Mark 6:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.

NIV: He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

NASB: And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He was going around the villages, teaching.

CSB: And he was amazed at their unbelief. He was going around the villages teaching.

NLT: And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people.

KJV: And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

NKJV: And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

"Marveled" is taken from the Greek root word thaumazo and means to wonder at. It is also used of Jesus during His interaction with the centurion (Matthew 8:10) and of the disciples when Jesus calms a storm (Matthew 8:27). Nazareth is only about twenty-five miles from Jesus' home base of Capernaum, and He has traveled through the region before, teaching, performing miracles, and expelling demons (Mark 1:39). His family must have heard of the miracles He performed when they tried to visit Him (Mark 3:31–32), as some others from Nazareth must have seen Him perform miracles in nearby towns. But still they will not believe that these miracles are signs from God that this man they know is divinely chosen.

They not only disbelieve, they are actively hostile. They run Him out of town and try to throw Him from the cliff on the hill the town is built on. But Jesus slips away (Luke 4:29–30).

The entire trip to Nazareth serves as an object lesson for the Twelve and the larger group of disciples. Thus far, the Twelve have seen Jesus rejected by Pharisees (Mark 3:1–6, 22), Herodians (Mark 3:6), scribes (Mark 3:22), Jesus' family (Mark 3:21), and very frightened Gentiles (Mark 5:17). But they have seen Him embraced by thousands of others all over Galilee. This is the first time they witness a large group of Jews reject Jesus to the point of murder. And Jesus' response is to quietly leave. Although the Twelve's first missionary trip will be largely successful (Mark 6:7–13, 30) they still need to know how and when to walk away from a town that rejects them (Mark 6:11). And they begin to understand that rejection of their message can be hazardous to their lives.

The disciples also learn that rejection shouldn't hamper their mission. Later, the apostles will ignore explicitly anti-godly laws (Acts 4:18–21), beatings (Acts 5:40–42), and imprisonments (Acts 12:1–5), considering it joy that they were found worthy to suffer for the gospel.

Mark 6:1–6 somewhat fulfills the wishes of Jesus' family that He come home (Mark 3:21). Unfortunately, this homecoming does not go well. The Nazarenes' welcome is closer to that of Jesus' family's than to the mobs that flock to be healed in the rest of Galilee. The Nazarenes recognize the truth of Jesus' preaching, but reject Him, especially after He claims to be the long-awaited Messiah. Jesus can do few miracles there, because their lack of faith conflicts with His intent to provide miracles only for the faithful. Jesus' hometown population is so irate with Him that they try to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:29). These events are also found in Matthew 13:53–58. Luke 4:16–30 records an extended version.

Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth, but the people there are faithless and skeptical. As a result, Jesus performs no more than a few minor miracles. He then assigns His twelve apostles to travel in pairs, preaching repentance and healing various conditions. Mark then takes a brief detour to explain the death of John the Baptist, beheaded after Herod Antipas is tricked by his wife. The focus then returns to Jesus, explaining His miraculous feeding of thousands of people, walking on water, and healing people in Gennesaret.

Even as the Twelve are given opportunity to wield some of Jesus' power and authority, they still struggle to understand. They misinterpret who He is, what He has come to do, and how much He will ask of them. They fear Jesus' display of deity, but seem to dismiss the murderous rejection of His hometown and the death of John the Baptist. It's easy to have faith in a prophet who seems poised to rescue Israel from foreign rule. It is still beyond them to understand that He is actually God.

The Gospel of Mark emphasizes both Jesus' servanthood and His role as the promised Messiah: the Son of God. This is done through a concise, action-packed style. Mark provides relatively few details, instead focusing on actions and simple statements. This relates to the Gospel's authorship, which is believed to be based on the memories of the apostle Peter. These include many of Jesus' miracles, in contrast to other Gospels which include many more of Jesus' teachings and parables. Mark also makes frequent mention of Jesus' ministry being misunderstood by others.