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It is not God who cannot help us, but it is we who don’t seek His help
(Mark 6:1-6)
Mari Ikeda
A. A misbelief that Jesus cannot be God (1-3)
1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
1)While amazed with Jesus’ wisdom and miracles…
（Mark 3:21) When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?.
2) Misbelieving that Jesus is just a man
3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?”
3) Misbelieving that God cannot be so close (Isaiah 53)
1 Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all..
B. Unless we seek His help, Jesus cannot help us (4-6, Isaiah 59:1-2)
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.
Isaiah 59
1 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Summary
A faith to believe in Jesus is not just your knowledge about him. It also does not mean just that you acknowledge his teaching and miraculous power and praise him. Rather, it is to seek His help and put your high hope in Him in any situation.
For Discussion
- What are the things we share in common with the Nazarenes?
- Are you seeking Jesus’ help?