2BeLikeChrist Bible Commentary - Mark Chapter 6
Commentary - Mark Chapter 6
Mark 6:1-6
Mar 6:1 He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
Mar 6:2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?
Mar 6:3 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 took offense at him.
Mar 6:4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
Mar 6:5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
Mar 6:6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
Following the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter, Jesus took a trip back to His hometown, Nazareth.
Nazareth was about 15 miles Southwest of Capernaum
As far as we know, Jesus had been a resident of Nazareth for almost 30 years.
The people there knew His mom and dad.
Knew his brothers and sister.
Knew His upbringing.
Knew His previous occupation.
They said, “Is not this the carpenter…?
This wasn’t meant as a compliment.
They said it to point out that Jesus’ lack of qualifying education.
When this “hometown boy” stood up in the synagogue on the Sabbath day and started teaching, the text says the Nazarenes “took offense at Him.”
“Familiarity breeds contempt.”
What’s interesting is that they recognized His wisdom and “mighty works” and still rejected Him.
Why?
Because they couldn’t accept someone they knew so well could have anything to teach them.
They didn’t think a carpenter, one without any religious training, should instruct them on matters or religion and the character of God.
They rejected the message because they had a personal problem with the messenger.
Notice, they didn’t reject Jesus because they proved His “mighty works” were fake.
They didn’t reject Jesus because His words were inconsistent with their religious law.
They rejected Him on the sole basis of their past experience with Him.
APPLICATION:
We need to be careful we aren’t discarding truth because we don’t like the source.
Someone told me once, “Truth is truth, no matter where it comes from.”
You may have 100 reasons to dislike someone, but that doesn’t mean everything that comes out of their mouth is truth-less.
Someone may have less education than you, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have anything they can teach you.
We are so trained to evaluate the messenger without evaluating the message.
It takes a level of humility to admit everyone around you may potentially have something to teach you.
Jesus says in verse 4, a wise man or prophet is honored everywhere except in his hometown.
He did not perform many miracles in Nazareth because of their unbelief.
What would be the point of performing miracles?
Miracles were meant to confirm the words of God’s messengers.
But if the people wouldn’t even listen to the words, miracles weren’t going to help (as we already observed from verse 2).
Mark 6:7-13
Mar 6:7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
Mar 6:8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—
Mar 6:9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.
Mar 6:10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.
Mar 6:11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
Mar 6:12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.
Mar 6:13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
These verses give us shorter summary of the extended account of Matthew 10 where Jesus sends out His Apostles to announce the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew includes a significant amount of dialog from Jesus, but Mark focuses in on the action of the scene rather than the words.
Jesus sent the Apostles out in pairs and gave them power to perform miracles and cast out demons.
He told them not to take extra provisions on their journey.
They were to rely on the hospitality God would prepare for them along the way.
If you are like I used to be, you may have a tendency to overpack.
I remember going to a 1-week summer camp every year and consistently overpacking.
I would get worried I would get to camp and realize I needed something and kick myself for not packing it… So I packed everything.
People often overpack for vacation because they are worried they’ll need some nuanced item.
Worry can cause us to over-prepare.
This mission was a faith building lesson for the Apostles.
Jesus wanted them to learn to trust God and leave their worries behind.
This was an opportunity to practice Jesus’ instruction given in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)
Mat 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
God promised to provide for those who worked for Him.
This was an important lesson for the Apostles to learn in preparation for their future role in the Kingdom.
o APPLICATION:
It is very hard not knowing all the details about how you will provide for yourself.
That “not knowing” keeps a lot of people from serving God as devotedly as they know they should.
We want to have a “clear vision” of how we are going to get our next meal, where we will be sleeping, or how we are going to get this months bills paid.
I put those terms in quotes (above) because the truth is, we don’t “know” any of the things we think we know and there is no such thing as a “clear vision” into the future when we can’t see the variables of the future.
We have an allusion of confidence because we assume the factors we are accounting for will remain constant.
But, ultimately, we don’t have control of many of them.
