If you will, please turn with me to Mark 6. Tonight we'll be in Mark 6, verses 1-13. Well, if you recall the last sermon which Chris preached, we saw that Jesus proclaimed to the woman who touched his garment that her faith had made her well. Well, tonight in Mark 6, we're going to see that not everyone comes to Jesus in faith. Many, if not most, reject the grace that he freely offers, and so they will not be made well by his mighty and redemptive work. In their eyes, Jesus was too ordinary to do a mighty work, and yet amidst his rejection and his persecution, and that of his apostles, Jesus continues his mission, and he extends the preaching of the gospel to the apostles. also ordinary men, sent to spread the good news in a manner of humility. It's in this way that Jesus directs the apostolic mission, and he sets the pattern for us, the church. So with that, let me turn your attention to the reading of God's Word from Mark chapter 6, beginning in verse 1. He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many who heard him were saying, 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? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joseph, and Judas, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household. And he could do no mighty work there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching. And he called the 12 and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money in their belts, but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 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. So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. and they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them." This is God's Word. Like many of you, I really enjoy The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. It's such a rich tale of heroism, of sacrifice and virtue, and yet, if you're familiar with The Lord of the Rings, you know that many of the characters that play such an important role are overlooked as being too ordinary, too simple, Aragorn isn't perceived as the long-awaited king of Gondor that he is. And the hobbits, well, they're just ordinary folk. They live simple lives. They're half the size of a normal man. But they're often seen as unable contributors in the quest to destroy the ring. But you know if you've read or seen Lord of the Rings that there's more than meets the eye. And I think in many ways that paints a picture of the gospel and the redemption that's accomplished by Christ. Well, here in Mark 6, we actually see kind of the same picture, that Christ was also overlooked by his fellow Nazarites. And then Jesus sends out the apostles, who are also sent out in a similar simple fashion as Jesus. But in these two passages of Mark, the picture is absolutely clear. God uses ordinary means to bring about a mighty work of redemption. Like the picture that's painted in Lord of the Rings, we see that God uses ordinary means to bring about a mighty work of redemption. Well, we see this picture painted in two ways, or really in two passages here. We see it first in an ordinary king, and then we see it in an ordinary kingdom. So first, we see that God uses an ordinary king for a mighty work of redemption. And we see this primarily in the first six verses. Well, if you recall from chapter one, which it's been a while since we've been in, over a year, but Jesus taught in the synagogue with authority and power. Well, once again, as has happened over and over in Mark, Jesus' authority comes into question, his person and authority. And here they question specifically the source of his mighty works and his wisdom. Either God is his source or Satan is. And we've seen Jesus' stark rebuke of those who claim the latter. But nonetheless, Jesus seemed less than extraordinary to them for a man who could do such mighty works. Jesus returned to his hometown, that's Nazareth, only to be rejected by his fellow people. But as the old saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. To those in Nazareth, Jesus was just another Nazirite, He was in the business of carpentry, an ordinary calling. And of course, while this work was respected by the Jews of the time, it was seen as a lower calling of that compared to, say, the scribes in the synagogue. It wasn't seen as spiritual. And furthermore, they remarked that Jesus is the son of Mary. At this point, Joseph is most likely dead, but by calling Jesus the son of his mother, in that context was to declare him an illegitimate child. And ironically, if they had known better, they should have realized that if he's a descendant of Mary, he's a direct descendant of King David. In some way, these people that are questioning Christ's power, they're worse than the demons. Even the demons recognize Christ for who he is when they call him the son of the Most High God. Heaven and hell know Jesus' real identity, but here on earth, among his own people, he's scoffed at. But the fact of the matter is, they only knew Jesus superficially, and to them, he was just another Nazirite. Like Nathaniel and John 1, the Nazirites themselves seem convinced that nothing good can come out of Nazareth. And sad as it may be, we actually have no record of there being a church in Nazareth until the 4th century. So they were blessed by the presence of Christ in his works for 30 years, but unbelief would reign tenfold that amount of time. It's a tragedy in many ways, but as we see in this passage, it's not unpredictable. Jesus, although he's a mere carpenter, was doing mighty works up to this point. But what does it mean when Mark says that Jesus could do no mighty work there? What should be obvious is that Jesus isn't powerless