Mark 6, Matthew 10
Mark 6
Mark 6:1-6
Jesus and His disciples travel the 20 miles down to Nazareth where He
stands in the Synagogue to teach. Mark
omits what was spoken, but he does not miss the slanderous remarks the hometown
folks made against Jesus. In effect they
were saying, “Who does He think He is?”
They saw Jesus as just an ordinary man.
He was just a carpenter. The
reference to Jesus being the Son of Mary was a derogatory remark as well. In the Jewish culture a man was described as
the son of his father, never the son of a woman, even if she was a widow. Their calculated insults against Him indicate
there was suspicion and slanderous speculation surrounding His birth. So for the most part very few people in His
home town came to Jesus in faith. Those
that did were healed. The rest walked
away scoffing at the absurdity of His claim.
Mark 6:7
Jesus granted special authority and special abilities to the
twelve. One of them was Judas, the
betrayer. Think about that for a
moment. The one who would later betray
Jesus was empowered by Jesus to do the work of Jesus. He cast out demons. He performed many miracles in His name. He called Jesus Lord, Lord. Yet in the end he betrayed his Master. So when we read about godly people turning
their backs on Jesus or rejecting Him altogether, we should not be surprised. We’ve seen it happen here.
Mark 6:8-13
As the six groups of two traveled from town to town, Jesus told them to
find a place where they were welcomed and stay there. Some Bible scholars speculate that when their
ministry began to flourish, the Apostles might have been tempted to focus on
popularity more than the message; in speaking words that made the people like
them instead of words of truth. That way
the wealthy and affluent would open up their more luxurious homes. Jesus says stay where you have first been
welcomed. Jesus also points out that if
a town did not welcome them (if the people were not interested in what they had
to say), they were to disassociate themselves with the people of that town by
shaking the dust from their feet. Devout
Jews did this when they would leave a Gentile land. This shaking of dust would indicate to the Jewish
towns that they were acting like pagans, rejecting a message from God.
Mark 6:14-16
It’s interesting that the people thought of John the Baptist when they
heard of Jesus’ miracles. Did John
perform such miracles? Was he driving
out demons, healing the sick, and helping the blind to see? Actually, John did not do any miracles (see
John 10:41). He was, however, an
influential man of God. He did not
hesitate to speak about God to anyone.
So when they hear about what Jesus was saying and doing, they associated
it with God as well. Perhaps they
thought, “Wow, we heard John the Baptist say the same thing. Maybe it’s John back from the dead?” But when I think about Herod Antipas, I
picture him getting nervous; alarmed that it just might be John. John the Baptist pointed out Herod’s
sin. Herod (by his wife’s prompting) has
him executed. So maybe Herod was haunted
by his actions, and hearing that another man of God had come along, perhaps he
feared Jesus might point out another or his sins. Did you ever read The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe? “Nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I
had been and am”. I think that describes
Herod quite well.
Mark 6:17-29
Herodias and Herod put you in mind of Ahab and Jezebel. Tradition says that the girl’s name was
Salome. What a gruesome thing to bring
to the dinner party! Who would want to
finish their meal after that?
Mark 6:30-32
We are not sure how much time passed here. But eventually the Apostles (the Twelve)
returned to Capernaum and told Jesus all that had happened. Exhausted from their busy work, Jesus calls
them to a quiet place. Luke says it was
in Bethsaida (see Luke 9:10), a city on the eastern side of the Jordan River,
on the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee.
This is something many people don’t realize. Doing the work of Jesus is tiring. Caring and serving and loving and giving to
people can really play you out by the end of the day.
Mark 6:33-36
Jesus and the Apostles traveled by boat.
The crowd of people anticipated where they would land, and traveled
there by foot and arrived before Jesus and His Apostles. This isn’t too amazing when you look at a map
of the area. But rather than getting
upset, Jesus feels compassion. I don’t
know what the Apostles were thinking. I
get the impression that they wanted Jesus to tell everyone to leave not just so
the people could get something to eat, but so the Apostles could eat and rest
as well.
Mark 6:37-44
Did you notice what Jesus did here?
He provided both for the people and for the Apostles. Notice that there was plenty of food for the
crowd. Everyone had their fill, and
twelve baskets of leftovers were collected.
