Turn with me to Mark 6. This is a very important chapter in this Gospel for reasons we will soon learn. In verses 45-56, we will examine a now famous and noteworthy event and the aftermath. Some background is in order before we do that though.
This chapter gives details of Jesus’ rejection in His hometown of Nazareth; Two verses are prominent from that event – 6:4: “Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.’”
And in Mark 6:6: “And He wondered at their unbelief. And He was going around the villages teaching.”
Only two times in the New Testament did Jesus wonder at their unbelief. The other was the faith of the Centurion in Luke 7:9: “Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, ‘I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.’”
From there, Mark takes us to the sending out of the twelve with the power and authority of Jesus to heal diseases and subdue demons.
In the midst of that narrative, Mark inserts the responses of King Herod to the news of the twelve healing and casting out demons. Note 6:14: “And King Herod hea ...
