Mark 6: When Unbelief Ties the Hands of the Almighty

Introduction

“Unbelief saves no one, heals no one, creates nothing. And yet it has a power: the power to tie the hands of the Almighty.” This is the heart of the message preached during a worship service at Chiesa Evangelica ADI Napoli-San Rocco, in Naples, from Mark 6:1-6.

Jesus returns to Nazareth, the place where he grew up. He teaches in the synagogue, people recognize his wisdom and his miracles, yet they take offense at him. The text concludes: “He could do no mighty work there” and “he marveled because of their unbelief.”

The preacher sees in this a warning for those who are close to Jesus, who grew up in church and know the hymns. He shows where unbelief comes from, how it spreads, and what it prevents. Then he asks the question that remains open: tonight, will Jesus find faith among us?

Message Outline

1. The Two Times Jesus Marvels

The passage contains a detail that is “more unique than rare”: Jesus marvels. The One who is wonderful is amazed, which shows he was as truly man as he was truly God.
In the Gospels, this happens only twice. The first time is with the Roman centurion who says: “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Jesus marvels at his faith: “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel” (Matthew 8:8-10).
The second time is here, in verse 6, and the amazement is negative. In front of a pagan, Jesus marvels at faith; in front of his own people, he marvels at unbelief. “The world turned upside down.”
Nazareth is not where he was born, but where he grew up: his hometown, his home. Yet that is where he meets “the hardest wall.” Not in Gerasa, where he drove out thousands of demons, not in the boat in the middle of the storm (“between the storm and Jesus, it is always Jesus who wins”), not among the Pharisees of Jerusalem who wanted to get rid of him.

2. Unbelief Is Born of Wounded Pride

The problem was not what Jesus did: the people of Nazareth themselves acknowledged his miracles and a wisdom they had never heard before. Jesus came back with his reputation preceding him, right after raising Jairus' daughter and healing the woman who had been sick for twelve years (Mark 5).
But “he never went to school,” he never sat at a rabbi's feet. A simple family, brothers and sisters known to everyone: how can he speak with an authority that neither the Pharisees nor the religious leaders have?
They feel their pride wounded at the thought of submitting to someone so ordinary, with no titles, who is not part of the circle of influential people. “Unbelief is born of wounded pride.”
The Word says it: before destruction the heart of man is proud, “but humility goes before honor” (Proverbs 18:12). “An unbelieving heart is a proud heart,” still wrapped in the veil of pride, the one that says: “I know what I have to do. You say these things, I say mine.”
Unbelief is also born of the pride of already knowing everything. “Lord, I know nothing at all. Help me to know you more.”

3. Knowing Many Things About Jesus Without Knowing Him

They had seen him grow up, play, work in Joseph's workshop. “We know who he is.” They knew many things about Jesus, but had not understood who he was.
“How many today know many things about Jesus, but do not know him? Do you know him?” You may not know his 37 or 38 miracles by heart, or every verse, but you can say: “I met him in my heart.”
They had not seen him for a day or two, but for thirty years. Where Jesus had been known the longest, there was unbelief.
The danger today is not only among those who do not know the Lord, but in the one who grew up in church, who knows the hymns and how an evangelical service runs. “Whoever you are, make sure no unbelief is found in you.”
To them, Jesus remained the man with the hammer and the saw. He was a carpenter's son, but he is the Son of God. Familiarity and habit without faith become “a cataract over the eyes”: they had Jesus right before their eyes and did not see him for who he is.

4. Looking at the Promise Rather Than at What You See

Abraham had every reason not to believe: a hundred years old, with a ninety-year-old wife who was barren. Yet God had promised him descendants more numerous than the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea.
It is written of him: “Who in hope believed against hope”; “he did not waver through unbelief,” fully convinced that God “was able also to perform” (Romans 4:18-21).
Abraham saw his weakened body, but he looked to the promise. The people of Nazareth looked at Jesus and saw the carpenter's son, when he was the Messiah. “Unbelief looks at what it knows. Faith looks at what he said. I do not see it, but I believe it.”
Nathanael also started badly: “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” But he accepted Philip's invitation, “Come and see,” and ended up saying: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God” (John 1:45-49).
“When you have a doubt, do you keep it to yourself, or do you go to the feet of Jesus?” Doubt is not a sin; the damage comes when you cling to it. Bring it to the feet of the Lord, and Jesus will reveal himself for who he is.
Jesus says it himself: a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house. Many have experienced it: you speak about the Lord to a brother, a sister, an aunt, without being heard, then someone from outside comes and that loved one is converted. The preacher encourages: just as God used that person for your family, he can use you for someone else's family.

