Today's readings are Genesis 16.1-9 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Gen.+16.1-9 ), Genesis 16.15-17.22 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Gen.+16.15-17.22 ), and Mark 6.1-13 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Mark+6.1-13 ).
One of the wonderful things about using a lectionary in teaching or preaching is that it forces you to consider passages of Scripture that you would normally gravitate away from. There are so many places we could choose not to go in today's reading. I'll just pick one of them.
In Mark 6.1-6 we see Jesus being hindered in his miraculous deeds when he comes to Nazareth. The people there know his human lineage. They know his family members. And the text says quite clearly that Jesus "could do no mighty work there" (ESV verse 5). A check of the Greek indicates quite the same thing. The ESV is a perfectly literal translation of verse 5.
Does our unbelief stop God from doing his works? This is a concept that genuine believers in Christ are all over the ball field on. In one camp you find people who say that Jesus could have done whatever he wanted but chose not to because of the unbelief. He prevented himself from doing those mighty works. Yet this point of view is inconsistent with verse 6, in which Jesus "marvels" at the reception he had. In another camp you have people who would say that Jesus could have done many miracles there but that he is dependent on people working along with him to do the miracles. His power was present and the people needed to believe in order for his power to be revealed through actual miraculous acts. Yet a third group of people would say that the unbelief actually took away Jesus' power to do anything. So where can we go with this?
Maybe we are looking at the passage in the wrong manner. Notice what Jesus does in the last part of verse 6. He goes around teaching. The people who are willing to receive teaching from Jesus still receive it. Those who have made up their minds what kind of man he is and who will not honor what he says are not going to receive the teaching. Maybe we need to look differently at the idea of a "mighty work" in verse 5. Notice that Jesus "laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them." (v. 5, ESV). Yet that healing doesn't seem to be considered a mighty work.
Maybe the mighty work that we are to look for is Jesus' revelation of himself through his words. Our refusal to believe Jesus' words does actually prevent his doing a mighty work, just as our wearing a blindfold prevents a painter from doing a mighty work on our senses, since we don't receive his work.
We don't see Jesus teaching the people in Nazareth. He began in verse 2 and people took offense at him. The teaching we see in this passage of Scripture is in other villages.
Let us not despise Jesus' revelation of himself. He is doing a mighty work, revealing his person, God in the flesh, forgiving, healing, cleansing, nourishing, protecting his people. This mighty work is still going on through the Scripture, where God's servants have written down for us this revelation so we may be partakers of the person of Christ as well. Let us not despise the Scripture, but rather hunger and thirst for the revelation we have been given. Receive the Word of God joyfully. Let the Scripture do its work as empowered by the Holy Spirit - convicting us of sin, revealing the cleansing power of Christ's death, burial and resurrection, and proclaiming that forgiveness applied to us.
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