And when sabbath was come he began to teach in the synagogue, and many hearing were amazed, saying, Whence [has] this [man] these things? and what [is] the wisdom that is given to him, and such works of power are done by his hands?
Mark's account brings Jesus back to the town where He grew up, and on the Sabbath He stands to teach in the synagogue. The room fills with astonishment. But their questions about His wisdom and mighty works never turn into faith. That gap, between admiring Him and trusting Him, is the point of the scene.
The scene opens among poor and ordinary people, not the great. He brings them full divine power, and He never dresses it up.
In the first scene we see the Lord in His lowly service of love. He is among the humble people of "His own country," "His own kin," and "His own house". He comes to them with divine wisdom and divine power. He teaches the truth among the poor of the land, and heals some sick people. But He never panders to the vanity of human nature, which loves show and display, and rejects people because of their humble origin.
Their question was not idle. He had never been to school, and their own astonishment is the proof.
A stupendous fact of the Lord's life on earth is that He had no education in the ordinary sense... Indeed, "there is no evidence," writes Fairbairn, "that in the time of Jesus any schools existed in Nazareth. The wonder at Nazareth (Mark 6:2) and at Jerusalem (John 7:15) at how He knew His letters proves that He never went to any school."
Their amazement covered what He said and how He said it. It also raised a question: who gave Him the right to teach?
The amazement seems to have been not only at what the Lord Jesus taught but also at the way He taught it. He was "teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes"... They had observed Jesus as He grew from boyhood to manhood. And they would not allow one they knew so well to teach them. Where was His authority? Who made Him a teacher?
The crowd's own wording — wisdom given to Him — fits this Gospel's picture of Jesus. He takes a servant's place, and even there His words carry authority.
But whenever He did speak, surely He spoke "with authority" (Mark 1:27; Mark 2:10; Mark 4:41; Mark 6:2; Mark 11:18). So even as a dependent man, a perfect servant, all He said was "with authority."
So where does a servant get such wisdom?
In Mark, the Lord is being portrayed as the dependent, humble Servant. His resources come from God, and He publicly acknowledges this.
Admiration cost them nothing. They granted the wisdom. They granted the power. And they came no closer to Him.
They clearly recognised the wisdom of His teachings and the might of His acts. Yet all this produced no conviction or faith in their hearts. They knew Him, and those related to Him according to the flesh, and this only blinded their eyes as to who He really was.
What settled the matter for Nazareth was not evidence but status. No class of people is free from that blindness.
They admitted the power of His teaching, and the mighty works done by His hands. Yet even the despised people of Nazareth stumbled at the lowly Lord — the lowly Servant — of all. The lowest of mankind is not free from the same spirit of the world which blinds the highest. In truth, the god of this world blinds all who are lost... That the true heir to the throne of David should be a "carpenter" was and is too much for flesh and blood. And yet, when it is believed, the grace of His humiliation is as striking as the need for it was urgent and absolute.
The same danger reaches into ordinary church life today.
The flesh is always the same. So are we not in danger today, even as Christians, of hindering the work of God by the pride and vanity of the flesh? That pride slights the ministry of a servant of God because of his humble origin. Or, as servants, we may fail by trying to gain a hearing on the ground of wealth or social position.
- Given — their own phrase, wisdom given to Him, fits Mark's dependent Servant. His resources come from God, and He says so.
- Ungiven — He had no schooling. The wonder at Nazareth and at Jerusalem is itself the proof that He never sat in any classroom.
- Granted — they admitted the wisdom. They admitted the mighty works. None of it produced faith.
- Refused — familiarity blinded them. A carpenter as heir to David's throne was too much for flesh and blood.
- Applied — the same pride still slights God's servants for their humble origin. It still tempts servants to seek a hearing through wealth or position.
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended in him.
Nazareth had known Jesus all His life. They could not deny His wisdom or His works, so they pointed to His trade and His family instead — and took offense at Him.
In Mark the townspeople call Jesus the carpenter, not the carpenter's son. What they said was true. But a true label is not the same as knowing who He is.
In Mark 6 we have our Lord again — now thoroughly despised. Here He is "the carpenter." It was true; but was this all? Was it "the truth?" Such was man's estimate of the Lord of glory; not merely the carpenter's son, but here, and here only, He is Himself the carpenter.
This was no rumour to explain away. It tells us what He did with His own hands.
It is of interest to the Christian that the Lord was called not only 'the carpenter's son' but also 'the carpenter' (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). This implies that He worked as a craftsman before He began His heavenly Father's 'business,' the very work He came into the world to do. It shows the real manhood He had taken in grace.
We know almost nothing about the long years before His public ministry. This one word from His neighbours is our window into them.
For thirty years He had lived quietly at Nazareth, out of public view, and men had seen nothing of Him... All we know of that period is this, that when He came out men said, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?" (Mark 6:3). So I conclude that this blessed Son of God, here in human form on earth, worked with His hands. Let no one think then that service or toil is a menial thing to be avoided. Toil has been made noble by the pathway of Christ.
One writer finds it fitting that Mark, the Gospel of the Servant, is the one to keep this detail.
How fitting that Mark's Gospel is the one to tell us that the servant Son of God worked with His own hands! In doing so He made all human service holy, and no doubt He supported a widowed mother.
The verse names four brothers and mentions sisters too. One writer takes the word "brother" at face value.
Take Mark 6:3 for instance. Speaking of our Lord, it says, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother" (not the cousin, you see) "of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?" We do not know what place God gave to Joses and Simon. But we do know that James and Judas, or Jude (it is the same name), were both called to an important service.
His own family gave the townspeople no help toward faith. Nazareth turned that into an argument.
On this occasion the men of Nazareth seem to have used the lack of interest shown by Mary and her household as evidence against the divine claims of the Master... Scripture tells us plainly elsewhere that His brothers, whose names all recall the fathers of Israel, did not believe in Him (John 7:5). So the wisdom of the Lord's words in the synagogue amazed His hearers, but His lowly origin and His poor relatives left them baffled.
This pride was not limited to Nazareth.
The flesh is always the same. Are we not in danger today, even as Christians, of hindering the work of God by the pride and vanity of the flesh? Such pride slights the ministry of a servant of God because of his humble origin. Or, as servants, we may fail by trying to win a hearing on the ground of wealth or social position... They failed to see the glory of His Person and the grace of His heart. Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He had become poor, so that we through His poverty might become rich.
Yet the same fact that repels unbelief is what faith treasures most.
The true heir to the throne of David — to speak of His royal glory — was a "carpenter." That was, and still is, too much for flesh and blood. Yet once a person believes it, the grace of His humiliation is as striking as the need for it was urgent and absolute. Nothing less could glorify God and deliver man according to His mind.
- True — "The carpenter" was a correct description. It was not the whole truth about the Lord of glory.
- Real — The title shows He worked with His own hands, which proves the real manhood He took in grace.
- Noble — Because Christ walked that path, no one should look down on honest work.
- Family — Mark names four brothers — James, Joses, Judas and Simon — and His sisters lived in the town. John 7:5 says His brothers did not believe in Him.
- Offended — Nazareth stumbled over His lowly origin, and the same pride still slights God's servants today. Faith sees what they missed: He was rich, yet became poor to make us rich.