Mark 6:1-6

Held Back By Unbelief?

Devotional 28 of 50 · Mark chapter 6

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After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ See, I have told you.” So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him.

Mark 6:1-6 · BSB

¹Jesus went on from there and came to His hometown, accompanied by His disciples. ²When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these ideas?” they asked. “What is this wisdom He has been given? And how can He perform such miracles? ³Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him. ⁴Then Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household is a prophet without honor.” ⁵So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them. ⁶And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He went around from village to village, teaching the people.

Jesus

In chapters 4 and 5, we see Jesus calm a storm, defeat a legion of demons, and resurrect the dead. The storm was calmed on the sea, the demons defeated in Gentile land, and the dead girl was raised to life in Israel. Yet somehow, things are different in Jesus’ hometown.

In His hometown, He laid His hands on only a few sick people, and they were healed. For us, that might be the greatest day of our lives if we healed a few people, but for Jesus, this did not compare to the miracles He worked and wanted to work. So, is Jesus held back by unbelief and dishonor? Is He only able to work when people respect Him and have faith? Now, in the case of the demon-possessed man, his deliverance wasn’t connected with faith—nor was the little girl who was resurrected. So, Jesus can work when no belief is present.

However, there is a mysterious connection or desire to work with our faith. For example, when we have faith and trust in God and we see Him work, the result is tremendous joy, humility, and a deepened faith. By contrast, when we have unbelief, we don’t pray and don’t look to God. Even if our desires come to pass, we likely won't praise God or grow in our faith.

His Desires

Jesus desires that we have faith in Him—even if we’ve grown up going to Sunday school, youth group, and beyond. It is dangerous to become too familiar with Him, such that we underestimate His power and glory. We need to constantly ask Jesus to show us who He truly is and to increase our faith. No matter how much of His glory we have seen, there is more to know. If our unbelief has some connection to how Jesus works, we must take this to heart. We must guard ourselves from the dangers of unbelief and ask God to reveal more of Himself to us—lest we miss out on His wonderworking power.

Follow Through

Repent of unbelief and of becoming overly familiar with Jesus.
Ask for Him to increase your faith.
Believe in Him to do more than you could ask or imagine.

Testimonies

This is where people will share how they actually obeyed this passage — and read what happened to everyone else who obeyed the same words.

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Comments

Coming soon. This is where readers will share how they obeyed this passage.