to do miracles or to save. To remind you of the last passage, Jesus told the woman who was healed, faith makes you well. The point being that Christ's work is manifested in those who have a willful faith, those who desire him. Now you might think, well, aren't you undermining the sovereignty of God? Are you saying or is this text saying that our faith gives God permission to save us as if he couldn't do it by his own power? Well, I don't think that's what the text says. In fact, John Calvin is helpful here. He says, unbelievers, as far as lies in their power, bind up the hands of God by their obstinacy. Not that God has overcome as if he were an inferior, but because they do not permit him to display his power. These Nazarites had rejected the power of Christ and had hardened their hearts to the good news. Well, what was Jesus' response to those before in Mark who questioned his mighty works by their unbelief? Well, he retorted back in Mark 2 that those who are well have no need of a physician. Those who reject their need for redemption will not receive it. We separate ourselves from God's infinite love by our own lack of faith, or as Calvin says, our own obstinacy. We have, oftentimes, more faith in ourselves than in God. Unbelief, simply put, is an act of self-exclusion from the grace of God. It's freely offered to us, though. Here in Mark 6 isn't just an ignorance of the gospel, of not knowing the gospel, but it's a blatant rejection of it in the face of Christ. Now, they don't go as far as others to say that the source of his powers are demonic. which was the unforgivable sin, but they lack the childlike faith in Christ that is necessary for salvation, the one who freely offers his grace to all. And there's another irony in all this. The Jews hold Jesus in contempt, but the Gentiles throughout Mark have welcomed him. In some sense, Jesus, he became the true standard for what we might think of as well thought of by outsiders, 2 Timothy. Well, in his response to the Jews' rejection of him, Jesus reminds them in verse 4 that although he is a mere carpenter, he's also a prophet. And as we know from Scripture, there's a pattern of prophets being rejected and scorned by their own people. The next time we're in Mark, in the next passages, we'll see what happens to John, who's also a prophet, and we'll see his fatal end. And, of course, we'll see the end of Christ as well. Well, these passages are a foreshadowing of Christ's death, being crucified on the cross, the ultimate sign of rejection. When Jesus first began to teach and perform miracles in our midst, they were amazed at him. But now, Jesus is amazed. He marvels at their own unbelief. Their unbelief is so unreasonable that even the eternal Son of God is surprised. Proof, evidence, answers to doctrinal difficulties, they only go so far in the heart of a skeptic or an unbeliever. The problem is that they love their sin too much. In some sense, God gives us what we want in the end. Think of Romans 1. If we desire sin, he gives us over to it. He gives us what we want. The root of all unbelief, even the kind we see in this passage, is never fully destroyed in this life. We're guilty too. But in the end, at the culmination of his being rejected by his own people on the cross, Jesus accomplishes a mighty work, and we see that pictured here. He accomplishes the mightiest work. The mightiest work was his conquering of death and sin, and his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. And even further, isn't it a mighty work when someone who was an unbeliever comes to faith? That's a mightier work than any bodily healing that Christ has done up to this point. Brethren, let it not be said about you or about me that Christ could do no mighty work. Let it not be said. Turn to him in faith and repentance. He is mighty to save, and he draws near to those who draw near to him. This isn't just for unbelievers. This is for the church as well. Commenting on this passage, Spurgeon says, Jesus assuredly marvels because of our unbelief. He marvels at the unbelief of his own people. as we see in this passage. Well, as we all know, faith ebbs and flows in this life. Faithfulness ebbs and flows. We lack faith in hard times, even though we know Christ's grace is sufficient. We distrust the efficacy of prayer, even though we know God hears our prayers and answers them. And we doubt the saving power of the gospel, even though we ourselves, as sinful as we are, have also been redeemed. We ought to turn in Christ, turn to Christ, and trust in his mighty work of redemption. Well, I want to turn your attention back to the fact that Jesus was scorned as a mere carpenter and a son of Mary. This was meant as a double insult. It was meant to do nothing but discredit his person and work. By including these insults, Mark, at the very least, is reminding us that Jesus is truly fully human. He was indeed, but notice again how they question him. In verse two, it says, where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? Up to this point, the power and wisdom of Christ has come under scrutiny time and time again. Because in actuality, despite the accusations of blasphemy, and despite their unbelief, Jesus is divine. Only God has the power to heal, to teach with authority, to save sinners. God alone can do these things, powerful and wise as they are. And as we know, Christ himself is the power and the wisdom of God. Hear Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 1. Where's the one who is wise? Where's the scribe? Where's the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." Well, as we see here in Mark, the Nazarites didn't want to believe