Trouble Maker Week 4: Tuesday

Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family. Mark 6:4

Have you ever walked away from a conversation feeling completely misunderstood? Sometimes we can do our best to explain ourselves, yet still, we feel misunderstood. If you can relate to this feeling, you are not alone. Jesus knew exactly what it was like to be misunderstood. People during His day had many expectations of who they thought Jesus should be and what they expected Him to do, which caused much misunderstanding. Even still, Jesus never wavered or stepped away from who He was and what He was called to do. 

One of the places we see Jesus being misunderstood in Scripture is when He was in His hometown of Nazareth. Yesterday we looked at a time Jesus was misunderstood in Nazareth found in Luke 4. Today we will look at Jesus being misunderstood in Nazareth in Mark 6. He had been teaching in the synagogue. Those who heard His teaching and His wisdom were “amazed” and asked, “Where did He get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” (verse 2). Their tone quickly shifted, however, and then they said, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us” (verse 3). These people were “deeply offended and refused to believe in Him” (verse 3). The people in His hometown completely misunderstood Jesus. He was nothing like they expected the coming Messiah to be. He was a carpenter’s son, after all. They expected a military leader or someone from less humble circumstances than Jesus. Their expectations caused them to miss the Messiah right in front of them.

As we think about the expectations people placed on Jesus, we have to look at the expectations honestly we place on Him. Yes, we know He is the Son of God and believe He came to rescue the world from sins, but if we are honest, there are other expectations we can place on Him that are not found in Scripture. For example, we might expect Him to work precisely how we think He should work even though Scripture teaches that He is in control and knows better than we do because He is God. When we let go of these expectations, we can better know and understand Jesus. We can have a deeper relationship with Him that comes from knowing Him on a deeper level.

Moving toward action

Are any expectations you have placed on Jesus unrelated to Scripture? Perhaps you expect Him to solve all your problems when they come, exactly how you want them to be solved. Maybe you expect Him to give you everything you want, like a vending machine. Whatever the case, spend some time thinking about any expectations you have that are not Biblical. Commit to letting go of these expectations beginning today.

Going Deeper

Mark 6:1-6 (NLT)