Mark 6:1-3

FOR THURSDAY, April 11

Passage

Jesus and His disciples then go back to His hometown: Nazareth.  On the Sabbath, He went into the synagogue and taught.  Those who heard Him were astonished, wondering where He had gotten His understanding and authority to teach.  They wondered how He had gotten so much wisdom and power to do mighty deeds.  They asked if this was not the same person who they had know as coming from Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon as well as all of His sisters.  They took offense at Him.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Once more Jesus goes into a synagogue to preach.  This is our first clue that trouble is on the horizon.  Things never go well when Jesus comes in contact with the religious authorities on their terms.  However, Jesus doesn’t give up.  Jesus doesn’t stop going to them.  In spite of the trouble and the difficulties, Jesus continues to go into the synagogue and give them a chance.

When you are faced with opposition, do you continue to give them a chance?  Why is it easy to write off those who oppose you?  When is it okay to do so?  When is it not okay to do so?

Second Thought:

They were astonished at Jesus.  They marveled at His wisdom.  This must certainly demonstrate a low opinion of Jesus’ parents, Mary and Joseph, for clearly they thought Jesus to be incapable of being raised to have such wise thought.  They were also amazed at His power.  This is an interesting point, because Jesus hasn’t actually done anything amazing in Nazareth – and won’t.  So their amazement must be through stories they’ve heard about Jesus.  This fundamentally points us to a tendency to gossip and listen to gossip.  The people of Nazareth were just ordinary folks: willing to judge others, make assumptions about their past, and gossip about the latest trending things.

Have you ever acted like the people of Nazareth in this story?  Why is it easy to judge others, especially if we make assumptions about their past?  Why is it easy to engage in gossip?  Where do these kinds of behaviors usually lead?

Third Thought:

They took offense at Jesus.  Jesus was living outside the “box” that they had created for Him.  They knew His family.  They thought He should behave a certain way.  Because they thought that they really knew Him, they were closed-minded to what Jesus actually brought to the table.  They couldn’t trust Him.  Their humanity prevented them from being able to see God at work in Jesus.

Why does our humanity often get in the way?  Given this conversation, can experience ever seem to actually get in the way of spirituality?  Why must we always be careful to not let our humanity get in the way of what God is trying to do in us?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 6:4-6