance is a daily exercise for most of us mortals. Recognizing how we have fallen and asking God to renew us , to purify us, so that we might be useful to His kingdom. David prayed in Psalm 51 a prayer of repentance. It’s a good template if you want to repent. He prayed, “Renew a right spirit within me. Create in me a clean heart O God.” That’s the attitude of repentance that makes us useful to the Master.
Sixth, they showed compassion. Vs 13 “And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.” Listen, there is a need for Christian compassion for those that are sick with the sickness of sin. James 2:15-17 “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
There is a danger in Christianity today to look down upon the sinner from our lofty perch in the church of righteousness and see that poor soul in addiction, or adultery, or poverty and say that their sin has brought this consequence upon them and it is not really helping them to try to relieve their circumstances. We see their circumstances as a just judgment of God. But our position is not to be a judge, but a giver of mercy. What mercy you have received, give it to others who need mercy. Jesus healed out of compassion for the souls who were enslaved by Satan to sin and were reaping indirectly or directly the consequences of sin. All suffering ultimately is a consequence of sin. And all of us are sinners. All sin leads to death. And all of us need mercy. There will be a judgment of us all one day. But James says, in chapter 2:13 “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”
And then finally number seven, they were obedient. Vs30 “The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.” That’s kind of what church ought to be like. You come back together every week and report all that you have accomplished as ministers of the church during the previous week. I suggested the other night at Bible study that we all make a commitment that we will ask at least one person a week to come to church. You don’t have to ask just one, but you at least ask one. And I suggested that if we did that every week, then in a month we could expect to see at least one person come to church as a result of our asking. I can’t guarantee what kind of results we might see. But I can guarantee you that if you will believe in the power of the gospel, and you are obedient to the mandate of our Lord, then we will see some people respond to the truth. We will see a lot of rejection as well. But that is part of the plan. We just need to be faithful to do our part, and let God take care of His. I pray that you will be obedient to your ministry this week. Go out and proclaim the gospel and come again next week and give your report of what the Lord has done.
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