Things can change, we are just betting against that happening.
COVID-19 is a good example.
God is inviting us to put our confidence in the one thing we can know for sure, God keeps His promises.
People try to find security in material things because they can see them and touch them.
It makes people feel like they are in control but it comes with no guarantees.
People are hesitant to come to trust God because they can’t see everything He is doing, they can’t direct the work with their own hands.
It can feel like things are out of control, it can feel reckless, but it comes with a guarantee.
I think this is a great picture of faith in general and the struggle to recognize that God’s invisible promises offer us more than the world’s visible allures.
If anyone refused to extend hospitality to them and their message, they were to shake off the dust of their feet as a “testimony against them.”
If they had the dust of a certain city or person’s property on their feet, it meant they had been there. They had offered them an opportunity to hear the message of the coming Kingdom and they had refused.
Shaking the dust off of their feet was a symbolic way of saying the Apostles wouldn’t have anything more to do with them.
In the book of Acts, Paul and Barnabas shake the dust off their feet after being thrown out of a city by fellow Jews (Acts 13:50-51).
The Apostles healed the sick, anointing them with oil, and cast out demons.
I want to dig a bit deeper into the practice of anointing with oil but I am going to reserve some of the discussion until we get to James 5.
We will pick up some additional info about anointing along the way.
APPLICATION:
I think it would be wise not to skip over the fact that Jesus sent His Apostles out in pairs.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been door-knocking or on an evangelistic campaign, but I can tell you from experience it is a lot easier when you have someone with you.
People are bolder when they are in pairs.
It is difficult to do things alone.
Having a partner really helps!
Even when your partner is silent, their presence is still strengthening.
No doubt, Jesus knew human nature well enough to recognize this.
In the Church, would we be more effective if we assigned work in pairs?
I know that doesn’t always happen.
It is common for programs and projects to be assigned to individuals.
Mark 6:14-29
Mar 6:14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.”
Mar 6:15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
Mar 6:16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
Mar 6:17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her.
Mar 6:18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.”
Mar 6:19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not,
Mar 6:20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
Mar 6:21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
Mar 6:22 For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.”
Mar 6:23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”
Mar 6:24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”
Mar 6:25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
Mar 6:26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her.
Mar 6:27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison
Mar 6:28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
Mar 6:29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
As we were made aware in Matthew 16, there were many rumors circulating about the true identity of Jesus.
Some thought He was Jeremiah
Some thought He was Elijah.
But Herod Antipas, thought He might be John the Baptist raised from the dead.
Herod probably held this view out of a guilty conscience.
John had been arrested because Herod’s wife, Herodias, hated him.
Herodias had been married to Herod’s half-brother, Philip, before divorcing Him and marrying Herod.
Even Josephus, the Jewish historian, denounced the union as contrary to the customs of the Jews and conflicting with God’s will.
John boldly opposed Herod’s marriage and his opposition landed him in prison.
John’s death:
Matthew tells us, Herod and Herodias wanted John dead but Herod made the political decision to keep him alive, because he feared the response of the people.
Mark seems to suggest that over time, John grew on Herod.
Mark 6:20 Herod feared John, knowing he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
But Herodias would get her way in the end.
Herod threw a party on his birthday at which his stepdaughter (Salome) was part of the dancing entertainment.
She impressed Herod so much he promised to give her any gift of her choosing.
Evidently, Herodias (her mother) pulled her aside and encouraged her to ask for John the Baptist’s head on a platter.
When Herod heard the request, he was “exceedingly sorry, but not wanting to break his promise in front of his guests, he had John executed and his head brought to Salome and Herodias.
John’s disciples then took John’s body and buried it and delivered the sad news to Jesus.
*For an extended discussion of this text, check out the Matthew 14 notes (available at www.2BeLikeChrist.com)
Mark 6:30-44
Mar 6:30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.
Mar 6:31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
Mar 6:32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.
Mar 6:33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
Mar 6:34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
Mar 6:35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late.
Mar 6:36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
Mar 6:37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
Mar 6:38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”
Mar 6:39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.
