There are many ways of reading the Bible, by which I mean that there are various themes that you can trace through the Bible, such as Faith.
But today we face one that has a strong yet terrible pedigree. I speak of ‘unbelief’. There are people in this world who have what are colloquially called wrap sheets of their crime(s), listing occasion after occasion.
In many ways the Bible reads as a horrible ‘wrap sheet’ of this spiritual criminal ‘unbelief’. Look at a partial printout:
Adam and Eve failed to believe God, and the whole world was cursed. The world itself refused to believe God’s warning preached through Noah, and it was destroyed in the Flood, except for eight people. Pharaoh refused to believe God, and he lost his firstborn son, his entire army, and his own life. Israel refused to believe God and wandered forty years in the wilderness; and as a kingdom the people again refused to believe and were scattered for centuries among foreign nations. Aaron refused to believe God’s command about worship and led the people into idolatry, resulting in the loss of 3,000 lives. Moses refused to believe God, and it cost him the privilege of entering the Promised Land. Nebuchadnezzar refused to believe God and became a senseless beast.
Many would-be disciples refused to believe God because they were offended by Christ’s teaching, and they entered into eternity without hope. The rich young ruler refused to believe God and forfeited eternal life. Most of the religious leaders refused to believe God and were condemned to the eternal torment of hell. Although he lived for three years with Jesus, in the presence of the living Truth and Light, Judas refused to believe God and was condemned to hell, which Jesus said was Judas’s own place. Felix, Festus, and Agrippa refused to believe God through the witness of Paul, and they were lost forever.
Now as we turn to Mark 6, in striking contrast to Mark 5’s emphasis on faith we are immediately confronted with raw, rude, reckless unbelief – so much so that Jesus was astonished at it, and could do few miracles there.
Where is He? In Rome? In the ‘wild lands’ beyond the Empire? No. He is home, in the Nazareth in which He grew up and lived for nearly 30 years.
Could it be found even here? The answer is yes. Satan is always busy to incite unbelief, and the human heart left to itself will always embrace it. Interestingly it is the presence of Jesus that brings it out, showing its offense, loss and responsibility.