The crown of possibly 10,000 people (see Mark 6:44) had enough to eat
all because of Jesus. But please also
notice that Jesus had commanded the Apostles to feed the crowd; a task
obviously impossible. They would need
more than 7 months of wages to buy enough food to feed the crowd (a denarii was
equal to a day’s pay). But their lack of
money did not stop Jesus from giving the command. Now, do you think Jesus was surprised to
learn that they were broke? Did the
apparent lack of money catch Him off guard?
Of course not. He knew the group
had limited finances, but that didn’t stop Him from giving the command. What stands out here is that Jesus supplied
everything they needed to fulfill the command.
And by the obedience of these twelve men, there were twelve baskets of
leftovers collected. Twelve
baskets. Twelve men. Interesting, isn’t it? I’d say that there is a tremendous lesson
here for the Church. We have been called
to feed the crowds, and quite often we have no idea how it is going to
happen. We ourselves are poor. But through our obedience to Christ’s
command, we end up being blessed in the end as well. I think we need to stop telling Jesus how big
the task is and how poor we are, and instead simply start doing the work He has
commanded us to do. I think we will be
just as surprised in the end.
Mark 6:45
There seems to some difficulty here with the town of Bethsaida. If they had sailed in that direction already,
why would they need to sail back again?
It is possible that the city of Bethsaida spread from one side of the
Jordon to the next; a Bethsaida Julias (East of the Jordan), and a western part
called Bethsaida of Galilee. During the
night they were blown off course and ended up in Gennesaret, located on the
Western Shore. This is a possibility,
not a fact. Maybe they had landed the
boat east of Bethsaida because of the huge crowd, and had to head back toward
town.
Mark 6:46-52
John says that Jesus sent the Apostles away because the crowd was ready
to make Jesus their King (John 6:15). He
also points out that they were about 3 or 4 miles off shore. Sometime between 3 and 6 am Jesus noticed them
still struggling against the contrary wind.
So He walks out on the water to comfort them and bring them
assurance. But instead they were filled
with fear. Jesus addresses them in a
familiar Old Testament description of God.
Literally Jesus says, “Take courage, I Am is here”. Matthew records Peter’s journey out of the
boat (Matthew 14:28). Although Mark,
Matthew, and John include different elements of this story, all three accounts
speak of the immediate calm once Jesus climbed into the boat. Mark says in verse 52 that the Apostle’s
problem here was that they had not learned anything from the feeding of the
5,000. That’s why they were astonished
at the sudden calm. He says their hearts
were too hard to comprehend these things.
What was the lesson the Apostles needed to learn? What had they missed? Just as God had provided the Manna for Israel
while they wandered in the wilderness, Jesus had provided the food for the
crowd. The obvious connection here is
that Jesus and God are one, and that just as God had cared for Israel while in
the wilderness, so too will Jesus care for His own. The Apostles didn’t fully grasp who Jesus
was, and they didn’t fully grasp the depth of God’s love for them.
Mark 6:53-56
A long time ago King Solomon asked, “Consider
the work of God, for who is able to straighten what He has bent?” Solomon, the answer is God Himself. Everything became as it should be while Jesus
walked through this bent and twisted world.
But, as Mark points out, it was those who came to Jesus or those who
were brought to Jesus that were healed.
Jesus healed when He was asked. I
find that to be significant.
Matthew 10
Matthew 10:1-4
Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Philip were from Bethsaida by the Sea of
Galilee. All 5 were probably fishermen. Nothing is known about Bartholomew, but he is
probably known as Nathaniel (John 1:45).
Thomas, the twin (Didymus) was the one we call “Doubting Thomas”. Matthew continues to call himself the
Tax-collector while Mark and Luke simply list him as Matthew. James, the son of Alphaeus is only mentioned
in this listing of the apostles.
Thaddeus may be the same as Judas, son of James (Acts 1:13). Simon the Zealot was a revolutionary trying
to overthrow Roman rule in Palestine.
Judas Iscariot later betrayed Jesus.
“Iscariot” may mean “from Kerioth” a town in Judea.
Matthew 10:5-6
Jesus sends the Apostles to the people of Israel, not the Gentiles or
the Samaritans (people who were part Jewish and part Gentile – a process of
intermarrying that began with the Assyrian invasion of 722 BC). Why was the message to be delivered only to
Jews? Part of the reason is because
Israel was supposed to be the nation that God would use to bless the world (see
Genesis 12:3 and Isaiah 60:3). Another
possible reason is that Jews were looking for the coming of the Messiah, so
they would have been better prepared to receive the testimony and witness of
the twelve. Gentiles or Samaritans might
have attributed the miracles to some pagan god.
