Throughout Mark’s Gospel, we see again and again that Jesus has great concern for people. He wants to teach people (Mark 1:38), he gives his time and energy to help them and heal them from their illnesses (Mark 1:32–34; Mark 3:9–10; Mark 4:1–2).
One of the reasons Jesus returns to Nazareth is to teach the people from his hometown about God’s coming kingdom and the need to repent and believe in him (Mark 1:14–15). He does not come in order to make life difficult for people, but to help people because he loves them and wants to care for them.
Though the people of the town do not welcome him, Jesus is nonetheless a prophet who has come to reveal God’s will. That was the main purpose of prophets in the Old Testament, to reveal God’s will to God’s people. In the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 12, it states that Jesus Christ has been ordained by God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption.
In terms of application for us today, we should remember that Jesus’ teaching is there to help us. He does not want to burden us with unnecessary commands; he wants to help us live life in a way that is considerate, caring, and fulfilling. His teaching is meant to give rest and comfort to those who listen to it (Matthew 11:28–30). When we read the Bible as Christians today, we should therefore have this attitude in mind: God wants to teach and help us, we must listen to him, we must not ignore him.
1 He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.