Be expectant

a verse or two

" 1 Jesus left that place and went back to his hometown...Many people were there; and when they heard him, they were all amazed...What wisdom is this that has been given him? How does he perform miracles? 3 Isn't he the carpenter, the son of Mary...And so they rejected him."
From Mark chapter 6

Spiritual Walk and Musings: We can trust the scriptures.

Reading Mark 6: 1 – 6 often leads to preaching on ‘a prophet is not listened to in their own town’. Yet what caught my attention this time round is when reading between the lines, the idea of Jesus doing miracles was something very unexpected, the people in the town where he grew up had never seen him do this kind of thing ever before.

I can remember reading scholars who lambast the authenticity of the Bible saying that the church in the first few centuries kept out writings that should have been included in the Bible. I’ve read some of these “Gnostics writings”, like stories saying when Jesus was a child he would do magical tricks and the like (including raising a dead bird back to life). And so on reading Mark 6: 1 – 6, I find it interesting the folk of Jesus’ home town did not expect him to do any tricks or miracles. It’s as if when they saw him grow up – he never did any then and so why should he now? This idea seems to prove the ‘Gnostic gospels’ were in fact inferior and fanciful, and validates the wisdom of the church councils to keep the Gnostic writings out of the Bible.

And for me this proves (once again) that the sceptical scholars who discredit the Bible were indeed biased in their opinion and not open to the possibility of a living God. A living God who loves humankind – loves humankind so much that the gospels we ended up with are in fact authentic so we can know that God is not a monster who has left us blind. The Bible tells us enough to be able to have a friendship with Him and know that He is love.

Something to do: Some miracle counting.

Read through Mark 6 and take note of all the healings and miracles (and not just Jesus’ ones). Spend some time pondering that the Jesus who lived in the Bible times and healed is the same Jesus who heals today. And ponder that not only Jesus preformed miracles in Mark chapter six – his followers did. Umm – if I recall correctly – we are his followers too!

To Ponder and Pray: Be expectant.

What is scary about Mark 6: 1 – 6 is the way that when no one expected any miracles not many happened (just a few healings). Could it be if we don’t expect any miracles to happen, we will have the same problem? Conversely if we start to expect miracles, then they will become frequent. This is a challenge to all of us – let us be expectant.

Lord – work on our hearts so they become expectant
instead of the typical kiwi complacent.