“Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?" So they were offended at Him.” Mar 6:3
We learned the other day (in Mark 4) that not everyone will receive Jesus - that some, who see the same miracles that everyone else sees, and yet will not perceive, and who hear the same words of truth that everyone else hears, and yet will not understand -- they will not let the fact of those miracles and that truth teach them about who it MUST be who is doing them. If unclean spirits are being cast out, and people are being healed, and the dead are being raised, and the winds and the waves obey Him, then WHO IS IT who is doing these things? It must be the Creator and Ruler of heaven and earth, because NO ONE ELSE has authority over not only the natural world, but the spiritual world, as well as life and death. Then it must be that YHVH has come in the flesh!
Because they will not perceive and not understand, they will not stop going away from His house, and turn around and start going toward His house again (repent) so that their sins will be forgiven them. Today we see that men of His hometown became offended at Him, but why? Because He was of humble origins, but He was greater than they. The excellence of His ministry outshone them, so instead of receiving Him, they took offense at Him, and rejected Him.
Can we see how the enemy will use our pride in our own accomplishments or our pride in our own value as a human being to prevent us from receiving GOOD from the hand of the Lord? Everywhere Jesus went, He taught with wisdom, He healed the sick and He cast out demons - He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Act 10:38). And today we learn He also fed people and met their need for daily bread. All He did, was GOOD, and all He gave, was of BENEFIT. And yet because they were offended at His goodness, they refused to receive that which was good for themselves.
But the enemy will use whatever tool he can to cause men to stumble over Jesus so that they will reject Him. The enemy hates God, and he hates us because we are beloved of God, therefore whatever he can do that will harm us, he will do. And pride, and taking offense, are his fruits; while humility, teachableness, and receiving good from the hand of the Lord (which we all do, even athiests, Mat 5:45) are the Lord's fruits.
“For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.” Mar 6:52
Here we see that a hard heart contributes to seeing and hearing, but not perceiving or understanding. Before we go on to fixing the problem of a hard heart, let's just note who it was who was taking offense at Him and whose hearts were hardened so that they could not perceive or understand. It was the Sabbath go to synagogue folks. It was His own twelve disciples. None of us are above offense or hardness, so we need to take heed of ourselves and watch out!
“But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?” Mar 8:17-21
Jesus affirms that it is hardness of heart that causes a person to have eyes and yet not see and perceive, and to have ears and yet not hear and understand.
There is a remedy for a hard heart. In the Scriptures, the heart is often compared to ground in which seed is sown:
“And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.” Mar 4:13-15
Now hard ground cannot be sown with seed, because nothing will grow in it. The soil is hard, and the roots of the sprouting seed cannot penetrate it to get nutrients. In order to prepare the ground for seed, first the husbandman needs to break up the hard ground, like rototilling the garden. Then if the ground is watered regularly after that, so that it remains soft, it will receive seed and a harvest will be possible from it.
“Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” Hos 10:12
Here the Scriptures reveal to us that if the ground of our hearts is hard, we can break it up by seeking the Lord, and when we do that, He will rain on our hearts so that they remain soft - not a rain of water, but of righteousness!
How does one seek the Lord? First of all, pray! He hears prayers! A simple acknowledgement that Lord, I know You are there, and I know my heart is hard, and I don't want it to be; I want to seek You but don't know how or where to look, will You help me? is a good starting place! Then keep praying, every day!
Jesus taught His disciples, when they asked Him to teach them to pray, to pray this way:
“Our Father in heaven, Holy is Your name. May Your kingdom come. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Please give us this day our daily bread. Please forgive my sins, as I forgive the sins others have sinned against me. Do not let me be tempted, but deliver me from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” Mat 6:9-13
I pray this way every day, even though I have been a disciple for 44 years. I pray this way because Jesus is smarter than I am, and out of all the ways He could have chosen to answer that question, He chose to answer it with this simple prayer -- I assume because that is the best prayer a disciple can pray!
And in order to seek the Lord, I would read the Scriptures, every day. They are His words breathed by His Spirit to mankind, and they will tell us true things about Himself and about ourselves! I would start with Genesis, not John. John is just about the hardest book of the Bible to understand, and knowing who God is and what He has previously said as revealed in the Old Testament helps to understand it. Genesis reveals who the Lord is and who we are and what we have to do with each other! The entire theology of the whole Bible is revealed in this book of beginnings!
There is one other person who wants our hearts to be soft, and not hard; who wants us to see AND perceive, and hear AND understand, more than we ourselves do - and that is God! He will help all those who ask Him for help!
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