It would take more than what the Apostles could do at present to
convince a Gentile that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Matthew 10:7-15
This section is similar to what we read in Mark 6:7-13. However, Matthew adds much more detail, as we
should expect since he was one of the twelve.
This commissioning is not something a person would forget. The Apostles were to walk up to a home and
give it their Shalom; “Peace be to
this house”. If it were truly a house of
peace the people would listen. If it was
not, the people would resist the message (the same message John the Baptist
proclaimed, by the way). So the two
Apostles were to respectfully leave the people of that home to deal with life
in their own way. In other words, the
Apostles came to a home and said “I come bringing good news of peace”. Some people would listen and respond. And in that home the people would know
peace. Other homes would reject God’s
message of peace through His Son Jesus.
So the Apostles were to leave, taking the message to another home. What they were doing was scattering the seed
(see Matthew 13:3-9).
Matthew 10:16
Be wise in avoiding danger, but don’t forcibly oppose the enemy. When the enemy reveals himself, the Apostles
were to be calm and peaceful. This
becomes a testimony to Christ later on.
When standing before the Jewish religious leaders, Peter and John were
quite respectful and peaceful. They
spoke appropriate words (see Acts 4:19-20).
Matthew 10:17-20
Did these things really happen to the Apostles? Are these arrests and beatings mentioned
anywhere? We don’t know if anything like
this happened during this missionary trip, but it sure did once Jesus ascended
to Heaven. So was this a warning for the
present time or a warning of what would come in the future? It seems that Jesus is speaking of a future
time here because He says that their arrest will be an opportunity to speak to
Gentiles (Matthew 10:18), even though He had instructed them earlier to avoid
them (Matthew 10:5). Jesus also speaks
of the Holy Spirit guiding their speech (Matthew 10:20). The Apostles didn’t receive the Spirit until
the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). So it
appears Jesus was giving them a future warning.
Matthew 10:21-23
Perhaps this entire section (from verse 16 to 23) is prophetic; speaking
of a future time. The warning here is
clear, and it does not just apply to the Apostles. You and I need to be aware that because we
labor in Christ’s name, we will be hated by organized religion (Matthew 10:17),
government (Matthew 10:18), and even our own family (Matthew 10:21). Verse 23 does not speak about the return of
Christ but the Reign of Christ. The Son
of Man, as described in Daniel 7:13-14, speaks of Him being seated upon the
throne, something that happened after the resurrection. So Christ (the Son of Man) was seated upon
His throne before any of the Apostles could take the Gospel Message to every
town in Israel.
Matthew 10:24-39
A couple of things really stand out here. A true disciple of Jesus will be
persecuted. The world hates Christians
because we don’t think or act like the world.
The presence of one righteous person in a community sets a standard of
holiness the rest of the community cannot tolerate. To retaliate, the people of this world will
tell lies, gossip, and spread slanderous rumors about a true disciple. And they will do this not because the
Christian is a bad person, but because the Christian’s holiness and
righteousness make everyone else look bad.
This is why a true disciple needs to fear God (respect God), not the
things people can say or do. To kill a
Christian is to simply send them home (thank you Karen Hancock for the superb
illustration).
Matthew 10:40-42
In light of being rejected by the people of earth, Jesus says the
faithful will be accepted and rewarded in Heaven. I do not an earthly reward being promised in
this section. I see Jesus speaking of
what will take place after the Day of Judgment.
And according to Warren Wiersbe, “As our Advocate, He forgives and
restores us when we do sin (1 John 2:1–2). The merits of His heavenly intercessory work do not depend on our
faithfulness, for He is faithful even if we are not (2 Timothy 2:12–13). But
the benefits of His heavenly ministry
are for those who are faithful to Him. When Christ confesses us before the
Father, He is securing for us the benefits of His sacrificial work on the
cross. When He denies us before the Father, He is unable to share these graces
with us. The fault is ours, not His. But
something else is involved. One day we shall stand before His judgment seat
where the rewards will be distributed (2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10). If we
have denied Him, we will lose rewards and the joy of hearing His “Well done.”
To be sure, anyone who denies Him on earth may be forgiven. Peter denied the
Lord three times, was forgiven, and was restored.” [1]
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