The mystery of unbelief

Below is the introduction to last Sunday's (2/17/08) message on Mark 6:1-13, "And He marveled at their unbelief":

We have seen the power of Jesus in his words (Mark 4) and his deeds (Mark 5). We have seen men thronging to him--wild men, worried fathers, and women with incurable wounds falling at his feet. But in today’s passage we encounter something different. It is a reminder that this Gospel will end with Jesus on the cross. In this chapter we meet the mystery of unbelief. As mysterious as it is to understand the phenomena of faith or belief in Christ, perhaps even more beyond our comprehension is the reality of unbelief.

Why do men reject Christ when he is freely offered to them?

He who rejects Christ is like...

a starving man rejecting food,
a thirsty man rejecting drink,
a sick man rejecting medicine,
a lost man rejecting rescue,
an exhausted man rejecting rest,
a drunk man rejecting sobriety,
an erratic man rejecting consistency,
an imprisoned man rejecting freedom,
an enslaved man rejecting emancipation,
a poor man rejecting treasure,
a despondent man rejecting gladness,
a grieving man rejecting comfort,
an insatiable man rejecting fullness,
a deluded man rejecting sanity,
a freezing man rejecting warmth,
a foolish man rejecting wisdom,
a dead man rejecting life.

It simply does not make sense!

JTR