09/15/2024 – Day 085 – Mark – Chapters 5 & 6 / “Then Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household… And he was amazed at their unbelief.” Mark 6: verses 4 & 6
Indeed. I am going to bring in an excerpt from Barclay’s commentary, Mark 6: 1 – 6:
“… Sometimes when familiarity should breed a growing respect it breeds an increasing and easy-going familiarity. Sometimes we are too near people to see their greatness.
The result of all this was that Jesus could do no mighty works in Nazareth. The atmosphere was wrong; and there are some things that cannot be done unless the atmosphere is right.
(i). It is still true that no man can be healed if he refuses to be healed…
(ii). There can be no preaching in the wrong atmosphere. Our churches would be different places if congregations would only remember that they preach far more than half the sermon. In an atmosphere of expectancy the poorest effort can catch fire. In an atmosphere of critical coldness or bland indifference, the most Spirit – packed utterance can fall lifeless to the earth.
(iii). There can be no peacemaking in the wrong atmosphere. If men have come together to hate, they will hate. If men come together to refuse to understand, they will misunderstand. If men have come together to see no other point of view but their own, they will see no other. But if men have come together, loving Christ and seeking to love each other, even those who are most widely separated can come together in him.
There is laid on us the tremendous responsibility that we can either help or hinder the work of Jesus Christ. We can open the door wide to him — or we can slam it in his face.”
Soli Deo Gloria!