In August 2015 a man pulled a gun and opened fire on a high-speed Amtrak train from Amsterdam to Paris. French, British, and American passengers subdued the terrorist who was avenging bombs recently dropped in Syria. Twenty-three-year-old Anthony Sadler from Sacramento, California, was one of those brave passengers. Afterward, he and the others received France’s highest award, the Legion of Honor. When Sadler returned to the United States, he received the Soldier’s Medal. Traveling by donated private jet back to Sacramento, Anthony was met with a hero’s welcome and a special parade. Scholarship money poured in, and his name was displayed in lights on a giant electronic billboard. He was presented with a Sacramento Kings basketball jersey with his name on it and offered movie contracts to sell his story to Hollywood. The city mayor noted, “There was an incredible sense of pride when we learned this hero was from here.”
This is what we expect when someone of such distinction comes home. Not so for Jesus.
Mark 6 recounts the story of Jesus returning to His roots. But His homecoming featured no parade, no commemorative plaque on His family home, no keys to the city or name up in lights. There was only rejection.
From Capernaum, Jesus travelled 20 miles south to the unspectacular village of Nazareth. He was born in Bethlehem but spent his childhood in this hometown. With a likely population of around 400 at that time, most of the locals would have known Jesus. He's the kid born under suspicious circumstances to the unmarried couple around the corner. Other than that, He lived an unremarkable life until He turned 30. Then Jesus began to preach messages and perform miracles, stirring up controversy everywhere He went.
This was Jesus’ second visit to Nazareth. As was His habit, He showed up in the local synagogue, opened a scroll and delivered a sermon. The crowds were amazed (Mark 6:2), a common response among people who encountered Jesus (see Mark 1:27, 2:12, 5:20). But they were also offended (6:3).
Jesus was both curious and scandalous. The crowds loved Him and loathed Him at the same time. Mark records the comments made by many in Nazareth:
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. (6:2b-3)
You can hear the contempt in their comments. Notwithstanding all His intriguing Kingdom talk, isn’t Jesus just the boy from down the block, the son of a blue-collar carpenter? We know His brothers and sisters and, well, they’re not anything special! He’s the kid born out of wedlock, who put on His tunic just like everyone else. This is no hometown hero. This is just Jesus.
Jesus replied, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor” (6:4). Truth is, Jesus had become too familiar to them. They were fascinated by His power and provision but had grown quite familiar with His person. To them He was nothing more than a man.
The second of the 10 Commandments warns of this risk by forbidding the making of any image of God. It’s impossible to use created stuff below to adequately express the uncreated God who is above. The moment God is reduced to ordinary shapes and colors, using ordinary mediums, He appears to us quite…ordinary. And when God becomes ordinary, we cease to honor Him as we ought.
Sadly, this isn’t a problem only among those who really don’t know Jesus. He can become a commoner among those who should be nearest to Him. This happens when Jesus is posted as a silly social media meme or made the punchline in jokes—a contrast to the Savior who commanded the demons to flee and who caused the earth to quake at His resurrection! This happens when we minimize worship, arriving chronically late and rating the morning service on a scale of how much we “enjoyed” it. Such a contrast to the prophet’s command. “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (Habakkuk 2:20). This happens when we neglect God’s Word, rarely opened, allowing it to collect dust on our bedside table. Such a contrast to the Word of Jesus that brought radical transformation whenever it was spoken.
It’s true that Jesus calls us “friends” (John 15:15), but this doesn’t mean that we should think of Him as the chum that lives next door. He condescended to us, but we shouldn’t think of Him in a condescending way. You can never think too highly of God, in His infinite beauty and brilliant glory, who dwells in light unapproachable!
You can never exalt Him too high, think too great a thought about Him, be too astounded at His grace and love. Be careful not to domesticate the Savior. Do not let your familiarity with Jesus rob you of the wonder of Him.
Before you leave this vignette, don’t miss Jesus’ response. On the one hand, He proves Himself to be longsuffering. During His first visit to Nazareth, He was run out of town on a rail, with the locals trying to push Him off a cliff. But Jesus returned. Such is amazing grace. Though He was (and still is) rejected, Jesus is patient, persevering, and persistent. Indeed, “the Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
However, we must also realize that Jesus is self-limiting. Mark writes, “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them” (6:5). It’s not that Jesus was, in Himself, incapable, but that His miracles would have been ineffective. His power was designed to magnify His person, and if people refused to see Him as He was, there was no more use in trying to prove Himself. To say it differently, if you don’t respect much of Jesus, you shouldn’t expect much from Jesus.
Maybe you’ve been in the vicinity of Jesus for years. You think of Him as a nice guy, a good friend to have around when you need Him. But He has ceased to get the hometown honor He deserves in your heart. Step back and see Him as the Savior, mighty God, a royal King. Ask God to give you a renewed and robust view of who He is. Ask Him to blow your mind and overwhelm your heart with a better picture of Jesus, the Son of God.
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See also the "Without Honor" sermon from the "King Jesus" sermon series about the Gospel of Mark.