seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Mark 6:1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying,[b] “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled[c]; yet he liked to listen to him.
21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of[d] Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”
“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages[e]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.
Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
a. Mark 6:3 Greek Joses, a variant of Joseph
b. Mark 6:14 Some early manuscripts He was saying
c. Mark 6:20 Some early manuscripts he did many things
d. Mark 6:22 Some early manuscripts When his daughter
e. Mark 6:37 Greek take two hundred denarii
This is from the easy English site this morning.
Jesus went from Capernaum to his home town, Nazareth. He was not just on a private visit to his family. His disciples were with him. So he went in order to teach.
The people in Nazareth recognised that he was wise. And they recognised that he could perform miracles. But they could not believe that he came with God’s message. He was only the carpenter. The word that we have translated ‘carpenter’ is the Greek word ‘tekton’. It means more than someone who worked with wood. A ‘tekton’ was a skilled man. A ‘tekton’ could build or repair anything. God, when he came to earth, became a real human person. He worked with his hands, as most people did. But Jesus had worked among them. So the people thought that he could not be anyone special.
The people may have been jealous of Jesus. They also thought that God could not work in a special way by means of someone like him. That was because they knew him.
It was a duty for people to invite strangers into their homes. So the disciples would receive a place to stay. But they must not waste time by moving from house to house. They must give all their attention to the people in the place where they were guests. They must not move to a place where there might be better food or more comfort.
They must not waste their time on people who would not give them a welcome. Jews who returned from a Gentile town or country would shake the dust from their feet. This was a custom to show that they separated themselves from *Gentile ideas. The disciples must do this. They were separating themselves from anyone who refused to believe God’s message. The disciples were responsible to give people the opportunity to believe the good news. It was not their fault if anyone refused to believe their message.
Public opinion had confused Herod. He also had a guilty conscience. He had ordered the death of John. He worried that Jesus might be John, alive again. Later he had an opportunity to see Jesus. Pilate had to decide whether Jesus was guilty. He sent Jesus to Herod so that he could help him to decide (Luke 23:6-12).
The disciples were tired. And they wanted to tell Jesus all that had happened to them on their journey. But the crowds of people prevented them. They did not even have time for a meal. Jesus suggested that they should cross the lake by boat. They would then have some quiet and rest.
The disciples were astonished that Jesus should ask them to provide food for the hungry crowd. Someone calculated that they would need more than two hundred days wages for that. Mark does not tell us who calculated that. John records that it was Philip (John 6:7).
Jesus needed to pray. He had many problems. The religious leaders opposed him. Herod Antipas was a cruel man who was afraid of Jesus. Now there were the people who wanted to make him a national leader. Again Jesus had to refuse the temptation to choose power rather than love. He did not want the crowds to stop him giving people freedom from sin.
The Jewish night had four periods. They began at six o’clock in the evening. They were three hours each. Jesus came in the fourth period, about three o’clock in the early morning. It was near the time of Passover, when the whole of the moon would be shining. So there was probably some light from the moon on the lake. Jesus could therefore see that the disciples were struggling against a strong wind to reach the other side.
The disciples were no longer afraid when Jesus came into the boat. But they were confused. They had not understood from the miracle of the loaves who Jesus was. They were not able to recognise that his power over nature was the power of God.
I find it interesting that the majority of people these days.... do not seem to want to stand up for their own Salvation. Are we all as guilty of evil as Herod and his dad, the Herod who ordered the mass execution of babies back when Jesus was born..... so that he could keep his throne. Jesus wasn't welcome in his home town.... they knew Him as a carpenter's son. They knew Him as someone who somehow really knew the law and that confused them.
Jesus didn't always have blissful days and adoring crowds. There were a lot of people who wanted something.... but I'm not seeing anyone who wanted to offer Jesus anything in return. Geeze.... seems as though the Son is being treated just like His Dad.
All through the these postings.... I have been calling humans stupid. That was the wrong word. Humans aren't really stupid.... we're ignorant. Jesus had a human body.... but He was there when it was designed so He knew how it would work. Jesus could feed 5000 and walk on water with the same hands and the same feet as the rest of the humans. He knew how to unlock everything and get it to work.
I have heard it said that God created humans last and best. That must be so because Jesus had the body of a human.... not a snake or an elephant.... it was the body of a human that God allowed His Son to experience. I've heard it said that humans only use a tiny portion of their brains.... so there is a lot of ignorance in the human daily life. So humans aren't really stupid.... as I have been saying..... they are just ignorant.
Jesus made five loaves of bread feed everyone there.... with enough left over for the disciples to take home a doggie basket.
Happy Mother's Day.....
Happy Mother's Day.....
