Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When 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? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 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.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
Having healed the man possessed by demons and the woman with the flow of blood and Jairus' daughter, Jesus returns to his hometown and at the same time returns to doing what he seems most interested in doing--teaching.
This ought to be a local boy does good moment. Maybe a parade, or at least a dinner with the mayor--some sort of special recognition for the teacher and his disciples returning now after remarkable miracles to his home. But Jesus' reception is quite different.
When the Sabbath came, Mark says. It makes me wonder what Jesus was up to until the Sabbath came. Did he go by the old house? Did he show the disciples the playground at the elementary school where he played? Did he talk with friends about what had been happening? Did everyone pat him on the back and say "Welcome home!"? We simply don't know.
But Jesus on the Sabbath is in the synagogue, perhaps an important nudge from Mark to his readers that if it was good enough for Jesus then maybe Christians ought to make a point of being in church on Sunday. The people who heard him were "amazed." Which is a very common word used by Mark to describe the response by groups to Jesus. It is a very ambivalent word. It certainly is not the same as "believed" or "trusted". The crowd recognizes that what Jesus has taught is out of the ordinary, but they don't accept it for themselves.
Instead they ask "Where did he get these things?" Their strategy to keep from engaging the message is to tear down the messenger. It begins benignly enough attributing to Jesus a certain wisdom and the power to do miracles. But then the challenges become more malicious. Isn't he a carpenter? How in the world could an uneducated tradesman have anything to say? His mother Mary is a nice enough woman, but he certainly isn't from an influential family. They would surely have named his father if the family had any clout. And then there is the list of brothers--we don't know anything about them--were some of them not such upstanding citizens? And there are of course his sisters who go unnamed. But a careful reading shows that the one's asking the question can't even bring themselves to say Jesus name themselves. The demons don't hesitate to speak Jesus name, but this crowd seems to treat him like the Voldemort character from Harry Potter--"he who must not be named". If they name him will it be harder to dismiss him? If they say Jesus will it remind everyone that all of the associations that they are calling to mind are really unimportant? Are they trying to keep the spotlight as far away from Jesus as possible?
And then for me there is that surprising listing of family. Joseph is lacking. Some have taken from this that he died an early death. But more surprising to me is that Jesus had a whopping big family. What would it have been like to grow up in the crib next to toddler Jesus? We see Jesus as a solitary figure, but in his early life, there was always a crowd of siblings looking to their older brother. Four named brothers and sisters in the plural means there were a minimum of seven siblings, maybe more.
And when the crowd moves from amazement to considering that Jesus seemed not much different than they did and came from a family that may have been worse than their own, Mark tells us they take offense. This is the reason why businesses bring in consultants. People listen better to voices that are not familiar to them. If the voice is too familiar, then inevitably personal jealousies creep in to the equation. The townspeople knew Jesus as a little boy and his family and they could not hear the remarkable gospel because they confused the message with the messenger they thought they knew.
The epilogue to the story is that Jesus utters the well known "A prophet is without honor in his own country." Just as interesting though are the next sentences. First, the people's attitude is able in some ways to stop God's power. Jesus could not do any miracles among them. But the people's unbelief is not powerful enough to fully turn off the spigot of God's grace as Jesus is able to heal a few (which strikes me as pretty miraculous in its own right).
Jesus reaction to the crowd taking offense is the same as the crowd to his wisdom. He is amazed. The crowd is amazed at what Jesus has (his wisdom) while Jesus is amazed at what they lack (the wisdom to have faith).
This profound failure among the inhabitants of his home town is immediately followed by remarkable success in the neighboring villages. Jesus begins to send out the disciples two by two.
His instructions are to travel light. To rely on the kindness of the people they encounter. They are not to arrive, find a place to stay, and immediately begin trying to climb the social ladder to better accommodations. They are to find a place and stay there. If they find the people not receptive, they are to shake the dust off their feet and go elsewhere.
What is most interesting when read in context is that there is no record of Jesus shaking the dust off his feet when he leaves his hometown. Why is this? Is it because as the Son of God, Jesus has divine patience over human sinfulness? Is it a nostalgic fondness for the people he grew up with? Is it an example for the disciples that it should be quite a while before this step is taken?
The dust will be a testimony against them, which reminds me of the parable of the soils. Is the dust rocky or hard or filled with weed seeds? Is the testimony against them a revelation of the way they have rejected the gospel?
The disciples--who have been obtuse and misunderstood almost everything to this point, being only correct in following Jesus command to follow--are when sent out and following the directions of Jesus remarkably successful. They do what Jesus does. They preach repentance (which doesn't seem remarkable to us, but is the first thing Jesus does and the first things his disciples do), drive out demons (which we would give top billing) and bring healing. The disciples at their best, even with their personal failings imitate Jesus and the world is changed.
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