Mar 6:40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
Mar 6:41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all.
Mar 6:42 And they all ate and were satisfied.
Mar 6:43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.
Mar 6:44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
In verse 30, the Apostles are returning from the mission Jesus sent them on in verses 7-13.
They came back and told Jesus all they were able to accomplish.
Jesus then departs with the Apostles in a boat to a “desolate place” to rest.
The text tells us there were so many people coming to see Jesus, He and his Apostles didn’t even have time to eat.
But the adoring multitudes had other plans.
When they saw Jesus in the boat all of the people ran to the coast to meet Jesus upon arrival… so much for His rest!
Rather than grumpily telling the people to go away, He has “compassion” on them.
Jesus taught them many things and afterwards concerned Himself with their lack of food.
If it was me, I would have been concerned about my food.
I would have been angry all these people kept me from eating.
Question: Didn’t Jesus know His rest was going to be interrupted on the other side of the sea?
Answer: Yes!
So why does Mark include that detail?
I think it is because it communicates an important human element of Jesus.
Jesus wasn’t running on eternal spiritual energy.
He experienced exhaustion just like all human beings.
Jesus caring for people in the midst of His exhaustion helps us understand the sacrificial character of Jesus.
It also informs us Jesus endured temptations similar to ours.
Do you sin more when you are full of energy or when you are tired?
For me, it’s when I’m tired.
When my patience is running low.
When I’m irritable.
Mark allows us to see how Jesus responded to a similar temptation.
The day was quickly passing away and the Apostles become concerned for the people.
They ask Jesus to send the people away so they can find something to eat in the neighboring towns.
Jesus looks back at them and says, “No need! You feed them.”
The text doesn’t describe an awkward pause at this point.
Nor does it tell us the Apostle’s laughed thinking Jesus was joking.
But there must have been some kind of shocked response on the Apostle’s faces when Jesus responded this way.
Philip responded, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little” (John 6:7).
200 denarii worth of bread was probably equivalent to 200 days worth of wages.
Jesus, of all people, knew they neither had the bread nor the money to pull off such a task.
Jesus asked them to do the impossible.
So what did they do?
They started taking inventory of their resources and determined it couldn’t be done.
5 loaves and 2 fish.
John 6:6 tells us Jesus said this to test them.
Test them for what?
Probably to test where they believed their sufficiency to carry out God’s commands came from.
In chapter 6, Jesus had given the Apostles power to heal the sick and cast out demons (what had previously been impossible to them), but when He asked them to feed 5,000 men they immediately looked at their wallets and proclaimed it couldn’t be done (John 6:7).
Did the money in their wallet help them cast out demons and heal the sick?
Why were they looking there now?
They should have looked right back at Jesus and said, “show us how!”
APPLICATION:
How often does God tell us to accomplish something and we come back to him with a personal inventory and tell Him it can’t be done?
“Not enough talent!”
“Not enough money!”
“Not enough time!”
We say “it can’t be done,” instead of reading God’s commands in the Bible and responding, “show me how!”
It may seem out of our reach.
It may seem out of our wheelhouse.
It may seem like God is asking for the impossible.
But don’t you think God asks us to do great things sometimes to test us?
So that we can see, just as the Apostles learned here, “that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2Cor 4:7).
God doesn’t care about your empty wallet. In fact, your empty wallet makes you the perfect candidate for God’s work and ought to encourage you to look to God to give you what you need.
2Cor 12:9 - Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Jesus was about to remind the Apostles of His sufficiency to enable them to serve others.
Jesus used something very ordinary (5 loaves and 2 fish) to do something extraordinary (feed thousands).
The miracle fed the 5,000 men, but it also left behind a reminder of Jesus’ sufficient power in the 12 baskets of bread, one for each Apostle to gather and remember.
God isn’t low on supply of grace to accomplish “impossible” things.
The 12 baskets ought to encourage us when we’ve thought we’ve dreamed big enough, to dream a bit bigger for the glory of God.
