When the 76ers play in Philadelphia, they have the home court advantage: familiar surroundings, no travel fatigue, and loud fan support. In this passage, Jesus arrives home to Nazareth, the small, obscure village where He grew up. Nazareth had a low reputation: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Sadly, the King of Heaven’s “home court” of Nazareth gave Him no advantage.
NO HOME COURT FANS
In Mark 6:1-13, Jesus was asked to speak at Nazareth’s synagogue. He had performed miracles galore on His most recent trip. Jesus begins to speak, and the audience grows increasingly vocal and antagonistic. “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 Joses and Judas and Simon?”
SCANDALIZED BY JESUS
Nazareth knew Jesus never studied under the great rabbis of the day. They considered Jesus a lowly laborer of disgraceful origin. R.C. Sproul comments that the reference to His mother “wasn’t some thinly veiled testimony to the virgin birth or an attempt to exalt the status of the mother. The Jews would name men according to their relationship to their father, not to their mother. They still believed that Jesus was an illegitimate son and that Mary had this baby out of wedlock. Scandalized by Jesus, the audience was profoundly offended. They did not want any identification with Him because He embarrassed them and He shamed them.” No home court advantage in Nazareth.
NO HOME COURT FAITH
The people were astonished at His words, and Jesus was astonished at their lack of faith. “He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.” R.C. Sproul continues: “It’s not as though Jesus suddenly became incapable of manifesting the miraculous power that was so characteristic of His ministry. Rather, the circumstances by which God the Holy Spirit would unleash that power were not available because there was a judgment of God on this town of Nazareth. For the most part, God withheld His power from this stiff-necked people who held Jesus in contempt.”
ARE YOU CHRISTIAN-ISH?
Do you welcome Jesus daily into your life and give Him the home court advantage? Is your heart familiar surroundings for the King of Kings? Does He energize your soul? Are you ardently His biggest fan? Or do you only live as a moral person who has not made Jesus Lord of your life? Have you sold out to Jesus, or are you just “Christian-ish?”
THE CHRISTIAN ATHEIST
Craig Groeschel wrote a great book entitled “The Christian Atheist”. This refers to someone who intellectually believes in God but lives their day-to-day life as if He does not exist. It describes a person who claims the Christian faith yet relies on self-sufficiency, worry, or worldly control rather than active trust in God. Do you have a half-hearted faith that wears the label of Christianity without truly following Jesus? Ask the Lord to open your eyes to see whether He holds the home court advantage in your life.
Click to listen to Groeschel’s message “Christian-Ish”