Jesus Marveled at Unbelief

Day 53: Mark 6:1-29

“And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.” - Mark 6:5-6

The Greek word for marveled here is thaumazō, and it can also be translated as to be astonished or to be amazed. Mark used this same word in 5:20 to describe everyone's reaction to the demoniac Jesus had healed. It seems like it takes a lot to amaze our Savior, and here it is not in a positive way.

Aren't you amazed when you see someone outright reject Jesus? When I worked in the local church, it blew me away to see how people would react to each week's services. It seemed that the same people were engaging and responsive to the worship and the study of God's word. At the same time, many were obviously there with the mission of staying unmoved. The same Good News was delivered to both, but a much different reaction.

Do you find yourself numb to the work of God today? Has your love for Jesus grown cold? Have you turned the Christian experience into a mere mental exercise to try and pacify your conscience? That won't work.

Jesus desires that you and I trust him with everything we are. Not because He's on a power trip. It is because he knows what the best life possible needs to look like. He lived it. He invites us into this way of life as well.

Ben Witherington makes a great point when he writes: "The focus, then, is not so much on Jesus’ inability as on the amazing lack of faith, but clearly Mark sees a connection between faith and healing, as the previous stories in the second half of Mark 5 show. We may perhaps put it this way—lack of faith limits the reception of help readily available from Jesus." - Witherington, B., III. (2001). The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (p. 195)