Mark 6 : 1-13

Marginally Mark…Pentecost + 7…Revised 2018 

When Jesus stills that storm ‘a couple of weeks ago’, the disciples ask that Question, “Who is this?” Today, questions from the synagogue where He’s teaching, in His home territory, come thick & fast: “Where’s he getting all this..? What’s this wisdom that’s been given to him? What about these powerful deeds happening? Isn’t this (just) the carpenter? Isn’t he (just) Mary’s son? James’ & Joses’ & Judas’ & Simon’s brother? Aren’t his sisters (we aren’t bothering to name - they’re only women) - still living among us?” 

Such is their lack of faith in Him that little happens in His home community today, when it could have been so much! How much are our own communities missing out on, when so little is happening when it could be so much?

Is this recognisable as the story of our denomination, congregation, Home Group, etc.? Are we allowing YHWH God, in Jesus, & by His Spirit, the vote of confidence God needs if we’re to see what the power of healing love can do when God is ‘let loose’ in our midst; questions or no questions?

One question we need to ask ourselves is whether we’re so busy giving answers to questions no-one’s asking that we’re not dealing with real questions lying long un-answered. Another we might explore is whether many people are asking questions about God / Jesus ‘ Holy Spirit at all today? If they’re not, why is that?

God in Christ is a vulnerable God, most obviously so in the person of Jesus. The Son of God so vulnerable in Himself & to others vulnerable one way or another. Making Himself vulnerable, too, in those God sends out in His Name. Do we need to develop some ‘strategy’ to face up to this lack of confidence not only in God, & in Jesus, but in us? Does that need to start, maybe paradoxically, with building self-confidence through an ‘intake’ from God-self of that humility we see & experience in Jesus the Christ. He Who is everyone’s brother & ‘sister’ & wants us all to become brothers & sisters to Himself, & through Him, to each other. 

MK often seems to give us no more than the bare bones of situations he reports on, cf. for instance LK’s elongated account of today’s incident. How about we imagine the questions the Twelve who are sent out may be asking as they go? Or, what are the questions asked of them when they knock at this door or that? What stories do they share on the way back to Jesus, & when they report to Him? What questions are they likely to come back asking themselves, each other, or Him? Now, better still, what questions do we need to be asking, what stories do we need to be sharing, to find the answers, the God, we need today? 

Brian