Mark 6:4 "Then Jesus told them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own town, and among his relatives and his own family."
It`s significant not to merely glance over the specific types of environments explicitly defining the prophets OWN HOMETOWN. Let me be clear. The Lord Jesus is not describing geographical locations, nor is he singling out unique family dysfunctions of God`s prophet`s. He is revealing various types of confrontations that occur within the spiritual realm.
You see, whenever prophets operate within their own close-knit communities the evil one seeks to run interference by manipulating the memories of those within the prophet`s circle. Satan knows that memories are not stored as exact replicas of reality. Memories are reconstructed during recall. This recall process makes them prone to manipulation and errors. These truths point to reasons why the Lord Jesus emphasizes that the prophet is honored EVERYWHERE ESLE, except in his hometown. In such cases, Satan can`t manipulate the memories of those who did not grow up with you, or those who didn`t witness your normal everyday routines over the years.
However, the people who grew up around the Lord Jesus began hearing of Jesus doing miracles, healing the sick, and teaching with great wisdom and power, and were astonished. A confirmation bias defines our tendency to seek and interpret memories in such a way that confirm our prior personal beliefs. Therefore, knowing this, Satan quickly began manipulating their memories. The evil one would whisper in Jesus`s neighbor`s ear, "He`s the carpenter`s son, you watched him do what he does for years!" The memories are vividly clear.
When mental images form in the mind, they produce specific thoughts. In this case scenario, thoughts like; " Jesus was kind to everyone, very skillful with carpentry tool, and he had a great work ethic. He was always watching and pretty quiet while we were growing up. Back then I used to hang out with his brother James every day. I know the whole family." Know this: Selective attention and selective recall means; "I only see what I want to see." This tells us that many of them choose to focus solely on Jesus`s humanness in ways that ignored or even dismissed the reality of the Lord`s wonderworking power they were hearing about.
When close relatives heard about the matchless powerful expounding of scriptures with wisdom and knowledge expressed by Jesus, they began to reconstruct their memories about him. Perhaps some recalled what they knew about the Immaculate Conception (Mary`s virgin birth) or when Jesus was circumcised on the 8th day and dedicated back to God, or they could have recalled when Elizabeth heard Mary`s greeting and baby John the Baptish leaped in his mother`s womb.
As they entered the recall process the evil one stirred specific emotional influence because such influence would either enhance or impair learning and retention of new information. What this means is that clear mental pictures will arouse specific emotions. If I know this, you know that Satan knew it too!
You see, mental snapshots of a younger Jesus popped up in their heads, where when they had to compare what they were hearing with the memories they were reconstructing of their young relative. Perhaps their recall process was about a much younger Jesus traveling with his parents to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. The temple courts were famous throughout the land as a place of great learning. The greatest rabbis of the land would assemble there to teach and share great truths among themselves. Oh yeah, the coming of the Messiah was no doubt, a main topic of discussion, because everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon.
Envision, close relatives recalling young Jesus eagerly anticipating sitting with the spiritual leaders in the temple courts on this occasion. The great rabbis were astounded by the depth of 12-year-old Jesus`s wisdom and the provocative questions he brought to the table. Surly the knew that Jesus was no ordinary youngster.
At this point his parents had left the area and traveled quite some distance, heading back to Nazareth when they realized that Jesus was not with them. His mother, Mary, frantically began searching everywhere for Jesus. Both parents backtracked and found Jesus still in the temple courts. Obviously, they were relieved when they found him. (Luke 2:41-51) Both were astonished, and his mother said to him, "Son why have you treated us like this, your father and I have been worried sick while searching for you? Young Jesus response conveyed profound revelations. He said, "Why were you searching for me? Didn`t you know I had to be in my father`s house?
His parents didn`t understand what he meant about being in his Father`s house. No one there understood or realized that Jesus was making a distinction between his earthly father and his heavenly Father. This passage is the first mention of Jesus`s awareness that he was the son of man and the son of God. Surly the events that occurred on this day were shared and witnessed by close family members. And so, there is no doubt that they reconstructed this memory while hearing of Jesus operating with wonderworking power, miracles, wisdom and knowledge. The question, then, becomes, " During the reconstruction of this memory was the personal thoughts and interpretation of close family members impaired by the evil one or enhanced by divine revelations?
Since memories are not clear cut, every family member`s recall process would not have been exactly the same. Each would have their own point of view. Every person`s thoughts and interpretations are, to some degree influenced by who they are, how they perceive the world, and their prior experiences.
Familiarity breeds expectations, and so, we become familiar with one another and then, we begin to predict behavior. Oh yeah, eyewitnesses naively assume that you will always do what you`ve done. They tend to define you according to your normal routine. The more they heard about his wonderworking power, the more they visualized what they remembered about Jesus`s past, and the more they focused on what they knew about his past the more some of them questioned his credibility. This process reveals how the unbelief grew stronger and stronger. Some concluded that Jesus was ordinary not extraordinary, because everything they choose to focus on spoke of his normality. Never forget this: Jesus is never recognized; he is always revealed.
Therefore, when describing the prophet`s own hometown, we know that Jesus was defining what occurs in the spiritual realm, because the types of atmospheres where unbelief grows stronger and stronger whereby in direct defiance of what God`s prophet was sent to reveal to humankind does not occur in the physical realm. Although the results surface in the physical realm, the essence is spiritual. This essence refers to interactions about the influence of divine revelation, faith as a channel, unbelief, deception, good and evil, WHILE, the prophet is operating, or in response to his message. Such interactions represent battles between forces of light and darkness being waged in the spiritual dimension. You feel me?
Let`s get back to normality. As stated above, because some of Jesus`s childhood associates and even some close relatives choose not to focus on the source of his wonderworking power and matchless wisdom and knowledge of scripture, their focus reverted continuously on the vivid memories depicting Jesus`s ordinary normal day to day activities.
The problem is that greatness entails a departure from the norm. Greatness defies normality. As was the case when 12-year-old Jesus was sitting in the temple courts. All of the great rabbis were assembled their teaching and sharing great truths, and discussing the coming of the Messiah, and could sense that he was coming soon. However, not one of them knew that the 12-year-old expounding scripture with wisdom and power was actually the Messiah they were thirsty for. Jesus was also called "Immanuel" which means "God with us" od "God among us", meaning God was in their presence and they did not know it. Know this: Greatness is often hidden in plain sight! Amen.
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