Hear the word of the Lord:
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.
Have you ever wondered why this is true,
“Prophets are not without honor,
except in their hometown?” I know that I have.
It is so counterintuitive that, honestly, I used to doubt it.
Not anymore.
When you think about it, it makes sense.
These people know Jesus. They know his folks, and his brothers
and sisters still live right there in town.
A couple of them probably have tables, or chairs,
or yokes for their oxen that Jesus has made.
When he reads from the scriptures in the synagogue,
Jesus reads from the same text, and he stands in the same place,
looking substantially the same as he did just a few years ago.
Yet he sounds so different. Can you imagine what they think?
We know this place.
We know this person.
We know this book.
We even know these words.
But we’ve never heard these words put together like this.
Not ever.
The people of God at Nazareth know their Torah.
They know it so well that they have an answer for every hard text.
Now this Jesus comes and reads this text totally differently.
What kind of new way is he reading the Prophets?
How can he disregard the old way of reading he was taught?
Where does he get this stuff?
They are partly right; the old readings of the prophets were true.
What they fail to take into account is a change in context.
Their interpretation was true before Jesus started his ministry.
Before this, Jesus, the ultimate fulfillment of those prophecies
was still in the future. Not anymore. God is here in the flesh.
Can we imagine what it might be like to read about someone,
to look for someone your whole life, and miss him when he comes?
The people in Nazareth know him too well to recognize
who he really is.
I wonder what we miss when we fail to listen to the ways that
our children read the scriptures? Think about that.
On the other hand, can we imagine the frustration of Jesus?
His own people didn’t know him, didn’t recognize who he really was.
Now they’ve become people that he can’t recognize either.
Where is the giant of faith alongside of whom he used to chant,
“Shema, Israel – Adonai elohenu, adonai ehad.”
Where are the loving souls who embraced him when he was young,
praising him, “You read so well from the Torah today!”
No wonder Jesus is heartbroken; no wonder he is powerless
to do any miracles here; here, home, an oasis of faith turned desert.
Jesus is amazed, but for all the wrong reasons.
So, because this community will not hear its own child,
that child leaves them to go teach those who will listen,
those who will believe. The blessing that could have been theirs,
will now be given to others. If you don’t think it’s good news,
then it’s not gospel to you; it's tragedy.
A community that will not honor the prophetic voice
of its children loses:
Its children,
The honor that it has before God,
The prophetic voice that connects it with truth.
Think about it.
Blessings,
Ron
Mark 6:1-6 – NRSV