this. They continued to call into question the divinity of Christ by suggesting that he's illegitimate and by willfully ignoring his heavenly origin. It's kind of funny that they call Jesus the son of Mary as an insult, but for us, we're reminded of the importance of the virgin birth. That Mary, this woman that they scorn at, Mary gave birth as the incarnate son of God who was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The incarnation of the Son, the Son of God, an essential element of the gospel, is, as the end of verse 3 tells us, it's an offense to unbelievers. Or as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, it's a stumbling block, a scandal. Unbelievers don't want to imagine that God could, or even would, take on a human body for salvation and redemption. They don't want to imagine that the Lord who created the entire universe would take on flesh to build his kingdom. Let us sink in for a moment that the one who created the earth, that this was the earthly carpenter who took on real fleshly hands and built things with his hands. What an amazing truth. But the Nazarites refused to believe this. They expected something or someone more spectacular than this man, a mere carpenter and the son of Mary. They wanted a revolutionary. They wanted a warrior king, but in the plan of redemption, a plan for something much greater than a mere revolution or a conquest. In the plan of redemption, God uses ordinary means. Jesus Christ, though he was divine, he wore no halo. And though he was a king, he wore no crown. His extraordinary calling, as we see here in Mark 6, was failed in a simple, even lowly life. To the unbelieving Nazarites, Jesus was simply too ordinary. How could he, just another one of us, be so special, they might ask. As I mentioned before, familiarity breeds contempt. This passage reminds us of that, and I believe it warns us of that as well. This tendency is just as prevalent today. Many who grow up in Christian homes or in the church are familiar with the Bible and with Jesus, But as J.C. Ryle notes, those who grew up religious, but without any zeal or love, do not truly know the privileges of the gospel they've grown so familiar with, and they do not truly know the Christ that they think they're familiar with. Think of our place here in the Bible Belt. Sure, many, if not most people in the South, would consider themselves Christians. I mean, there's a church on every corner. But consider the godlessness and the sin that still reigns in the South, or really everywhere, but where it's supposedly a Bible belt, how often do even we as a church breed contempt for Christ when we're all too familiar with Him? Or at least we think we are. How often do we expect something better than what Christ gives us? How often do we overlook the ordinary means of grace in our lives and in the church? So often, we spite the ways in which God provides for us as too simple, too little, too insignificant. And in this way we make ourselves out to be fools when the wisdom of God is given to us in the flesh. It's in these times, times like that, that we're no better than the Nazarites. Do we know Christ truly for who he is and what he has done for our salvation? Has the magnitude of the gospel become so small to us that we scorn the ordinary means of grace? The preached word, the breaking of bread and drinking of wine in the Lord's Supper, The gospel, salvation, and the means of grace may not seem like much at times, but brethren, this passage in Mark reminds us that Christ, that in Christ God uses ordinary means to bring about a mighty work of redemption. He uses an ordinary king for a mighty work of redemption. Well secondly, God builds an ordinary kingdom for a mighty work of redemption. We see this primarily in verses 7 through 13, the second passage here. By way of introduction, I should note that this passage isn't normative for all Christians, or even elders in the church for that matter. We have to keep in mind that these commands were given by Christ, that were given by Christ were given to the apostles at a certain time. These words aren't a command to us to live an ascetic life, or to go on exorcism and healing journeys, Through the apostolic mission, Christ was laying the foundations for his kingdom, the church. So while we aren't to take these as normative rules, we can, as the kingdom, the church, we can learn a few things from this passage, however. Up to this point in Mark, the apostles were only aides in the ministry of Jesus. But here, Jesus actually fulfills his promise in chapter 3 to send the apostles out. and here they become true extensions of his power and his authority. In this episode, we see that Jesus didn't leave his apostles untrained before he ascended. He didn't leave the church untrained. Throughout the Gospels and in this passage, Jesus has been preparing his apostles, laying the foundations for the church. The carpenter is building his house. The king is establishing his kingdom. Notice the manner and the fashion of the apostles going out here. In many ways, it mirrors the manner of Christ himself and his life. They, the apostles, like Jesus, were called to go out in a humble estate to not be weighed down. Their message was urgent. They were to stay where they were welcomed, even if better or nicer homes opened up. Regarding their clothing, the Old Testament, of course, does portray vivid imagery about the importance of clothing, of the clothing of priests and even kings sometimes. And there are good purposes and Christological implications in that imagery. But as we've seen in the person of Jesus, exaltation is brought about through humble means. Christ's