In Luke 4 we read that Jesus went to Nazareth, his boyhood home, where he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and read the Scriptures. He was not well received and the people responded, “How can this be?” Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
Jesus responded, “No prophet is accepted in his own hometown.”
Our passage for today from Mark has a similar theme, except this time it is Jesus’ family with doubts about his prophetic authority. We know that some in Jesus’ family did not become believers until after Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is all to say that many times it is our own family and those closest to us that can be the most resistant to our witness for Christ.
As I ponder Jesus’ experience with his family I recall the words of Brennan Manning in his memoir, All is Grace, “God loves us unconditionally, just as we are; not as we should be. Because none of us is as we should be.”
Brennan’s simple phrase reminds me to allow God’s grace to extend to me, for I am certainly not as I should be. And, it reminds me to be patient and extend God’s grace to all others, including my family.
What does today’s reading
reveal to you about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do
or remember about this passage.
Does God want you to change
anything in your life?
25-Oct-11 Mark 4:1-20
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