Mark: A Prophet Without Honor

Read: Mark 6:1-6

“…He was amazed by their lack of faith.”

Just after Jesus brought Jairus’ daughter back to life, he is back in his hometown, the place where people knew him best. The Sabbath rolls around and Jesus enters the synagogue and begins to preach. Mark provides these remarkable observations from Jesus’ relatives, neighbors, etc.:

Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Mark 6:3

They were offended, somehow. Where did that come from? Perhaps we shouldn’t be so surprised. I’m pretty sure I would be in the doubters group.

We live in a culture that promotes hero worship. I’m not talking about Marvel or DC Comics, I’m talking about people who’ve been blessed with incredible gifts for the building up of the Kingdom on earth who’ve been sucked into accepting a pedestal they’ve been placed upon. Perhaps this isn’t a new concept.

In Jesus’ earthly days, the Pharisees viewed themselves as heroes. They insisted that people look up to them for their vast knowledge and endless faith, but they were, for the most part, lost in their own fame.

In this passage, Jesus’ family and friends are completely confused. They can’t let go of their preconceived ideas of what the coming savior would look like or where He would come from. Though they knew scripture, they couldn’t see that God would do what He said He would do all along. Standing right in front of them, they missed it.

This is a scary thought.

But it’s much worse,

He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. Mark 6:5

Their lack of faith is contagious. It spreads among the people and though the miracle worker was there, though they could hear with their own ears and see with their own eyes, the naysayers infected them with doubt. Deep in their hearts I suspect they were troubled, but the moment passed and Jesus left.

Lord, reveal Yourself to us today, in small ways or works of wonder. May we see your fingerprints in the rising sun and hear your voice in the singing birds. Bring tears of joy from those that come to mind, memories of unbounded love that You have placed in our lives that care about us more than pretense or title.

Don’t let us miss you.

Thoughts about serving others

This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.

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Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.

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