Word to the Wise
Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - Wednesday in the 4th Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 12:4-7, 11-15 and Mark 6:1-6]Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house." So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. [Mark]
We already know from Chapter 3 in the Gospel of Mark that Jesus' family rejected his ministry and thought he was "out of his mind" and tried to "seize him." Given the usual ways of village life, then, we should not be surprised that when Jesus gets back there in the course of his ministry that they would not be in a receptive mood. "Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him?.....And they took offense at him." They knew he had not gone to some kind of school. Where did his power come from? It must be from a demonic source. Their lack of faith literally amazed Jesus and stopped him from doing more than healing a few people. In short, there was no equivalent of a "ticker tape parade" for a returning hero. Rather there was resentment and skepticism. A more complete picture of this story can be found in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 4.
Rejection is a major theme in the Gospel of Mark. The kind we see there is typical of a village mentality of the time. However, there are other forms of rejection. Read the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew and see which of Jesus' teachings make you uneasy and not so sure you can accept it. Read the Last Judgement scene in Matthew 25 and ask how you would grade yourself on responding to Jesus in the person of the hungry, thirsty, naked, stranger. I can't say I would make an "A" on the test. Rejection of Jesus can be much more subtle than the blatant response of his hometown folks. What we hope for is that our faith (and not the lack of it) will amaze Jesus and he can do mighty things for and with us. AMEN