Mark 6:2 Commentary and Bible Study

They said at first, ‘We have never heard such things. He is miles above the professional clergy. These things are wonderful. This man is a prophet. This is astonishing.’ But then they said, ‘No, no, no. He is no prophet; he is one of us. Where did he get this? Where is there a school to teach this marvellous material, and all this detail? And how he knows his Bible the Scriptures, and the interpretation of them!’ They had never heard teaching like this, things that added up, that rang true: authoritative, self-consistent teaching which addressed the deepest issues of life. Where does he get this learning from? Where does he get his power from? What wisdom is this that God has seen fit to give this man? In olden times God authenticated the prophets. Is this man being authenticated? God had stood aloof from them for 400 years. Now they have a genuine prophet among them, and yet so great is their prejudice that they did not believe. Their prejudice and their unbelief had gripped them. They were astonished, and yet they said, ‘Whence hath this man these things?’ This man! Where did he get this from? ‘And what wisdom is this’ – it was wisdom, all right – but why is it that he has it? ‘Which is given unto him that even such mighty works …’ They acknowledged they were seeing miracles; there were healings. They were astonishing. ‘Wrought by his hands.’ But prejudice overcame reason; unbelief overcame reasonableness. ‘Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary’ – Joseph seems to have died by now – ‘the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters [unnamed] here with us?’ They were all half-brothers and half-sisters, of course. ‘And they were offended at him.’ The Greek says ‘scandalised’. ‘Offended’ is a good translation, but that word ‘scandal’ comes right from the Greek word. The weight of these things in their minds caused them to reject his claims. He is only one of us, and they were blinded. So they never saw many of the wonderful things he would have done. His divinity – they didn't see it. His holiness – it didn't register with them. The fact that he fulfilled all the prophecies – they swept that aside. His power, his miracles – they couldn't account for them, so they dismissed them. His compassion – they weren't interested. The teaching on redemption – it meant nothing to them. It was all lost on them. What fuelled their prejudice? The fact that he insisted on repentance, and the taking away of sin. ‘No,’ they said, ‘when we have a Messiah, it will be a Messiah who makes us rich on earth, who throws out the Roman occupation, who gives us something to be proud of. We want the here and now; we want a Saviour for material things and for now. We don't want a Saviour from sin. We don't want to give up our sin. We don't want one to take us to heaven.’ That was what was behind their prejudice.