Following his baptism by the John the Baptist in the Jordan River, Jesus spent 40 days and nights fasting and fending off Satan’s temptation attacks (Mark 1:9-13). Then he began his public ministry and found his operation base in Capernaum, after John the Baptist was arrested (Mark 1:14-34). With his disciples, Jesus ministered around the coasts of the Sea of Galilee on the side of Capernaum for a while (Mark 1:35-4:34). Then, he and the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee and reached out to the other side, the territory of Gerasenes in the Golan Heights area, where Jesus was less known at that time (Mark 4:35-5:20). After healing a demonic man there (Mark 5:1-20), Jesus and the disciples crossed the Sean of Galilee again and returned to Galilee, and he healed a woman with hemorrhage and raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Mark 5:21-43). Then, with his disciples, Jesus came back to Nazareth, where he grew up, and began to teach on Sabbath in the local synagogue (Mark 6:1-2).
The Gospel Reading of the Fourteenth Sunday in
Ordinary Time, Cycle B, Mark 6:1-6, describes how people of Nazareth, the hometown
of Jesus, reacted to him as he taught in the synagogue.
At first, they were astonished and said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! (Mark 6:2). But then, realizing that this amazing teacher with mighty power, who came to Nazareth, was a man they were so familiar with, the carpenter and Mary’s son, they became indignant (Mark 6:3).
Up to this point, since he began his ministry, people Jesus met welcomed him, and they rather kept following him to hear his teaching and to be healed by his mighty deeds. Up to his return to Nazareth, Jesus had never had such a rejecting response.
So Jesus said:
A prophet is not without honor except in
his native place and among his own kin and in his own house
(Mark 6:4).
These words of Jesus rather juxtapose to this from the
Gospel of Thomas (4:31):
No prophet is acceptable in his village,
no physician heals those who know him.
In fact, the angry reaction to Jesus by people of
Nazareth made it impossible for Jesus to perform his mighty deeds for them, except
for healing a few sick people (Mark 6:5). And Jesus was amazed at their lack of
faith (Mark 6:6).
After being absent for some time, Jesus finally
returned to his hometown. When he left there, he was seen as the carpenter and
Mary’s son. But when he returned, accompanied by his disciples, at first, he
was an astonishing teacher in the synagogue, to them, and they also learned
about his mighty deeds. Perhaps, they wondered if this amazing man who just
came to Nazareth could be the Messiah, whose coming they had long waited. But,
as soon as they recognized him as just the carpenter and Mary’s son, they knew,
they took offense at him. And this resulted in great difficulty for Jesus to
minister there. Then, he regarded himself as a rejected prophet at his hometown
and saw the problem as his hometown people’s lack of faith.
Their familiarity with Jesus, as their fellow town folks,
whose mother and siblings they even knew, made it impossible to accept Jesus as
a messianic person with astonishing wisdom and mighty power. They probably
wonder how it could be for an ordinary man, just like them, in Nazareth, to
become such an extraordinary teacher with powerful deeds. Their view of Jesus
as their fellow ordinary neighborhood carpenter and Mary’s son just could not
match a powerful messianic figure. So they must have thought that Jesus was out
of his mind. In rejecting him, they were probably thinking, “Jesus, we know
you! Stop fooling us by acting as if you were an astonishing messianic figure!”.
It was their familiarity with Jesus and fixation to
their view of him as the carpenter and Mary’s son. This prevent their small
minds to accept that this man of their town, Nazareth, was also the Messiah.
And this, Jesus called a lack of faith.
One lesson that we take from this Gospel narrative
(Mark 6:1-6) is to examine how our biases and stereotypical preconception can become
obstacles to faith.
This Gospel story of Jesus being rejected by his hometown
folks also foreshadows the fact that he was eventually rejected primarily by
his people, Jews. The high priest, the most powerful man among the Jews, took
offense at Jesus as self-claimed Messiah (i.e. Mark 14:60-65). He and his
council, the Sanhedrin, just could not accept Jesus as the Messiah. Then, he
was alleged to be the man who identified himself as the king of Jew in the
court of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, though Jesus had never identified
himself as such, to have the Roman authorities execute him (i.e. Mark 15:1-39).
Indeed, Jesus become the rejected stone (Psalm 118:22a).
We see how human stereotype and preconception can not
only prevent us from believing but also lead to our destructive denial of
Christ. And it can all begin with our own familiarity, as the Gospel Reading
(Mark 6:1-6) describes.
Let us remember that there can be a potential factor
to destroy our faith in our own familiarity. And we must find out what it is in
what we are familiar with and overcome it.
But, it is not possible to eradicate this problem, as
Paul humbly reminds us in the Second Reading (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). What Paul
metaphorically describes as “a thorn in the flesh”(v.7) may be
understood as what can potentially impede and even destroy our faith in Christ.
This cannot be taken away but its effect can be sufficiently overcome by Christ’s
grace as we let his power dwell in us (v.9). This is a really good news!
With Christ’s grace, having his power in us (2
Corinthians 12:9), we can be sent to those who are rebellious to God, as
Ezekiel was, as reflected in the First Reading (Ezekiel 2:2-5). We may be
greeted with rejection as we are sent to evangelize people who know us so well,
as Jesus was not welcomed by his hometown people, as soon as they recognized
him as the carpenter and Mary’s son, whom they knew so well (Mark 6:1-6). But
we must go on as sent on our mission, because we are the apostolic Church,
while we overcome the potential problem to destroy our faith hidden in our own
familiarity. For this let us keep these words of Paul in mind:
I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am
weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10)
And this is made possible because of Christ’s grace (2
Corinthians 12:9).
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