“And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”” (Mark 6:10-11)
Jesus amazed the people of his day. He went about touching unclean people, healing sick people and casting demons out of the possessed, things which no one had ever seen on such a scale so His popularity grew. Jesus’ fame grew even more as He sent forth His disciples to preach, heal and cast out demons. Everyone could see He was more than just an ordinary teacher or prophet.
Yet in his home town, the people refused to acknowledge that Jesus was anything special or had any authority. They saw Him as a mere carpenter who had no religious training. Consequently they rejected what He had to say about the Kingdom of God. They were as stubborn and rebellious as the Jews of Ezekiel’s day even in the light of the miraculous evidence they could see with their own eyes.
We should expect the same type of rejection and rebellion as we proclaim the Gospel in Word and in deed. Many of the people in our world today like to hear of God’s mercy and grace but want to ignore the part of the gospel that judges sin and calls on all men and women to acknowledge it and repent. They are too comfortable in their sin and so have fashioned God into a false idol of their own creation, one who does not accuse or judge. Yes God is love but love means telling people the truth and saving them from disaster and judgment.