Rev. Cristina Airaghi

July 8, 2015

Mark 6: 1 – 13

             He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

             Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.  

Message

So today’s Gospel is made up of two distinct parts:  part one, Jesus visits his hometown, Nazareth, and part two Jesus sends out his disciples two by two.  But together, these two scenes have something to tell us, not only about God and God’s power but about our part in building the kingdom of God and about what can happen when hope and faith and God take center stage instead of ego, expectation and material things.

Up until now, in Chapter 6, Mark’s Gospel has been this action-packed whirlwind story that tells us about who Jesus is:  parables, miracles, forgiving sins, rejecting Satan, embracing the Sabbath and along the way he collects a few disciples.  But now in Chapter 6, having been out and about all over the region, Jesus comes home to Nazareth and we, along with the Nazarenes, hear him preach in the synagogue and we are able to ask, “Who is this man and where did he get all this?”  But unlike them, however, Mark would not have us surprised by Jesus’ power.  Where they cannot see past their familiarity with Jesus as merely a woodworker or as Mary’s son or James’ brother, we have been shown Jesus the healer, the miracle worker, the teacher.  They are too convinced of his ordinariness to see his powers and teachings and life-changing deeds.

For prophets, evidently familiarity breeds contempt, and similar expressions appear in classical literature at the time where Greek philosophers like to grumble that their own people did not appreciate them.  But Mark then turns to telling us about the action plan that comes next:  now that we know who Jesus is, what shall be the response of those who follow him?  For the disciples, the task is to go and preach a message of repentance, equipped with nothing but their sandals and a tunic on their back.  Despite the scarcity of their materials we are told that empowered by Christ’s command much was achieved through them.  The prohibitions against carrying bread, bag or money indicate that the disciples were itinerant preachers, not merchants or beggars, and this insistence on travelling lightly is why I have brought a few books to make my point this morning.  I haven’t finished either of them.  As you will see, my point is it’s a process not a destinatio