On Line Bible Study - For the week March 30 - April 5, 2009

Lesson 381

Five Questions ...

Mark 6: ¹Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. ²When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! ³Isn'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. ⁴Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." ⁵He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. ⁶And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

Jesus has come home. In so many ways, "home" is the hardest place to be! Perhaps we should say, "Home is the hardest place to be someone you haven't already been." And Jesus is back in the synagogue, where he has experienced rough sledding in the past. Take a look at the five questions that comprise verses 2 and 3. Each one of these is designed to reinforce the ordinariness of Jesus. There is nothing special about him with regard to his background, his heritage, his skills ("carpenter" can also be understood to mean anyone who works with their hands), his current family.

Can there be any miracles in "ordinary time"? We Christians celebrate Easter and Pentecost and Christmas. We have our anticipatory season of "Advent" before Christmas, and "Lent" before Easter; but for most of the year we live quite frankly in "Ordinary Time". Is there anything of heaven in the ordinary? Harrington and Donahue speak of one Celsus, a second-century opponent of Christianity. He derided the Christian faith because its founder was a common laborer. (You can learn more about Celsus online at JewishEncyclopedia.com, and at CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA.) But this is part of the "scandal" (in the text quoted above, they took offense - literally, they were scandalized ...) of Christ - that he is like us. Is the Christian story too simple to be true?

One is reminded of the story of Naaman, the man with leprosy, who almost missed his healing because what the prophet told him to do just was not mysterious or hard enough. (See II Kings 5.)

It's interesting . . . in a way, that is part of the "scandal" of the church today - that it is made up of "ordinary" people. Sinners; hypocrites; folks who are far from perfect. Can the church be the instrument used by the Creator to change our world? That thought is almost as ridiculous as the resurrection! People laugh at the claims we make as Christians. And most of us are called to live out this faith in our "home town" - right where lots of other people have always known us.

Here is the challenge: Will we rise to the level of living and giving that Jesus calls us to? Or will we settle for the bar as defined by the society around us? Can ordinary people do extraordinary things? If Jesus is any indication, the answer is a resounding YES. For in this ordinary man, God is moving in our midst with the power of love and forgiveness ... if only we will receive it, proclaim it, and pass it along.

We will continue with Mark 6 next time.