MARK 6:5 -- IS JESUS OMNIPOTENT?

As yet another supposed proof that Jesus could not be God, I was forwarded this verse to explain. It appears in the story recorded in both Matthew and Mark concerning Jesus' rejection by the people of Nazareth. The verse says, “He was not able to perform any miracles there.” But, the argument goes, if Jesus is God, then Jesus is omnipotent and “able” to do anything. Since Jesus was not able to perform miracles there, that means that he was not omnipotent and therefore he is not God.

I sincerely trust that few of you are swayed in any way by such a specious argument. But in case it bothers anyone, here are a few things to keep in mind:

    1. Jesus was not totally “unable” to perform miracles in Nazareth, as the continuation of verse 5 demonstrates: “except that he placed his hands on a few sick people and healed them.”

    2. The parallel passage in Matthew 13:58 merely says that Jesus “did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” This clarification points to the root cause: the people's hardheartedness, not Jesus' inability.

    3. Even if it were proved that Jesus lacked total omnipotence while on earth, that says absolutely nothing regarding his abilities before and after his incarnation. Philippians 2:7 specifically states that he emptied himself when he came to earth. In another post, I will go through some of the things of which he temporarily emptied himself, and it would certainly not be surprising to find omnipotence included in that list.

In addition to the above considerations, there are two other factors to take into consideration:

The Source of Jesus' Power

Joel Marcus points out an underlying point in this passage. The people admit that Jesus has power but wonder what its source is (Mark 6:2). So when they become offended at him (Mark 6:3), it is no doubt because they attribute that power to Satan (as did other Jews on different occasions). Thus, the more miracles Jesus would have performed in that town, the more convinced the people would have been that Jesus was some sort of tool of Satan.

Hugh Anderson expresses this idea in different words: We should not subject this statement to psychologizing interpretation, as if it were saying that Jesus could not cure those who had no confidence in him. Rather, in terms of the Marcan account, Jesus' authoritative words and works led the people of Nazareth not to faith but unfaith.”

Jesus' Mission on Earth

This concern is expressed by scholars even more often as an explanation of Jesus' “inability.”

    “Mark's statement...does not imply that Jesus was in any sense powerless, but that He could not proceed in accordance with His purpose where faith was absent.” (Swift)

    Because of the unbelief of the people of Nazareth, Jesus was unable, consistently with the principles on which He acted, to do miracles among them, apart from His healing a few sick people, who, presumably, did display a modicum of faith in Him.” (Short)

    “There was no limitation on His power, but His purpose was to perform miracles in the presence of faith. Only a few here had faith enough to come to Him for healing.” (Grassmick)

    “When Mark poignantly remarks that Jesus 'could not do any mighty work' in his hometown, the stress is on Jesus' sovereignty not to reveal to those who refuse to believe.” (Reeder)

    “So integral to faith in Jesus' healings that, apart from the exorcisms, all the healing stories include some expression of trust in Jesus before, during, or after the healing.” (Twelftree)

Conclusion

Finally, William Lane's interpretation of this verse contains elements of both the two reasons above: “It is not Mark's intention to stress Jesus' inability when he states that he could perform no miracles at Nazareth. His purpose is rather to indicate that Jesus was not free to exercise his power in these circumstances. The performance of miracles in the absence of faith could have resulted only in the aggravation of human guilt and the hardening of men's hearts against God.” Lane cites Goppelt and Ridderbos as expressing the same view.

We actually see the same concern shown by Jesus in his teaching mainly by way of parables. They had a way of simultaneously revealing the truth but at the same time hiding it from those who were not quite ready to accept them or Him.

As a final point, in his earthly state Jesus could only do those things which God the Father gave him to do. This fact is repeatedly stated in John's Gospel (see 5:19; 5:30; 6:38; 8:28-29; and 14:10). Thus, if one questions Jesus' divine nature on the basis of his inability to do something, one is really also questioning the divinity of God the Father as well. I will have more to say on the omnipotence of God in a companion post.