Based on Mark 6:1-6 (New King James Version)
“Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, ‘Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 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. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.’ Now 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. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.”
This passage has a lot of teaching, things that are very profound, and that lead to things that are very unpleasant for us. But no one said that the truth is easy to accept, but, in short, His Truth is what makes us free and gives us eternal life, if we accept it legitimately. What was the real problem here? Can we start to turn to psychology, for example, and start justifying people's disbelief because of their background, because they had a difficult past, because it was unfair to think that a human being could come to believe that God could have taken their same human form? Many things could be said to justify man's disbelief, but the interesting thing (per say) is that God does not justify man's disbelief. There is no biblical passage where God excuses man's hardness of heart, and makes different excuses based on man's bad experiences. That is why there are things that cannot be accepted if they go totally against what the Word of God teaches.
So why was there such disbelief? For a very simple reason, and it was the same one that led the Lord to the cross: envy. The Word explains this to us: “But Pilate answered them, saying, ‘Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?’ For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.” Mark 15:9-11. These acquaintances who were carnally close to the Lord were simply scandalized and did not believe because they envied Him. They thought in their wicked hearts: “How can this man be more than us, doing all that He does, if he came from the same place as us?” And so, they saw Him as a simple man who did not deserve to be more than them, someone who had more abilities than them, like the Son of God that He was (and is). This same evil of envy was what caused Satan to fall from his original position and become the being he is today, as the Word explains: “How you are fallen from heaven, o Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.” Isaiah 14:12-15. The devil wanted to be like God. He envied God. Envy also made man fall at the beginning, as it is written: “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:4-6. What finally convinced man to sin against God was not that he would not die by eating the fruit, but the idea of being like God. And this group of people had this same evil with their unbelief.
So, what can we see through this? A reality that is very ugly, and that affects us all; that we are all bad and very sinful. How can you come to envy God? It doesn't make sense, but the vast majority envy Him, and want to be like Him. Do you doubt what I say? Every person who wants to do their own will envies God because they want to be like God. They want to do as they please. And even worse (and this is where the vast majority of so-called believers fail), they want God to come and serve them instead of them serving God, going against their own existence, because God made man to serve Him. This is the worst problem that man has, especially today. They cannot tolerate the idea that God is God and that we are simply a creation that exists only for His service. This is what God says about us in general: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9. When the Lord preached the Gospel, what was His message? Did He excuse man's disbelief? No. This is what He preached from the beginning: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” Mark 1:14-15. Whatever our background, our experiences, God leads us all to the same thing, to repentance, because we all have to turn from all our evil completely.
Now then, knowing that we have a serious problem with sin, and because of our own evil, how is it that we can attain God's mercy? There is a way, and blessed be God for that, because it is something that is possible for every human being through Christ. And it is a mistake to think that the way to overcome our unbelief is with more signs, wonders, and prayers answered in our own way, because as we saw, those things were of no use to unbelievers. Let's read the following: “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.” John 19:25-27. The answer is: Love conquered disbelief. Those who really loved the Lord were these women and John, because they were the ones who were with the Lord in His worst moment, even when His own Father had to leave Him, when He took all our sins upon Himself. These people were at the foot of the cross until He breathed His last breath. That was the extent of their love for the Lord, when no one could see the great miracles, nor incredible signs, nor anything that a person would consider power, in short, when no one could envy Him for anything. The only way that we will be able to pass the final judgment and obtain what was promised is by coming to love the Lord above all things, finally, by achieving this through Christ (because it can only be done through Him), which is the foundation of the law. As it is written: “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’” 1 Corinthians 2:9. It is not necessary to understand everything to appreciate God and love Him as He deserves. Love is simply a decision. So, do you love the Lord in such a way that you can even overcome your unbelief? Lord bless! John. God bless Israel!