ReCreate Church’s Podcast

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, February 5, 2023

Jesus Is More! Today, Pastor Michael is back in Mark after a hiatus over the holidays. Mark is one of the Gospels, each one of which has a different viewpoint on Jesus’ story. Matthew—Gives an overall view. Mark—Fast paced, action oriented, close up. Luke—Detailed, intimate look. John—overarching, high level view, where Jesus fits into history. Michael’s opinion is that Mark is a great place for anyone to start reading the Bible at, especially since Mark was a protege of Peter. And we’re pretty sure Mark is from Peter’s viewpoint. So, with that introduction, we find Jesus back in his hometown of Nazareth, speaking at a synagogue. Now you’d think, being in the hometown hood, he’d be well received, the folks happy to see him. Not! Folks were actually ‘astonished’ at His words, some even feeling offended. To the point that they called Jesus, ‘Son of Mary’, about a big a dig as one could get in those days, as folks were called sons of their father. So it was readily apparent that Jesus still had the home town crowd in the holding a grudge of sorts as to his beginnings being suspect. Clearly, people did not (and still do not) respect you in your hometown. Israel in those days had a big thing apparently, for false prophets. Those type of prophets would tell them what they wanted to hear, not what they needed changed and cleaned up. The true prophets were actually ridiculed. As an example, look at the treatments of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Which brings up the point, what really is a prophet? A prophet is someone who gives a message from the Lord. These messages may or may not be predictive, but a lot of people associate prophets with predictive prophesy. Prophecy does not simply seek to predict the future, but can also change the present. So was Jesus a prophet? No, He was much more than a prophet. The teachings and miracles that surrounded Jesus proved he wasn’t sent from God; He is God. To those determined to not believe, they will hold on to their own ways. No evidence is enough, even to be raised from the dead. So Jesus left Nazareth and went to where he was wanted. Jesus is more. Jesus is more than a man. More than a good teacher. More than a prophet. Jesus is God. (CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) Surprisingly, Jesus is not a celebrity in Nazareth as he is elsewhere in Galilee, but people were “offended by him” (or, he was a “stumbling block,” 6:3). This repeats Mark’s insider-outsider motif: those we should expect to believe in Jesus do not, and those we should not expect to believe in him do. The return to Nazareth ends with Jesus “amazed at their unbelief” (6:6). The greatest hindrance to faith is not sinfulness but hardness of heart. Verses can be found today in Mark 6: 1-7. Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Broadcast on:: 05 Feb 2023

Jesus Is More!

Today, Pastor Michael is back in Mark after a hiatus over the holidays. Mark is one of the Gospels, each one of which has a different viewpoint on Jesus’ story.

Matthew—Gives an overall view.

Mark—Fast paced, action oriented, close up.

Luke—Detailed, intimate look.

John—overarching, high level view, where Jesus fits into history.

Michael’s opinion is that Mark is a great place for anyone to start reading the Bible at, especially since Mark was a protege of Peter. And we’re pretty sure Mark is from Peter’s viewpoint.

So, with that introduction, we find Jesus back in his hometown of Nazareth, speaking at a synagogue. Now you’d think, being in the hometown hood, he’d be well received, the folks happy to see him.

Not!

Folks were actually ‘astonished’ at His words, some even feeling offended. To the point that they called Jesus, ‘Son of Mary’, about a big a dig as one could get in those days, as folks were called sons of their father. So it was readily apparent that Jesus still had the home town crowd in the holding a grudge of sorts as to his beginnings being suspect. Clearly, people did not (and still do not) respect you in your hometown.

Israel in those days had a big thing apparently, for false prophets. Those type of prophets would tell them what they wanted to hear, not what they needed changed and cleaned up. The true prophets were actually ridiculed. As an example, look at the treatments of Isaiah and Jeremiah.

Which brings up the point, what really is a prophet? A prophet is someone who gives a message from the Lord. These messages may or may not be predictive, but a lot of people associate prophets with predictive prophesy. Prophecy does not simply seek to predict the future, but can also change the present. So was Jesus a prophet? No, He was much more than a prophet. The teachings and miracles that surrounded Jesus proved he wasn’t sent from God; He is God.

To those determined to not believe, they will hold on to their own ways. No evidence is enough, even to be raised from the dead. So Jesus left Nazareth and went to where he was wanted.

Jesus is more. Jesus is more than a man. More than a good teacher. More than a prophet.

Jesus is God.

(CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) Surprisingly, Jesus is not a celebrity in Nazareth as he is elsewhere in Galilee, but people were “offended by him” (or, he was a “stumbling block,” 6:3). This repeats Mark’s insider-outsider motif: those we should expect to believe in Jesus do not, and those we should not expect to believe in him do. The return to Nazareth ends with Jesus “amazed at their unbelief” (6:6). The greatest hindrance to faith is not sinfulness but hardness of heart.

Verses can be found today in Mark 6: 1-7.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.