Mark 6:1-29
A devotional
Can you remember your last visit to your hometown? What kind of feelings did you experience? Nostalgia? Joy? Regret? Sadness? Jesus returns to his hometown in Mark 6, but it is not an entirely pleasant visit.
His trip begins with a stop in the synagogue where he teaches with an authority the parishioners have not witnessed before (v. 2). The text contrasts Jesus’s authority and power against his humble background. Before his ministry, he was a mere carpenter as was Joseph, his earthly father before him. Out of this seemingly ordinary Galilean family came this extraordinary teacher and miracle-worker. Why him? The text indicates we should read their confusion as mixed with resentment: “And they took offense at him” (v. 3).
Jesus responds with lament: “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household” (v. 4). The ones who have known Jesus the longest fail to see him for who he is. It is evidence that mere proximity is no substitute for genuine faith. Those who are the closest to Jesus, even regularly coming to church, may be the farthest from him in faith.
The faithlessness of his own earthly family is quickly contrasted with the radical faith by members of his spiritual family (3:31-35). Jesus sends the disciples out to continue his miraculous ministry, casting out unclean spirits and healing the sick. Notice that Jesus bestows on them the authority to perform these miracles. In other words, their power originates from the same divine source, even if the means are different. Just like Jesus’s original proclamation in Mark 1:14-15, their message is prefaced with the call to repentance (v. 12). It is another reminder that the gospel is, first and foremost, a spiritual message of salvation by faith.
Mark 6:14-29 is the first time in Mark’s Gospel where we as readers depart from Jesus’s company. The scene takes place in the palace of King Herod. Herod was the governor of Israel whom the Romans had installed as their puppet. His relationship with Israel’s oppressors certainly left him unpopular in the eyes of many, but not so much that the Pharisees were unwilling to work those associated with him (3:6).
The passage is a bit backwards. The text states Herod believed Jesus was John the Baptist resurrected from the dead before we then learn how Herod murdered John some time ago.
The story leaves us with a pitiful impression of Herod. John actively prophesied against Herod for marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias, while her former husband was still alive. While Herodias would have preferred Herod to simply put this loudmouthed prophet to death, we are told that Herod feared John (v. 20). However, Herod soon reversed course after he leered at his new daughter-in-law and made a desperately hasty vow. Unable to find a way to spare John’s life while saving face, he sent a lacky to cut off his head and gruesomely presented it to Herodias’s daughter on a platter.
The injustice and capriciousness on display at Israel’s royal palace is grotesque. But it only serves to reveal the majesty of Christ’s royal office. Jesus is perfectly just, willingly offering up his life for his people as a sacrifice for their sin. He is perfectly righteous and good. No one can look at Herod and Jesus—despite their immense earthly differences—and conclude that anybody but Christ and Christ alone deserves to sit on the throne.
Of course, Jesus is not a second coming of John the Baptist but an even greater and mightier prophet (1:7). Jesus has already demonstrated many times that he is the Christ and the Son of God (1:1), but there is still more he must do before his followers will see it for themselves.
How blessed are we to know Jesus Christ as the resurrected Lord and Savior of his people. How often do you spend time reflecting on his mighty deeds? His compassion for the sick and the unclean? Do you sometimes cheapen Christ’s credit, acting as if he is another prophet with a message of salvation but not the power to make it true? For others? For you? Go to him in prayer and give him the praise he deserves. Shower him with thanksgiving.
Know also that citizenship in his kingdom is not a matter of privilege or access. Merely being born into a Christian family or nation is not enough. Church attendance is not enough. We are his and he is ours by faith and faith alone.