“Close your eyes and see”
Mark 6:1-6
The Bible teaches us that what we perceive others to be goes a long way to either helping or hurting the way we relate to them.
Scripture is replete with stirring pictures, pointing us to our need to guard how we perceive others; for our judgments of them are often flawed.
How we see others matters.
Mark provides us a real time movie reel of Jesus on the move. We see Christ, the anointed One of God speaking life and healing into those, who gave him listening attention. He bubbled with passion for the good of His countrymen-healing even those with little or no belief in His power to save and heal them.
In our passage, Christ moves from a region in Galilee, where He was hailed a rock-star to his humble hometown of Nazareth, accompanied by his disciples, v.1
1. They listened in on His teaching with astonishment v.1
They couldn’t fathom the way He moved; they were stunned at the power with which He performed miracles, the authority by which He spoke. His very neighbors were impressed but somewhat taken back by His weighty words and superhuman ways; they couldn’t get past the pic in their minds of the kid they grew up with.
2. They focused in on His roots with suspicion v.2,3
They went from acclaiming Him to cutting Him down; in their minds, He was a “tekon” or carpenter-a worker in wood, metal, and stone; good at making beams, window lattices, and bolts, not teaching the law, that was high society stuff for them.
He was brother and friend, “Mary’s son,” the simple kid they knew for years; their familiarity with Him turned quickly turned to contempt as they were now suspicious of Him, refusing to see Him as anything but a grown kid with good hands.
Christ’s neighbors didn’t expect him to flourish in high society, He spoke like One, who knew the law better than a Pharisee; He performed miracles as if he were God, in their minds.
Why wouldn’t Christ’s countrymen see beyond the dirt on his sandals to His true being-God in the flesh?
They needed to close their eyes and see.
We tend to see others through bloodshot eyes as well.
I dare say each of us has a sin-stained set of criteria we use to size others up as well, whether it‘s (their demeanor, dress, race, friends)
Jewish ways are different from our western ways. We regard highly; in fact, we expect our heroes to have blue collar beginnings. Our blue collar bias leads us to expect the stories of our successful industrialists, politicians, and celebrities to begin in the most humble of settings. We reserve special praise for those who pull themselves up by the bootstraps, climbing the ladder to success. Jesus’ world was different. In Greco-Roman culture, labor like Jesus’ -carpentry that is-was seen as demeaning, lower caste; He was perceived as low on the totem pole of society, One who couldn’t subsist in high society. Take for instance, Secundus, an Athenian orator of a slightly later time, who being son of a carpenter was labeled a “wooden nail’ because of his roots. Celsus (who’d come in the late second century) would clown Jesus’ life as a carpenter, linking his hard-working life as a carpenter to his ultimate death on a wooden cross.
Christ’s neighbors were impressed by His weighty words and miraculous ways; but knowing his Nazarene roots, they soon looked on him with suspicion and ultimately outrage, v.3, their stubbornness led them to stumble in unbelief.
As far as they were concerned, “they knew who he was”
2. They focused in on His roots with suspicion v.3
1:27 What is this? (synagogue)
2:6,7;4:41 Who is this? (teachers of the law/disciples)
As we read v.2, what question are they asking now?
From whence is this?
You‘ve probably heard the saying, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”
Their queries now focused on the source, the origin of Christ’s wisdom and power, read v. 3
I’m sure he was quirky as a boy and man; yet He was still sinless.
Scripture seems to indicate that Christ’s fellowmen were simply enraged by any conclusion that His words and work somehow revealed Him to be God in the flesh.
They refused to believe in Him.
What’s he running on was their question; whatever happened to Him?
They didn’t think a man of his stirring words and miraculous ways could come from Nazareth (Jn. 1:45,46)
3. Christ weighed in on their judgment with wonder
Vv.4-6
Truth often defies reason and requires we accept it by faith.
Jesus believed deeply that His words and work proved Him to be more than just a carpenter; He had shown Himself to be the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Knowing that of a truth, He fully expected even his neighbors to allow the truth of what they’d seen in Him to move them beyond their small, stubbornly held perceptions of who He seemed to who He is.
We must never lose sight of what we have in Christ and its power to transform those, who come into close contact with it.
His expression of surprise at their stubbornness to me was a cry for them to believe beyond their hometown perception of Him to Whom He really was the Anointed One of God.
He wanted them to trust that He was the Savior of the world, in spite of what they knew of Him.
How we view others matters?
Christ’s family and friends missed out on the many miracles because of their unbelief, He did few miracles there then moved on to other villages.
Their failure to look past Jesus’ trade clothes to who He was- God in the flesh-was a grave fail on their part-a lesson in mis-perception.
When we judge the book by the cover, we miss opportunities with others as well.
Maybe your story is one of belittling someone else because of their crass way, mistaking your teenager’s angry outbursts at you as hate rather than a call for attention, maybe you’ve thought with suspicion on your spouses desire to spend extra time with members of his or her sex, viewing it as a rejection of you.
How we perceive others matters
We’ll not always be accepted, particularly by those who know us best. Knowing someone well has its tradeoffs. We tend to size them up by what we know of them and not give thought to what they are or may become.
Our very neighbors have the potential to be and do what we could never imagine.
We need be careful not to confine the potential impact anyone can have.
As they owned by God take ownership of their relationship with Him, the sky is the limit for them.
Our perception of others can do harm or good to those around us.
We need alter the way we look at people, seeing them for what may lie beneath- appearances are deceiving; only God knows the great people they are or may become.
Tom Brady was perceived to be an average quarterback but may go down as one of the greatest in history; God help us close our eyes and truly see what others may be or become.
