No Mighty Work?
Mark 6:1-6
† In the name of Jesus †
Grace and Peace is yours, from God our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ!
Ministry from unlikely places!
His name was Josh, and he was your typical college student. We often talked about the doubts he had about Christianity. He didn’t doubt his relationship with Jesus, for the most part. He had trouble with the things that the world threw at him, in an attempt to erode his faith. Did Jonah really get swallowed by a whale? Was the earth really created in 7 days? Can I really trust all the miracles in the Bible? Josh was pretty smart, and he realized that the faith of his youth, should it be eroded any farther, was in trouble.
But that day, as his manager faced major surgery, he sat there, for over an hour – and prayed with him, and was silent, and just there. He didn’t need to be told what to do, He simply listened to God, and sat with the man. Few pastors I know, showed the wisdom and faith, that Josh was able to that day.
John’s daughter was 4 when she became an evangelist. She hung out by the gate of her Sunday school classroom – and as people dropped their kids off, she asked them if they were going to listen about Jesus. At that church, many used the 4 hour Sunday School program as a daycare, and left their kids, while they shopped, or had some time alone. John’s daughter must have been put there by God, a messenger that simply would not give up. Many people did go to hear the pastor tell them about Jesus, and may there, received God’s love and grace, because she was there.
Stephen doesn’t turn 11 until next week. He is the son of one of my best friends, someone I talk to online a lot. The other day, I thought I was talking to Steven’s dad, about my trip to Vegas to meet by birth mom. All the right questions were asked, all the right feedback and advice given. As I went to sign off the computer, I said goodbye to my friend, and his son replied – this is steven – not dad.
It is amazing, the ministry done by the people of God, of all ages. It doesn’t matter much there age, but it is astounding when words of wisdom and grace are delivered by those young enough to barely understand the concepts. Kids we have seen grow, and learn, and struggle, and then find them ministering to us.
Because of the grace God has given them.
No mighty work?
Astonishing teaching
Wisdom observed
Mighty works – done by his hand
They were amazed
Even some healings were done..
When Jesus returns to His hometown, he was much older than Steven or Josh, yet, he was treated like he was still 12, not 30. There was incredible doubt as to the idea that He could possibly be used by God. I love the word picture behind the word astonished. It literally means to be struck down by the idea. Blown away works, or “knocked over with a feather”. The very idea that Jesus, who worked among them for so many years, was the messiah was beyond comprehension.
Not only that, but there is another reason why people’s defenses would come up. If Jesus was the messiah, or just a prophet, what had he seen them do, as they lived their lives. Had he seen the sinner in them, or the hypocrite? He might know this secret or that, or have heard that juicy bit of gossip, that might have its origin in the truth.
But their eyes didn’t deceive them, nor did their ears. For they saw the miracles, they heard the wisdom. Listen again, to our gospel,
2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 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. Mark 6:2-3 (ESV)
Note, that they didn’t question the words, or the wisdom, or the mighty works, they questioned the source of them. How could this Jesus, whom we know, how could he be the messiah? How could he have gained all this wisdom? How could those words be His?
They doubted that God could work through one of their own, yet I have to wonder – where did they think the Messiah would come from? For God to provide a Messiah, a man who would live and serve and heal us, whose death would pay for our sins, it had to be one of us. It had to be someone’s son, it was Mary’s. It had to be someone’s brother, it was James and Jospehs, and Judas’ and Simons. It had to be a man from someone’s town, and it was Nazareth’s son.
But rather than believe the words and wisdom they heard, and the miracles they saw, they did not believe, they did not trust the work of God, in their midst. They did not receive the gift, given to them, and all the world, of the messiah.
And so Jesus, who would have done for his own hometown, what He had done for so many others, was not able to. They would not trust Him, they would not trust God, and so no major work could have been done!
So what could have been the work?
The Kingdom recognized
Repentance granted, Forgiveness assured
God and people; people and God
Communion/Fellowship
Think with me for a moment… about these “great works”.
They heard incredible teaching, they received his wisdom, they saw miracles, and all Jesus could do were a few “healings”. Nothing much, that…
But if a few healings are not mighty works, what would be? What did their lack of faith, their lack of trust, cause them to miss out on?
Perhaps the greatest miracle of all, realizing that they were standing, like Moses, on Holy Ground, for they were talking to God, in person. Because they refused to realize that God could be man, they missed out on seeing the Kingdom of God, full revealed in their presence.
You see my friends, it is one thing, to experience the knowledge and wisdom of God, and yes, it is an incredible thing to realize that a health problem has been removed from your life,
But it is another thing,
To realize that you walk with God. That you have a relationship with the Creator of the Universe, that the Holy Spirit accompanies and guides you through life. That God has created all that we know exists, that we might have a relationship with Him.
That Jesus came, and lived and died, that we might be able to cast aside every sin, every weight that so easily ensnares us, as Hebrews tells us, and walk with God. God and His people, people and their God. Together, fully there, tangible. Together. As it has been meant to be, since the very beginning.
That is the greatest miracle of Jesus, the one whose very name means, God with Us. They had the opportunity to fellowship together, to break bread, to fellowship with the Lord.
