COV LIFE BLOG

Mark 6:1-13 – The Peril of Unbelief

It’s lovely to see how gracious the Lord Jesus is to the hardest of hearts, isn’t it? It is wonderful to know that the Lord Jesus, even now, to the hardest heart in this congregation is reaching out again – and yet, that said, we can never and ought never to presume upon His gracious tenderness. For as we read, and we’ll look at it in a moment or two in verse 6, ‘He marveled because of their unbelief. And he went’ – and rather than read the rest of that, let me just stop there for a moment to get that impression that ought to be left on us. He went!
 
It’s serious, isn’t it? How gracious He is, reaching out again to Nazareth, and yet this is the last time – He will never reach out to them again. The Nazarenes missed the deadline, I wonder will you?
 
Can I apply this to Christians? Because it’s so easy to apply it to non-Christians – but there is a danger for us too. We in the church are so exposed to the person of Christ, and the words and works of Christ, that we become desensitized to it all! Where is the blessedness I knew when first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul-refreshing view of Jesus and His word? Has it gone? You’re no longer refreshed in your soul when you see Him, when you hear about Him. We are so familiar, like these Nazarenes, with the person of Christ that we enjoy no blessing from looking on Him, or hearing Him, or being in His presence. This especially applies to what has come to be known as ‘second generation Christians’. Your parents are saved, your grandparents – third generation, fourth, maybe fifth if you’re like me – and because you’ve been with Christ, like the Nazarenes you’ve grown up with Him, from you were able to hear you have heard about Him…do you know what’s happening in the church at large today in evangelicalism? Because we are into a second and a third and fourth-generation Christianity, Christ is not exciting enough! I’ll tell you, there’s nothing more exciting than God becoming man, and living among men as a common man, and doing a common job, and going among men and ministering without house, or home, or place to lay His head – and performing mighty miracles that no man ever performed – and then allowing Himself to be laid on a cross, and die for sins, and come alive three days later – what could be more exciting?

David Legge

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SCRIPTURES FOR THIS SUNDAY
Read Mark 6:1-13. You see two different lifestyles represented in this text – one that misses the beauty of Jesus through unbelief and one that knows the joy of living on mission. Which one best categorizes your life? If you’re struggling to live on mission have you forgotten the delight of knowing the Savior?

SONG FOR THIS WEEK
He Will Hold Me Fast by Matt Merker