Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of
James, Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? And are not his
sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
Mark 6:3
This verse will be part of Tuesday's Bible study...
James, Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? And are not his
sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
Mark 6:3
This verse will be part of Tuesday's Bible study...
Being that my chaplain is now retired, and our civilian volunteers have not as of yet been allowed to come back into the prison due to strict Covid protocols, I've been covering our Tuesday classes while another inmate teaches on Thursdays. So far, it's worked out well.
In Mark's account of the life of Jesus, the people in the town where He grew up would not accept him as their promised Messiah. They could not get past seeing Jesus as the son of Joseph the carpenter, who worked alongside his dad in the family's business.
Not only this, but the townspeople also knew Jesus' siblings. Scripture tells us that after Jesus was born, Mary went on to have four other sons and at least two daughters. It was your average Jewish family. A husband and wife, and a big brood of kids. So, the citizens of the town of Nazareth, after hearing Jesus teach in their houses of worship with His brilliant mind, as well as seeing and hearing about His mighty miracles, reasoned amongst themselves as to the possibility of Jesus being one of the prophets, or even the Messiah himself?
According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah would one day come into the world with a great display of majesty and gallantry. He would be God's heavenly warrior who will come to rescue His people, with force, if necessary, from the tyranny of their oppressors. And this Messianic hope remains alive in many hearts even until now.
But sadly, the majority of Nazareth's citizens could never get past seeing Jesus as simply a young man who was working for his dad. They lacked the faith to see Jesus as He truly is. They rejected the possibility of His being the Messiah and thereby chose to remain in unbelief. The result was no more miracles for them, save for a few sick people whom Jesus took pity on, and healed.
I want Tuesday's class to juxtapose faith with unbelief. I also plan to have a time for honest introspection where we, as His disciples, admit to having periods when our faith appears weak, and we therefore fail to see the Lord as clearly as we should. That we not become as the citizens of Nazareth who, with few exceptions, ended up disallowing the Lord from doing His best work.
My prayer is that we never possess only a limited view of Jesus. But that we always see Him as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. May we never lose sight of the fact that "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6).
D.B.
In Mark's account of the life of Jesus, the people in the town where He grew up would not accept him as their promised Messiah. They could not get past seeing Jesus as the son of Joseph the carpenter, who worked alongside his dad in the family's business.
Not only this, but the townspeople also knew Jesus' siblings. Scripture tells us that after Jesus was born, Mary went on to have four other sons and at least two daughters. It was your average Jewish family. A husband and wife, and a big brood of kids. So, the citizens of the town of Nazareth, after hearing Jesus teach in their houses of worship with His brilliant mind, as well as seeing and hearing about His mighty miracles, reasoned amongst themselves as to the possibility of Jesus being one of the prophets, or even the Messiah himself?
According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah would one day come into the world with a great display of majesty and gallantry. He would be God's heavenly warrior who will come to rescue His people, with force, if necessary, from the tyranny of their oppressors. And this Messianic hope remains alive in many hearts even until now.
But sadly, the majority of Nazareth's citizens could never get past seeing Jesus as simply a young man who was working for his dad. They lacked the faith to see Jesus as He truly is. They rejected the possibility of His being the Messiah and thereby chose to remain in unbelief. The result was no more miracles for them, save for a few sick people whom Jesus took pity on, and healed.
I want Tuesday's class to juxtapose faith with unbelief. I also plan to have a time for honest introspection where we, as His disciples, admit to having periods when our faith appears weak, and we therefore fail to see the Lord as clearly as we should. That we not become as the citizens of Nazareth who, with few exceptions, ended up disallowing the Lord from doing His best work.
My prayer is that we never possess only a limited view of Jesus. But that we always see Him as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. May we never lose sight of the fact that "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6).
D.B.
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