Mark 6

Rejected in His own country (vs. 1-6)—Jesus “came to His own country” (v. 1), which means Nazareth. He taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath, but the people weren’t receptive. They knew Him and His family (vs. 2-3), and even though He had never sinned, they were not willing to accept that one of their own had risen to a greater status than they. So Jesus makes the statement that has become proverbial: “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house" (v. 4). Notice His claim to be a prophet. The first part of verse 5 is a bit confusing: “Now He could do no mighty work there,” which seems to indicate that faith was necessary in order for miracles to be done. Jesus, of course, could do miracles whether people believed or not, but most of the time, He would not do them if people didn’t demonstrate faith. Jesus never rewarded stubborn unbelief, nor should He. He did heal a few people in the area, though (v. 5). Their lack of faith astonished Him (v. 6), probably the magnitude of it.

The “Limited Commission” (vs. 7-13)--Jesus then sent the 12 out on what has been called the “Limited Commission.” Mark doesn’t discuss it much; Matthew goes into great detail in Matthew 10, and there are many details I cover there that Mark omits. The idea was for the apostles to get some training, but also help spread the message of the coming kingdom. Obviously, 12 could cover more ground than just one. The city that rejected the message was in for sore punishment: “Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!" (v. 11). Jesus gave the apostles power to perform miracles (v. 13). See Matthew 10 and my summary thereof for a full account of this commission.

The death of John the Baptist (vs. 14-29)—This event is covered in Matthew 14, and I’ll simply relate here what I wrote in that summary: “This superstitious Herod (he thought Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead, was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, of Jesus’ birth fame. Antipas wasn’t much better than his old man, and ended up dying in exile. John the Baptist, with his typical straight-forward approached, rebuked Herod for stealing his brother Philip’s wife. It takes great courage to stand up to wicked men of power like John did, and it cost him his head.” The events are fairly straight-forward.

Jesus feeds the 5,000 (vs. 30-44)—Again, from my Matthew 14 summary, verses 13-21: “When Jesus heard about the death of John, He departed to a deserted place, but the multitudes followed Him. “He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick,” (v. 14). But when evening came, His disciples suggested that He had best send the people away to find something to eat (v. 15). Jesus responded that such wasn’t necessary, that the disciples could feed them (v. 16). And they said to Him, ‘We have here only five loaves and two fish’" (v. 17), which Jesus then used to feed the throng. When all the food had been divided up, there was 12 baskets full of leftovers (v. 20). The number fed was “about five thousand, besides women and children” (v. 21). So Jesus fed probably at least 10,000 people miraculously. A notable miracle indeed.”

Jesus walks on water (vs. 45-52)—This event is also found in Matthew 14. The only real difference in Mark’s account is that he omits Peter’s failed attempt to join Jesus on the water. The apostles “were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled” (v. 51). Their obtuseness was still in evidence. Mark adds that part of that amazement was because “they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened” (v. 52). These men weren’t hard hearted due to rebellion, but mainly due to ignorance and prejudice regarding His mission. Always remember that it wasn’t until after the Holy Spirit descended upon them in Acts 2 that the apostles fully began to understand the new covenant. And even then, the revelation of God’s word was piecemeal, and not all at once.

Back to Gennesaret (vs. 53-56)—This is the area where Jesus had cast out “Legion,” the man possessed by multiple demons (chapter 5). This time the people received Him warmly (vs. 54-55). In the previous instance, He apparently had frightened them so that they had asked Him to leave (5:17). But, now, they “laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well” (v. 56). Notice that, as with the woman with the bleeding disease in chapter 5, just a touch of His clothes was sufficient for the faithful to be healed.