Mark 6:1-6
The Bible teaches us that what we perceive others to be goes a long way to either helping or hurting the way we relate to them.
Scripture is replete with stirring pictures, pointing us to our need to guard how we perceive others; for our judgments of them are often flawed.
How we see others matters.
Mark provides us a real time movie reel of Jesus on the move. We see Christ, the anointed One of God speaking life and healing into those, who gave him listening attention. He bubbled with passion for the good of His countrymen-healing even those with little or no belief in His power to save and heal them.
In our passage, Christ moves from a region in Galilee, where He was hailed a rock-star to his humble hometown of Nazareth, accompanied by his disciples, v.1
1. They listened in on His teaching with astonishment v.1
They couldn’t fathom the way He moved; they were stunned at the power with which He performed miracles, the authority by which He spoke. His very neighbors were impressed but somewhat taken back by His weighty words and superhuman ways; they couldn’t get past the pic in their minds of the kid they grew up with.
2. They focused in on His roots with suspicion v.2,3
They went from acclaiming Him to cutting Him down; in their minds, He was a “tekon” or carpenter-a worker in wood, metal, and stone; good at making beams, window lattices, and bolts, not teaching the law, that was high society stuff for them.
He was brother and friend, “Mary’s son,” the simple kid they knew for years; their familiarity with Him turned quickly turned to contempt as they were now suspicious of Him, refusing to see Him as anything but a grown kid with good hands.
Christ’s neighbors didn’t expect him to flourish in high society, He spoke like One, who knew the law better than a Pharisee; He performed miracles as if he were God, in their minds.
Why wouldn’t Christ’s countrymen see beyond the dirt on his sandals to His true being-God in the flesh?
They needed to close their eyes and see.
We tend to see others through bloodshot eyes as well.
I dare say each of us has a sin-stained set of criteria we use to size others up as well, whether it‘s (their demeanor, dress, race, friends)
Jewish ways are different from our western ways. We regard highly; in fact, we expect our heroes to have blue collar beginnings. Our blue collar bias leads us to expect the stories of our successful industrialists, politicians, and celebrities to begin in the most humble of settings. We reserve special praise for those who pull themselves up by the bootstraps, climbing the ladder to success. Jesus’ world was different. In Greco-Roman culture, labor like Jesus’ -carpentry that is-was seen as demeaning, lower caste; He was perceived as low on the totem pole of society, One who couldn’t subsist in high society. Take for instance, Secundus, an Athenian orator of a slightly later time, who being son of a carpenter was labeled a “wooden nail’ because of his roots. Celsus (who’d come in the late second century) would clown Jesus’ life as a carpenter, linking his hard-working life as a carpenter to his ultimate death on a wooden cross.
Christ’s neighbors were impressed by His weighty words and miraculous ways; but knowing his Nazarene roots, they soon looked on him with suspicion and ultimately outrage, v.3, their stubbornness led them to stumble in unbelief.
As far as they were concerned, “they knew who he was”
2. They focused in on His roots with suspicion v.3
1:27 What is this? (synagogue)
2:6,7;4:41 Who is this? (teachers of the law/disciples)
As we read v.2, what question are they asking now?
From whence is this?
You‘ve probably heard the saying, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”
Their queries now focused on the source, the origin of Christ’s wisdom and power, read v. 3
I’m sure he was quirky as a boy and man; yet He was still sinless.
Scripture seems to indicate that Christ’s fellowmen were simply enraged by any conclusion that His words and work somehow revealed Him to be God in the flesh.
They refused to believe in Him.
What’s he running on was their question; whatever happened to Him?
They didn’t think a man of his stirring words and miraculous ways could come from Nazareth (Jn. 1:45,46)
3. Christ weighed in on their judgment with wonder
Vv.4-6
Truth often defies reason and requires we accept it by faith.
Jesus believed deeply that His words and work proved Him to be more than just a carpenter; He had shown Himself to be the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Knowing that of a truth, He fully expected even his neighbors to allow the truth of what they’d seen in Him to move them beyond their small, stubbornly held perceptions of who He seemed to who He is.
We must never lose sight of what we have in Christ and its power to transform those, who come into close contact with it.
His expression of surprise at their stubbornness to me was a cry for them to believe beyond their hometown perception of Him to Whom He really was the Anointed One of God.
He wanted them to trust that He was the Savior of the world, in spite of what they knew of Him.
How we view others matters?
Christ’s family and friends missed out on the many miracles because of their unbelief, He did few miracles there then moved on to other villages.
Their failure to look past Jesus’ trade clothes to who He was- God in the flesh-was a grave fail on their part-a lesson in mis-perception.
When we judge the book by the cover, we miss opportunities with others as well.
Maybe your story is one of belittling someone else because of their crass way, mistaking your teenager’s angry outbursts at you as hate rather than a call for attention, maybe you’ve thought with suspicion on your spouses desire to spend extra time with members of his or her sex, viewing it as a rejection of you.
How we perceive others matters
We’ll not always be accepted, particularly by those who know us best. Knowing someone well has its tradeoffs. We tend to size them up by what we know of them and not give thought to what they are or may become.
Our very neighbors have the potential to be and do what we could never imagine.
We need be careful not to confine the potential impact anyone can have.
As they owned by God take ownership of their relationship with Him, the sky is the limit for them.
Our perception of others can do harm or good to those around us.
We need alter the way we look at people, seeing them for what may lie beneath- appearances are deceiving; only God knows the great people they are or may become.
Tom Brady was perceived to be an average quarterback but may go down as one of the greatest in history; God help us close our eyes and truly see what others may be or become.
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