When I was a wee boy I used to imagine that I would only need to preach to people in my town and they would all become Christians. It seemed so obvious. Why would people choose not to follow Jesus. After all, they were not being asked to do something difficult and dangerous. They were only asked to believe in the message and to trust Jesus. So, firm in my conviction that I could evangelise the neighbourhood of Ardeer in Stevenston, I made a makeshift loudspeaker from a shoe box with a Lego microphone attached by a string. And I stood in my back garden and shouted out the gospel to the birds and maybe a few dogs who were disturbed by my high pitched voice. I am not sure that many, if any, of my neighbours heard me but my mother did and kindly suggested that this was not the right way to spread the message of good news.
But here we have a city which has heard the preaching of the Son of God himself and has witnessed an amazing number of miracles. Jesus seems to have taken residence of some sort in the area and he has made this is home base. Yes, there has been a great response and many have flocked to see this miracle worker and to be healed. But has all this made a difference to their lives?
Jesus had taught in the synagogue in Capernaum (Mark 1:21) and he encountered a demon possessed man who is released from his life of misery when Jesus intervenes. The local people are amazed both at his teaching (Mark 1:22) and at his exorcism (Mark 1:27).
And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. [Mark 1: 27-28 ESV]
It was also in Capernaum that Jesus healed Simon's mother-in-law from her fever (Mark 1: 31). In the next blog, we are going to see another case of healing taking place at Capernaum and it was a very dramatic one. A man who was completely paralysed and helpless is able to walk instantly. The man's friends found it impossible to get the sick man to Jesus because of the crowd there. Again, this provokes a reaction from the Capernaites (local people of Capernaum).
And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” [Mark 2: 12 ESV]
So these people are really amazed. They even tell other people in other towns and villages about this miracle worker. But does this translate into conversions? Does this mean that there are so many followers of Jesus in that town that there is a church formed?
Mark does not tell us the negative reaction to Jesus from the people of Capernaum although does refer to Jesus instructing the cleansed leper not to broadcast that he had been healed. This did not occur in Capernaum itself but somewhere else in the territory of Galilee. Mark does record the growing rumblings among some of the people to Jesus teaching - when Jesus told the paralysed man that his sins were forgiven, this provoked a negative reaction from the teachers of the law who heard this. They accused him of blasphemy because only God could forgive sins.
It is Matthew who provides us with more insight into the attitude of the people of Capernaum. He recounts the words of Jesus as he denounced the cities where the most of his mighty works had been accomplished. Capernaum was specifically mentioned. He says that the people of that city have been exalted to heaven with privilege but they will be brought down to Hades. He compares Capernaum to Sodom which was completely destroyed by God because it was so evil. He says that if the people of Sodom had witnessed the miracles which had been performed in Capernaum, there would have been an amazing transformation. They would have repented of their sins and God would not have destroyed the city (Mark 11: 23-24).
What lessons can we learn from this? Here is what one Bible commentator says about this passage.
They were amazed. They were astonished. They were filled with wonder at His mighty works. But they were not converted. They lived in the full noontide blaze of the Sun of Righteousness, and yet their hearts remained hard.
[Ryle, J. C.. Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Mark: A Commentary [Updated] (p. 16). Aneko Press. Kindle Edition. ]
It is possible to express surprise and even admiration for the teaching of Jesus. But that does not necessarily lead to conviction of sin and conversion. There has to be an acknowledgement of sin and repentance and the people of this city were not keen to do that. Jesus was an amazing miracle worker but this did not affect them personally. They did not see that his teaching or his miracles was of any relevance to them. One of my former headteachers used to say that he thought that some of Jesus teaching was revolutionary and liberating - but he was not prepared to admit that he needed Jesus as Lord of his life. He was not prepared to come as a sinner to Jesus.
[Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash.]
I have a very vivid picture in my mind of little Robert Neilly standing in his back garden proclaiming the gospel. A very courageous wee lad!
In the modern Amplified Version of Matthew 18:2-3, it reads as follows:
And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them and said, truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].
I hope to visit there one day.