The Honorless Prophet, A Perspective About the Death of Nipsey Hussle, by Darqueesha Burke

Mark 6:4 ESV-And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”

Mark 6:4 NKJV-But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”

By now, everyone has heard about the tragic execution of Nipsey Hussle, framed rapper, entrepreneur, community activities, and the list goes on, in terms of this man's accomplishments. He was gunned down in front of one of his businesses, in his beloved neighborhood, located in the Crenshaw district of South-Central Los Angeles, California. In my exploration of Nipsey Hussle, it was past evident that he loved his hometown; he not only represented Crenshaw, but he poured back into his community, and more so than the average bear. For me, I think the most hurtful elements to this tragedy was he was killed...period, but gunned down by another African American male (sadly, not surprised because black on black crime is common, but that doesn't make it less hurtful); second, Nipsey Hussle was allegedly murdered by one of his own, a native from his hometown???!! It is appalling to me that anyone from his neighborhood could be accused of his demise. Upon hearing the news that Hussle knew the suspect, it left me considering the Biblical story of when Jesus was rejected in His hometown of Nazareth.

For me, the biggest take away from this story is the fact that it is Biblical that a prophet is not without honor, EXCEPT, in his own country. Now, please don't take what I'm about to outline as an encouragement for successful individuals to forget about their hometowns and to never give back or to never look back, once he or she becomes successful...that's NOT what I'm encouraging or even hoping the take away from this blog will be. What I am saying is that Jesus said, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household,” thus, this is definitely a BIG OLE' FACT.

The Bible is our road map, to navigate through this thing called life. There is nothing that we can encounter in our daily walk, that the Bible hasn't issued guidance on, as how to handle any situation in question. Jesus came and the Word became flesh and dwelled among us, and in the Book of Mark chapter 6, we find Jesus venturing back to His hometown of Nazareth. Jesus travels back prior to an event; the event, being teaching in the synagogue. So, the sabbath day came, and He went amongst his family and friends and begin to expound on the laws of the prophets and the Gospel. Initially, there was this astonishment with the wisdom and Jesus' ability to explain the Gospel; then, familiarity kicked in, and they questioned how Jesus could be so wise, seeing as though, he did not learn this from any of them.

Mark 6:2 AMP-When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and many who listened to Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things [this knowledge and spiritual insight]? What is this wisdom [this confident understanding of the Scripture] that has been given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?

When I say familiarity kicked in, I mean that although His family and friends were originally impressed and astonished at Jesus' ability to teach, that quickly died and the same crowd became offended at Jesus when they begin to reflect upon knowing Jesus' family and personal details about his life and family life:

Mark 6:3-NKJV-Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.

So, Jesus then made the statement about a prophet being without honor only in his own country. As a result, the Bible says that Jesus could not do many miracles in his hometown of Nazareth (He healed a few folks), due to their unbelief. That's sad, because Jesus' hometown should've benefited the most from Him being the Messiah. Then the Bible goes on to says that Jesus marveled at the unbelief in Nazareth (Mark 6:6 NKJV-And He marveled because of their unbelief). Now, we're talking about Jesus, the second person of the Godhead...so my point? Jesus knew before the foundations of the world that he would venture back to Nazareth to be rejected, thus, Jesus being rejected was of no surprise to Him. I believe that this statement about Jesus marveling at the unbelief of His family and friends was noted in the Bible, in an effort to show how ridiculous their unbelief was, how ridiculous their treatment of Jesus was, as well as how ridiculous it was to reject Jesus.

I believe that when the scripture speaks of hometowns, it is not exclusive to one's hometown. This could apply to any native place in your life; for example, your job, church, etc. If people become too familiar with you, there is the possibility of rejection. I'll use myself as an example. I use to work for an agency and I begin to learn the program and became an authority of some sort. As I grew, I worked for regional and national (contractors) for this particular program; however, within my own agency (that taught me most of what I knew), I was without honor. I was honored by others, and dishonored by my own.

Finally, as Marcus Tankard points out, Jesus' response to their unbelief was simple...more teaching (Mark 6:6 AMPC-And He marveled because of their unbelief (their lack of faith in Him). And He went about among the surrounding villages and continued teaching). Jesus was not recorded as having returned to Nazareth, and He left his native land and taught in the surrounding areas.

My hope with this blog is to educate or to caution you against becoming too familiar with anyone that God has placed in your life that is designed to bless you and sow into your destiny. It could be a boss, a hometown native that has found success, a pastor, or a mentor. When God graces you with a prophet never become too familiar with his or her pour...if you do, he or she won't be able to reach the maximum impact that God designed for them to reach in your life. Sadly, Nipsey Hussle is gone, and the Crenshaw district has benefited from his life, but will it be to the magnitude that they could have? Probably not, and that is the saddest part; unfortunately, the honorable will be without honor in their own country.