Grace and Space

Mk 6:1-6

In the very place where he should have been accepted and understood, Jesus is rejected. The people take offense at him. They question what he teaches and with what wisdom he teaches. The answer is not as important to a historical crowd in a synagogue on some specific Sabbath in Nazareth as it was to the community for whom Mark wrote his Gospel.

In Mark, Jesus teaches outside of the Jewish tradition, where truth is not supposed to be found. But what is discovered is that that is where truth exists. Jesus speaks in his own name; a teacher usually speaks in the name of his teachers. These facts in the Marcan community raise the question about authority. Where did Jesus get his authority to teach without having been taught, that is, without being grounded in tradition?

Mark answers this question by placing these words on Jesus’ lips: “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house” (v 4). In other words, just as in the past God spoke his word through the prophets, who were rejected by the people, so now he speaks his word through Jesus, the greatest of the prophets, who is rejected by his own people. Jesus’ authority, like that of the prophets of old, comes from God.

The people see a carpenter; no other Gospel refers to Jesus as a carpenter. This is Mark’s way of contrasting Jesus’ authority with his lack of ancestry.

The people refer to Jesus as just another common, hometown boy with brothers and sisters in their midst. This is Mark’s way of contrasting Jesus’ uniqueness to that of the common crowd.

The lack of faith on the part of the crowd distresses Jesus. Mark is warning his readers not to look for great displays of power in order to believe. For Mark, faith comes through powerlessness. The prophet Jesus, who is without honor in his native place, will be put to death. Those who lay claim to discipleship must be willing to relinquish all power in order to profess faith.