5. Unbelief Is Contagious

“Many, when they heard him”: one begins by saying “he has always been a carpenter,” another adds “someone important would live in a palace,” and everyone chips in. Doubt spreads.
When we talk about the Church, the family, the work of God, our words do not stay inside us: they infect. “It is good to speak well, so that the contagion is positive and not negative.”
The twelve spies saw the same land, the same cities, the same grapes and the same giants (Numbers 13 and 14). Ten said: “We cannot.” Less than 0.002% of the people was enough to infect 600,000 men, who wept all night and wanted to go back to Egypt, to “eat the pharaoh's onions.”
Joshua and Caleb said: “They are bread for us” (Numbers 14:9). No one believed them, and those who believed the negative did not enter the promised land.
“So I have to be optimistic? No. We must be men and women of faith, who do not believe what they see, but what he said.” Do you believe that your family, romantic or financial situation is in God's hands? “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31).
The preacher quotes Smith Wigglesworth: “I am not moved by what I see, nor by what I hear; I am moved only by what I believe.” The ten counted the giants; Joshua and Caleb counted God's promises. “What are you counting?”

6. “He Could Not”: The Blessings That Are Waiting

The text does not say “he would not,” but “he could not.” Had the One who silenced the sea, set the demoniac of Gerasa free and raised Jairus' daughter lost his power? No: he had met unbelief.
Still, he laid his hands on a few sick people: there is always someone who stands out. But how many sick people were not healed, how many broken families were not restored? “How many blessings are held back in heaven, waiting for unbelief to be removed?”
The crowd pressed on Jesus from every side, but the woman who merely touched him was the one healed: “If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well” (Mark 5:28). “It is never a question of physical closeness, it is always a question of faith.”
“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). The verse speaks of the Lord's return, but for the Lord there is neither yesterday nor tomorrow: he is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and where two or three are gathered in his name, he is in their midst (Matthew 18:20). The question applies to tonight.
“Without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6), and faith comes from hearing the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). The preacher hopes the congregation will not be like Nazareth, but will amaze Jesus like the centurion: “Just say the word.”

7. Declaring War on Unbelief

The final appeal takes up the prayer of that father: “I believe! Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).
He invites everyone to think of the situation, the person or the project about which they keep telling themselves: “It is not for me, I will not make it, there is no possibility, maybe God has another plan.”
“Lord, I do not want to be a Nazarene in the sense of what we read tonight. I do not want to keep you from doing your work in my life and in my home because of my unbelief. Increase my faith.” For what is impossible with men is possible with God (Luke 18:27).
He also speaks to those who do not yet know the Lord: “Do you think, in your unbelief, that God can only save evangelicals? God wants to save you, you, tonight.”

Key Takeaways

Unbelief creates nothing, but it can tie the hands of the Almighty: in Nazareth, Jesus “could not” do any miracle.
It is born of wounded pride and of the feeling of already knowing everything. Humility goes before honor.
The danger is also found in the house of the Lord: habit without faith becomes a cataract that keeps you from seeing Jesus for who he is.
Unbelief looks at what it knows or sees; faith looks at what God has said, like Abraham, Joshua and Caleb.
Our words infect: be contagious by your faith, not by your doubt.

Personal Application

Do you know many things about Jesus, or do you know him personally, “heart to heart”?
Has the habit of worship, hymns and familiar verses put a cataract over your spiritual eyes?
What doubt are you keeping to yourself instead of bringing it to the feet of Jesus?
Right now, what are you counting: the giants in your situation or God's promises?
When you speak about your Church, your family or the work of God, do your words feed the faith or the doubt of those who listen to you?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why could Jesus not do miracles in Nazareth?

Mark 6:5 does not say that Jesus would not, but that he could not do any miracle there. The One who had calmed the storm and raised Jairus' daughter had lost none of his power: he met unbelief. For the preacher, unbelief saves no one and heals no one, but it has the terrible power to tie the hands of the Almighty.

Where does unbelief come from according to Mark 6?

The people of Nazareth recognized Jesus' wisdom and miracles. Their problem was wounded pride: submitting to a carpenter with no title, from a simple family. Add to that the feeling of already knowing everything, and habit: they had watched him grow up for thirty years and no longer saw him for who he is.

What should you do with your doubts in the face of God's promises?

Doubt is not a sin in itself: the danger is keeping it to yourself and clinging to it. Like Nathanael, who accepted the invitation “Come and see,” you can bring your doubt to the feet of Jesus, look to what God has said rather than to what you see, and pray like that father: “I believe! Help my unbelief!”