Mark 6:45-47
Mar 6:45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
Mar 6:46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
Mar 6:47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.
Jesus didn’t get any time to be alone earlier in the day, so He made time in the evening.
Remember from the last few verses the day was quickly growing old when Jesus fed the 5,000 men (5,000 men, the number of women and children isn’t listed).
The night was now upon them and Jesus dismissed the crowds to go back home or find some lodging elsewhere.
Like me, you may be wondering how long it would take them to get home.
The Sea of Galilee is about 33 miles (53 km) in circumference.
If you ever find yourself in the area, you can spend a few days hiking the Sea of Galilee Trail, which will take you on a 35 miles trek around the lake.
For reference, looking at the map above, it was probably around 5 miles from Bethsaida back to Capernaum.
The Apostles returned home via boat but Jesus went up into a mountain to pray.
You can see Jesus priorities in His actions.
He just spent a whole day working among the people.
Instead of going to sleep, He goes up into a mountain to pray
We find out from the next few verses He stayed up late into the night and didn’t meet the Apostles until the 4th watch.
Mark 6:48-52
Mar 6:48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them,
Mar 6:49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out,
Mar 6:50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
Mar 6:51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,
Mar 6:52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
Jesus saw (apparently from the land) the Apostles making slow progress to their destination.
The wind was “against them.”
This was likely not the same weather phenomenon that kicked up the storm in chapter 4.
If you remember, in chapter 4, the Apostles were headed to the east side of the sea.
Here they are going in the opposite direction.
In chapter 4, the wind probably blew from the east, coming from the Golan Heights.
This storm was likely coming out of the west (perhaps off the Mediterranean Sea.
Jesus, leaving the mountain, walked out to meet the Apostles on the sea.
The time is given as “the fourth watch of the night”
The Romans divided the night into 4 watches.
6pm-9pm
9pm-12am
12am-3am
3am-6am
It was somewhere between 3am and 6am when Jesus met them on the water.
The Apostles initially thought Jesus was a ghost.
They may have been a bit sleep deprived.
Then again, it isn’t everyday someone WALKS up to your boat in the middle of a large body of water.
Apparently, the only reason Jesus walked on land and took a boat across the water during His ministry was for the benefit of others. When He was alone, He did whatever He wanted.
Interestingly, Mark doesn’t record Peter’s attempt to walk on the water.
Many believe Mark wrote his gospel while with Peter and used him as his primary reference (other than the Holy Spirit).
Maybe Peter didn’t tell Mark out of humility.
Maybe Peter didn’t tell Mark out of embarrassment that he started sinking when he took his eyes off Jesus.
Or maybe the Holy Spirit didn’t consider it essential to Mark’s audience.
Their fear, along with the wind, subsided when Jesus revealed Himself to them and got into the boat.
“And they were utterly astounded for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.”
This statement is a curious one.
They were astounded at Jesus walking on the water because they failed to understand about the loaves and their hearts were hardened.
What does that mean?
If they had given the miracle of feeding the 5,000 enough thought and consideration they wouldn’t have been as shocked to see Jesus walking on the water.
Jesus’ glory was displayed no less in feeding the hungry on the shore as it was in Him gliding across the Sea of Galilee on His two legs.
Their present circumstances caused them to forget what they had previously witnessed.
They had already become dull to the power of God they had seen the evening before.
It is easy to be critical of them, but isn’t it common for us, after we’ve looked into the word of God and seen a beautiful picture of His greatness, to step back into the world and allow its difficulties to harden us?
Mark 6:53-56
Mar 6:53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore.
Mar 6:54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him
Mar 6:55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was.
Mar 6:56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
Gennesaret does not refer to a city but a plain.
According to the Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, Gennesaret was a fertile plain stretching 3.5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide on the Northwest side of Galilee between Capernaum and Tiberius (see yellow arrow on map below).
The sick from all regions were brought to Him for healing and He healed them all!
I wonder if those who endeavored to touch the fringe of Jesus’ garment got the idea after hearing about the woman with the discharge of blood in chapter 5.
