Mark 6:1-6 How Being Offended Prevents Being Blessed

SLIDE 1 – TITLE SLIDE

Have you ever heard of people being offended? They “take an offense,” “become offended,” or “are offended by you.” At one time or another, you are going to offend someone.

What was the offense which caused people to be offended at Jesus?

SLIDE 2 – Offended means scandalize

SLIDE 3 – Causes to sin, to trip, to stumble, to appall

SLIDE 4 – Scandalize – to shock or horrify (someone) by a real or imagined violation of propriety or morality.

People do this all the time. Some shows become more offensive every year. If you look at some journalism shows, they have more shocking reports. Some cable companies have more shocking series. Some TV shows and movies have shocking and offensive titles. There are shock jocks on radio. The point of these shows is to draw you in, even though they violate our moral conscience.

People like this live on conflict and drama. They want negative attention.

SLIDE 5 – Proverbs 17:19 – One who loves to offend loves strife; one who builds a high threshold invites injury.

SLIDE 6 – Matthew 11:6 – And if anyone is not offended because of Me, he is blessed.

Two other passages in Matthew talk about “taking offense.”

Matthew 15:12 describes how the Pharisees took an offense at what Jesus said. Jesus said that they were like the blind leading the blind.

Matthew 24:10 describes the condition of the world when Jesus returns. People will take an offense, betray one another, and hate one another.

Do you see the condition of the heart of those who “take an offense” or become offended.

So there are going to be people who are offended because you follow Jesus Christ. Even Christians will be offended by other Christians because of following Jesus Christ. That should not be.

If I am following Jesus, then when the other person is offended, that says that the other person has a heart problem. Or to use Paul’s language, the weak person (weaker in faith) is offended by the strong person (stronger in faith.)

Why I am I going over this? Because there are going to be times when you want to be offended, by other Christians. You have to decide what makes you upset. Because, there is a connection between being offended and being blessed.

SLIDE 7 – Luke 7:23 – Connection between offended and blessing

SLIDE 8 – As a Christian, being offended prevents blessings in my life.

What blessings are being prevented because of how offended I am?

What blessings would I be getting if I would stop being offended?

SLIDE 9 – Mark 6:3

The offense was directly related to the virgin birth. As noted by Jon Courson:

This is not an insight acknowledging Jesus’ unique birth. Rather, it is an insult, for in that culture one was always identified as the son of his father, whether his father was living or dead. In this case, even if Joseph were indeed dead, as most Biblical scholars believe, Jesus would nonetheless be identified as being his son. But by calling Him the son of Mary, Jesus’ countrymen were saying, “We do not even know who his father is,” thereby accusing Him of being illegitimate.

It was imperative that Jesus be born of a virgin. At the moment of conception, although a baby draws nutrients and liquids from the mother, it draws blood from its own blood supply, which is determined by the father. Therefore, the fact that Jesus, being conceived supernaturally without a human father, and developing in the womb without drawing blood from His mother meant that His blood, unlike any other blood in human history, was free from human pollution of any kind—and was, therefore able to cleanse our sin. [1]

SLIDE 10 – Mark 6:4 – Even Jesus was not accepted in a place where He should have been accepted and believed. Even His family was offended at Him. They could not believe Him.

SLIDE 11 – Mark 6:5

There is a direct relationship between being “offended” and God’s ability to do miracles in your life. Jesus says that He was only able to do a few miracles. We can easily become offended. Why were the people offended with Jesus?

The offense might reflect a social stigma directed against Jesus himself and/or His family. It is possible that they believed that only those recognized as possessing sufficient training (Mark 1:22) were competent to teach. Jesus had no such training because He was “the carpenter.” Similarly, Jesus’ identification as “the son of Mary” could be a slur on His legitimacy, since Jews at this time were normally identified in relationship to their father. [2]

But notice the connection. Jesus could not do much in the lives of people in Nazareth because they were offended at Him. The same is true today. If you are easily offended at Jesus, then He can’t do many miracles in your life. It is all tied to one thing: faith, or lack of it.

SLIDE 12 – Mark 6:6

The people of Nazareth were “offended at Him,” which literally means “they stumbled over Him.” The Greek word gives us our English word scandalize. Kenneth Wuest wrote in his book Wuest’s Word Studies, “They could not explain Him, so they rejected Him.” Jesus was certainly a “stone of stumbling” to them because of their unbelief (See Isaiah 8:14; Romans 9:32–33; 1 Peter 2:8).

Twice in the Gospel record you find Jesus marveling. As this passage reveals, He marveled at the unbelief of the Jews, and He marveled at the great faith of a Roman centurion, a Gentile (Luke 7:9). Instead of remaining at Nazareth, Jesus departed and made another circuit of the towns and villages in Galilee. His heart was broken as He saw the desperate plight of the people (Matt. 9:35–38), so He decided to send out His disciples to minister with His authority and power. [3]

Jesus also states He was amazed at their unbelief. Let that sink in folks. Jesus can get amazed at a person’s unbelief. This is in contrast to the amazement Jesus has at a Gentile’s faith. So Jesus is amazed at both extremes. What I want you to notice here is that Jesus’s amazement is more profound when it comes to their unbelief.

Jesus states a parable about the fact that He was not honored by people in His own hometown. Yet more importantly, Jesus doesn’t say that He won’t do any miracles. Jesus is prevented from doing miracles because of their unbelief.

How amazed is Jesus with our unbelief?

What blessings am I missing out on because of my unbelief and offensive nature?

What does this all have to do with me today?

First, there are going to be people who are offended that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. They will take an offense or be offended. Yes, that means they will stumble on that. They could reject Him. That is why we need to do our best to share Jesus to them. Why do I act the way I do? Because Jesus is my Lord and Savior. He saved Me. Give Jesus the credit. If it causes them to question Jesus, then let them continue to search. Let them discover Jesus through you.

Second, I need to guard my heart because of being offended. If I have problems with how Christ is working in other peoples’ lives, or if I have a question as to why things are being done a certain way and it offends me, then I run the risk of losing a blessing and miracle in my life.

If I get offended at how the church is reaching the lost, then that is more my problem than the church’s problem. It is one thing to disagree. It is another to be disagreeable. If the church is reaching people – lost people – then it is doing its job. I have to learn to have faith, and see how God will work through it.

The unbelief and the offended don’t stop the miracles from happening. But they stop the miracles from happening to them.

God wants to use me. He wants me to have a blessing. He wants me to be a blessing. Don’t let an offense keep you from the blessing.

1. Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003), 246. Accessed on January 16, 2015 at 11:35 PM.

2. John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible, (Bellingham, Washington: Lexham Press, 2014), Mark 6:3. Accessed on January 16, 2015 at 11:28 PM.

3. Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1989), 1:130. Accessed on January 16, 2015 at 11:42 PM.