“Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.” Mar 6:3
We learned the other day (in Mark 4) that not everyone will receive Jesus – that some, who see the same miracles that everyone else sees, and yet will not perceive, and who hear the same words of truth that everyone else hears, and yet will not understand — they will not let the fact of those miracles and that truth teach them about who it must be who is doing them.
If unclean spirits are being cast out, and people are being healed, and the dead are being raised, and the winds and the waves obey Him, then who is it who is doing these things? It must be the Creator and Ruler of heaven and earth, because no one else has authority over not only the natural world, but the spiritual world, as well as life and death. Then it must be that YHVH has come in the flesh!
Because they will not perceive and not understand, they will not stop going away from His house, and turn around and start going toward His house again (repent) so that their sins will be forgiven them. Today we see that men of His hometown became offended at Him, but why? Because He was of humble origins, but He was greater than they. The excellence of His ministry outshone them, so instead of receiving Him, they took offense at Him, and rejected Him.
Can we see how the enemy will use our pride in our own accomplishments or our pride in our own value as a human being to prevent us from receiving good from the hand of the LORD? Everywhere Jesus went, He taught with wisdom, He healed the sick and He cast out demons – He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Act 10:38). And today we learn He also fed people and met their need for daily bread. All He did, was good, and all He gave, was of benefit. And yet because they were offended at His goodness, they refused to receive that which was good for themselves.
But the enemy will use whatever tool he can to cause men to stumble over Jesus so that they will reject Him. The enemy hates God, and he hates us because we are beloved of God, therefore whatever he can do that will harm us, he will do. And pride, and taking offense, are his fruits; while humility, teachableness, and receiving good from the hand of the LORD (which we all do, even athiests, Mat 5:45) are the LORD’s fruits.
For further reading:
hardness of heart, mark 6 (2009)
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