Mark 6:5

And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands on a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages teaching.

He could do no mighty work ... This speaks not of physical but of moral impossibility."[8] As Alford said, "It was our Lord's practice to require faith in the recipient of aid, and that being wanting, the help could not be given."[9] The unbelief of Nazareth was so dense and malignant that Jesus "could not" in harmony with his divine principles do a mighty work among them; and yet it should not be overlooked that even these were given more than sufficient reason to believe in him if they had willed to do so. Mark does not here deprecate the instances of healing cited, but contrasts them with what might have been done in a more favorable atmosphere. "Their prejudice kept them from hearty faith in him"[10] "The men of Nazareth had sufficient evidence, and a greater amount of evidence would only have increased their condemnation."[11]

[8] John D. Haley, Discrepancies of the Bible (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company, 1970), p. 110.

[9] Ibid., p. 111.

[10] C. E. W. Dorris, The Gospel according to Mark (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company, 1970), p. 141.

[11] E. Bickersteth, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), Vol. 16, p. 244.