Mark 6 — A Prophet Is Not Without Honour, Save in His Own Country
Jesus is rejected in His hometown — they were offended at him, and He marvels at their unbelief. He sends the Twelve out two by two with authority over unclean spirits. Mark interrupts to recount the death of John the Baptist at Herod's drunken banquet. The apostles return; Jesus seeks rest with them, but the crowd follows. He has compassion, teaches them, feeds five thousand with five loaves and two fishes. He sends the disciples ahead in the boat; in the fourth watch He comes walking on the sea — it is I; be not afraid. They are astonished; their hearts had been hardened.
“For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.”
— Mark 6:50
- v.1-6 Rejection at Nazareth
- v.7-13 The Twelve sent two by two
- v.14-29 The death of John the Baptist
- v.30-44 Five thousand fed
- v.45-52 Walking on the sea
- v.53-56 Healings at Gennesaret
By two and two. Christ does not send His servants alone. Ministry was designed to be shared — for accountability, for encouragement, for the witness of two. Solitary ministry was never the apostolic pattern.
Gave them power. The power is borrowed, not native. They have no authority over demons of their own; He gives it. So with every Christian endeavor — what they accomplished was His authority in their hands, and so is every fruitful work today.
Moved with compassion. Greek splanchnizomai — to be moved in the inward parts. Compassion in Scripture is gut-deep, not sentimental. Christ feels people's lostness physically.
Note what compassion produces: he began to teach them many things. Not entertainment, not condescension — instruction. The hungry sheep most needed the Shepherd's voice. Compassion that does not deliver truth is sentimentality.
A small offering placed in His hands becomes enough — and more than enough (twelve baskets left, v.43). The multiplication is between the giving and the eating: He receives the little, He returns the much.
Gave them to his disciples to set before them. Christ multiplies and distributes through His servants. The disciples did not produce the bread, but they were the channel through which it reached every mouth. So with every gospel ministry — the Lord supplies, the servants pass.
It is I. The Greek egō eimi is the divine self-naming of the God of the burning bush. Walking on the sea He speaks the very Name. The disciples were toiling in the wind; the One walking toward them on the water is Yahweh.
Be not afraid. The fear came from not knowing who was approaching. The cure was recognition. When Christ's identity is clear, the storm and the figure in it are not threats but rescue.
A surprising verdict on the disciples just hours after the loaves. They had distributed the multiplied bread with their own hands; yet on the sea, with the wind contrary, they could not extend the lesson. Yesterday's miracle did not produce today's faith.
A warning: even those nearest Christ can have hardened hearts. Familiarity with His works is not the same as faith in Him. The disciples will need a process — and so will you — to soften what should already be soft.
Verse 52 is uncomfortably contemporary. The disciples had just held the multiplied bread in their own hands and within hours could not believe Christ at sea. How much has He already done for you that you forget the next time the wind is contrary? Train your memory. Keep a record of His past deliverances. Hardness of heart is not always rebellion; sometimes it is simply forgetting — and forgetting is the soil from which fear grows.
Mark 6 places two scenes side by side — the rejection at Nazareth and the I AM on the water. To His hometown He was only the carpenter; to His disciples in distress He was Yahweh walking. The same Person, the same evidence — only the soil of the heart differs. The Christ of this chapter is the Shepherd who teaches, feeds, and walks on the storm to His own.
Is not this the carpenter? Familiarity blinded them. He had been their neighbour, their workman, the boy who had grown up among them. Their knowledge of His ordinary life kept them from seeing His extraordinary identity.
Sometimes proximity to Christ is mistaken for understanding of Him. The Nazarenes knew everything about Him except who He was. The same risk attends every churchgoer who has heard the name all his life and never met the Person.