humiliation comes before his exaltation. And like Jesus, the apostles were commanded to walk in a humble manner, relying on Christ to sustain them. They would wear no crown of a king. They would wear a crown of shame. In all of this, sowing the seeds of the kingdom came before the reaping of the harvest. But in verse 11, what does Jesus mean when he says to shake off the dust from their feet if they're turned away? Well, there are a few possible meanings, but the most likely is that it was a symbol declaring that someone was pagan. Jews who would return from their travels in alien lands would often shake off their feet so that they wouldn't pollute their homes with the soil. It was a symbol of that. Yet in this context, Jesus is basically saying that the Jews who reject the apostolic message are pagans. This is an emphatically prophetic act, similar to the theatrics of Ezekiel. Shaking off the dust would be to declare unbelieving Jews outside of God's kingdom, a kingdom that to them was too ordinary. This here is an act of sifting and gathering of the kingdom. It anticipates the last day, and once more, it serves as a warning to those familiar with the gospel but lacking in real trust. What we need is a repentance and faith unto life. There are no unbelievers or impenitent people in the kingdom of God. Familiarity with the gospel shouldn't breed contempt, but it should bring praise. Finally, in verses 12 and 13, we read that they went out, casting out demons and anointing the sick. This, as we see, is an intrusion of the kingdom of God on earth. It looks forward to the post-resurrection church, as well as to the consummation of the kingdom on the last day. And like Christ, the apostles, they didn't look like much, but God was doing a mighty work through them. Although we aren't apostles, we as the church can learn from the manner of their going out. One thing we can take away is that we're more endangered with too much than with too little. Whatever we have in this life should not get in the way of our continual reliance upon Christ who upholds us. Loyalty to our King means we have no room for prior attachment to our wealth and our security. Christ is absolutely sufficient for us now and forever. Like the apostles, we're never truly or fully prepared for life as well as we may think we are, or even for ministry as a church. We're called to be citizens of a kingdom that we ourselves don't even qualify for. We depend on Jesus. We depend on Christ alone, the one who calls us and declares to us his will. Devotion to the kingdom of God over oneself is the calling of every believer. And no matter how ordinary the apostles looked in this passage, or no matter how ordinary we look as believers, as the church, God is doing a mighty work in this seemingly ordinary kingdom. What are we to make of all of this? What are we to make of the ordinary nature of our King and our Kingdom? In closing, I want to offer you two points of application. First, know that God is glorified even in the ordinary faithfulness of the Christian life. Ordinary, patient, faithful work is never useless or pointless. Our Lord, a carpenter and a son of Mary, he sets the prime example in this regard. God uses the ordinary for mighty work, no matter how unseen it is. Contrary to ancient Jewish beliefs, there was no truly lower calling. One doesn't need to be in an extraordinary line of work to glorify God. And contrary to popular belief even in Christian circles today, your vocation, your calling doesn't need to be kingdom-centered for God to work in and through your life. You don't need to be a street preacher, a missionary, or a culture warrior to glorify God. Those things may have their places, some of them do have their places, but God always exalts himself in the ordinary, humble, faithful lives of his people. We see that in Christ and we see that in his apostles. The second point of application, despite rejection, unbelief, and contempt for the gospel, we can have hope because Christ is the one who builds this church. Like Jesus and the apostles, we too will face rejection and affliction in this world. We face suffering. We drink the very same cup that our master drank in this regard. Though the world may mock us, though Satan may tempt us to unbelief, though we often lead ourselves astray, and though sometimes we're called to ordinary simple lives, God is doing a mighty work in us. And we can have hope as we await the final consummation. Christ builds his church by the ordinary means of grace until the end of the age. So with that, let us marvel and let us praise God for using ordinary means to bring about our mighty work of redemption. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you for your word here in Mark, for the message that you, Lord, have ordained ordinary means in our lives. You did so in Christ. You did so in the apostles and in the church. that Lord, you use ordinary means to bring about a mighty work of redemption. And Father, we lift you up, we praise you and bless your name for doing the mightiest work on the cross for our sins, by sending your Son as our propitiation. Father, we thank you for the ordinary means that we celebrate as a church week in and week out. We pray, Lord, that we would magnify those means of grace in our lives and they would sustain us and nourish us until you call us home. Father, we pray that you'd be present in our time of prayer this evening and Lord, we have faith and we know that you will answer our prayers even if in ways we don't expect. Lord, we pray for your blessing on this night and until the next Lord's Day. It's in your son's name we pray. Amen. Thank you.