If you read the gospel of Mark in one sitting you’d be shocked by what happens at the beginning of Mark 6.
Think of all that Jesus has accomplished up to this point. He has really become quite the celebrity. Crowds are following him everywhere. He is healing the sick, preaching to packed crowds, and doing things which have never been done before. He’s calmed a storm, raised the dead, and even touched a leper. He cast out demons by the word of His mouth and healed a bleeding woman that nobody else could fix. He’s done so many marvelous things that everyone is beginning to wonder, “Who is this guy?”
Is this the Rescuer? Is this the Promised One? Is this the One who is going to deliver Israel? The carpenter from Nazareth has become a big deal. Mary’s little boy has hit it big. And so when Jesus comes back to his hometown what type of reception do you figure he’ll get? Are the people from Nazareth putting up signs and billboards that says, “Home of Jesus”? Will they throw a grand parade to celebrate the fact that such a backwater place like Nazareth is now associated with this popular religious teacher? How will they respond to the local boy coming home?
It’s shocking what we read in Mark 6:1-6. Jesus doesn’t get a celebration, he gets a snub. As Jesus marvels at their unbelief, we the readers are invited to marvel as well. Why would Jesus’ hometown give him such a cold welcome?
The Law of Diminishing Return
I think it’s because of the law of diminishing return.
When you ride a roller coaster for the first time you wonder how you survived. But ride that same one for the 35th time and you’ll think it’s about as exciting as driving through Kansas. What was once feared and inspired awe is no “old hat”. You’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
It’s the old saying familiarity breeds contempt. It’s a terrible thing when it happens in our personal relationships—but how much more when it happens in our relationship with the Lord. I think Peter Kroft has some great words to say about familiarity as it relates to our reading of the Scriptures and also to our relationship with the Lord. Listen:
Beware the deceptive wiles of familiarity — that sweet but double-edged virtue that makes you feel at home in the word of God. Familiarity of the tender variety persists in reminding you of the gospel and deepening your communion with Christ. But if you’re not careful, cold-hearted familiarity will betray you with kisses, poison your wineglass, and watch impassively while your life slips steadily away. You might not even realize it’s happening.
Unexamined familiarity will prevent you from looking at the Book. Because such familiarity crowds out curiosity, it imperceptibly stiffens necks, hardens hearts, and deafens ears. Familiarity may lead us to assume things that are not in the text, and it may blind us to things that are. (source)
Familiarity in Nazareth
As we are confronted with the familiarity of those in Nazareth, Mark 6:1-6 gives us two things to watch out for in our own life.
Their first issue was that they assumed they had exhausted the story of Jesus. They had created a nice little box for Jesus to fit into, and they wouldn’t let him out. He’s the carpenter. He’s the son of Mary. I remember this kid from 6th grade science class. No way could he be a prophet…much less the Messiah.
Have we really grown much in 2,000 years? I think Jared Wilson is correct when he says,
…no man is probably more misunderstood than Jesus. The great irony is that, despite being the most discussed and confessed figure in all of history, no historical figure has been marginalized and commoditized than Jesus. For many today he is a generic brand, a logo, a catchphrase, a pick me up…He’s been romanticized by countless admirers, and sanitized by the Christian consumer culture. (Jared Wilson, Your Jesus Is Too Safe, 12-13)
The first path to a cold-hearted familiarity with Jesus is to craft him into your own image, make him fit a label, and then convince yourself that you’ve somehow exhausted His story.
The second path is to let the humanity of Christ mute the deity of Christ. It’s certainly possible to fall off on the other side of this horse too—where we believe Jesus to be only human. At certain points in history that was the struggle. Today, we might struggle more with beholding Jesus as God.
In Mark 6:3 they say, “Is this not the carpenter…” That phrase is not meant to be derogatory. It’s not as if they are saying, “this fella is just a mere peasant, he’s a day laborer, no way he can be the King of kings and Lord of lords”. They’ll make this point later, but here what they are saying is, “This guy is no different than us”.
One of the great truths of the gospel is that God became man. God became one of us. But that’s not all to the story. He is also wholly other. If we lose sight of this truth then we’ll turn Jesus into whatever shape we need him to be.
The Fruit of Familiarity
Mark 6 tells us that Jesus could “do no miracle there”. It’s not that He is like Tinkerbell and needs them to believe in Him before He can fly. No. It’s more that Jesus is about the heart—He’s not a traveling healer or magician. His fundamental mission is to call people to repent and believe the good news. If that’s not on the table, then He won’t do a great work there.
And that’s the fruit of cold-hearted familiarity. We miss out on Jesus. Or worse yet we deify our mirrors. “Jesus” starts to take the shape of us—rather than the other way around. That face is familiar but it’s powerless. We’re not awesome and big enough to capture our own hearts. When you craft a Jesus that looks just like you—don’t be surprised when you get bored.
