Mark 6:1-441And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. 2And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? 3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. 4But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. 5And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. 6And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching. 7And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; 8And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: 9But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats. 10And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. 11And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. 12And they went out, and preached that men should repent. 13And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them. 14And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. 15Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. 16But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead. 17For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her. 18For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. 19Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: 20For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. 21And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; 22And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. 23And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. 24And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. 25And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. 26And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. 27And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, 28And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. 29And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb. 30And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. 31And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. 32And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. 33And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him. 34And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. 35And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: 36Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. 37He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? 38He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. 39And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. 40And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. 41And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. 42And they did all eat, and were filled. 43And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. 44And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men. (Mark 6:1‑44)
Jesus went to Nazareth, which had been His home, and the people were astonished to hear His wise teaching in the synagogue.
Yet they would not believe that He was from God, and greater than they, nor show Him respect. Instead of listening more, they talked among themselves against Him.
Jesus did not do great miracles there, as in the towns near, because of their unbelief, although He did heal a few sick ones perhaps who believed His words. He went to teach and help people in other towns.
You notice that Jesus sent His disciples to teach people in the same plain humble way: they were to go even where the roads were rough and stony, so to wear sandals; but they were not to take an extra coat or scrip (a bag or wallet for food), nor money. They were to go as very poor men, and get food on the way as best they could. All this would teach the disciples, and those they went to, that there was to be no pride, and that God’s words were for the poor.
The disciples were given power from Jesus to heal the sick and cast out wicked spirits, and many were healed.
Although Jesus and the disciples went about in so humble a manner, the news of the miracles was told in all places. When Herod, the ruler, heard about them, he said the prophet John must be alive again, and doing the wonderful things.
Herod had given the awful order for John to be killed, although he knew that John was a prophet of God (vs. 20).
He seemed to want to think that John was alive, so he would not be longer guilty of his death, But he did not go to see if it were John, and kept on in his proud ways.
Many people who heard of the micles, wanted to see Jesus, and came where He and the disciples were, so they had not chance even to eat their meals. Then Jesus told the disciples to come apart to rest, and He went with them in the boat across the sea of Galilee to land, where no people lived.
But the people saw them leaving in the boat, and they hurried along the shore to the same place. When Jesus saw they were waiting for Him there, He was sorry that they had no one to teach them God’s words, and instead of resting, He patiently taught then again.
When near evening the disciples spoke to Jesus to send the people to their homes, He wanted them first to have food, for they had a long-distance to walk. The disciples said it would require 200 pennyworth of bread for so many: a penny was much greater value in their money than to us, and the men spoke as though they could not buy so much.
Perhaps you know what a wonderful thing Jesus then did: He took the five loaves of bread and two fish they already had, gave thanks to God, broke all into pieces, and gave to the disciples to pass to the people sitting on the grass.
In the hands of Jesus, those.few pieces of bread and fish, became many, more than enough to supply those 5000 men, beside women and children (Matt. 14:2121And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. (Matthew 14:21)).
ML 02/13/1944