Three Small Verses

Mark 6:1-3 is another of my off-topic side-trips. Given there is so much of the Bible to read, small details are not dwelt upon long enough to clearly understand. That is the case of these three verses in Mark Six. So, I would like us all to simply stop. Stop racing forward. Stop awhile and dwell on these three small verses.

Jesus had entered his own country of Judea; his disciples followed him. Jesus' hometown of Bethlehem was just five or six miles south of Jerusalem. On the Sabbath, he taught at the synagogue. We are impressed, initially, with the familiarity of the locals. It is a familiarity that makes us suspect that the events of these three verses took place in Bethlehem.


We gather much from the attitudes and thoughts of the locals. Not only is divine authority brought into question, but also, we see that Jesus' Rabbinic status is seen as less than credible. Now, we are familiar with the habit of Jesus teaching in synagogues, but in actuality, there was no formal synagogue hierarchy – they had no specified preachers and the customs allowed for any man to read and speak.


However, we also know that the elders and Pharisees and Sadducees, etc., were received with attitudes of respect. Their knowledge of scripture and authority was a given among the lower echelons of society. Their deeds, while mundane, were rarely doubted. That is not the case with Jesus in this particular synagogue. The attitude of the people was, from the beginning, one of incredulity. Note how they reasoned among themselves about his knowledge, his authority, his reputation.


Mark 6:2 give us this: “Many hearing him were astonished, saying, from whence hath this man these things?” In other words, just who did Jesus think he was? They questioned the source of knowledge and wisdom he drew upon, for it smacked of not being the ordinary doctrine of the Rabbis to which they were accustomed. By extension, if his doctrine was so different, how far afield was he in his deeds?


We know little of the Rabbis in the day of Jesus. For instance, did they wear a particular type of clothing or hat that might quickly identify them. A Rabbi seen in his Rabbi threads would have been more immediately accepted – in the Pavlovian sense of acceptance. Rabbis might also have been more sedentary, preferring to travel less than Jesus did. In fact, Jesus may have been the only man called Rabbi, at that time, who made house calls. Yet, being called Rabbi by a small troupe of followers is not the same thing as being among the bonafide elite.


We have a saying that goes: 'familiarity breeds contempt.' They found it hard to believe that one of their own, a commoner like themselves, should reach so far above his station in life. While they seem to have certainly known him and his family, their familiarity with Jesus seems not to have extended to any knowledge of formal training or credentials on Jesus' part. What did they base their attitude on, we must ask? When they asked among themselves, “Is not this the carpenter?” I get no sense that they meant the twelve-year-old boy learning the trade from his father Joseph. 'The carpenter' indicates someone who made a living in that trade. The people viewed Jesus as a common laborer – just as ordinary and small as themselves. They galled, 'How dare he be so big'?


Somehow, I see a message bubbling just under the surface of this incident. As a message, it is vague and elusive, but I suspect that in it familiarity, contempt, and faithlessness are interwoven. It is asserted that because they did not believe, Jesus could only do a few incidental miracles in the country of his birth.


Their knowledge of Jesus demands a bit more scrutiny. In their familiarity, certain family members are listed. Mary, James, Joses, Juda, and Simon are listed, plus a plurality of sisters. Jesus came from a large family, and that demands some investigation. We are looking at a family with seven or eight children. This should key thoughts about the logistics of feeding such a family, which in turn should lend credence to the statement of the people: 'the carpenter.' It seems altogether plausible that the carpenter worked along with father and brothers in the ongoing routine of putting bread on the table. Because of their familiarity of Jesus and his family, I can see the adult Jesus in the role of a carpenter.


When we think of a family, we think of the years it takes for children to grow up in their community. If Jesus was the first child of Joseph and Mary, some scholars believing she married at age 14, and if Jesus was in his thirties when he returned to preach in his own country, that would suggest that some of his siblings were in their twenties. Perhaps some of Jesus' sisters had already been married into the community. Mary would certainly be in her mid to upper forties at that time.


Jesus was perhaps near the half-way mark in his three and a half year ministry, so he may have been away from home for two or three years before this return. The locals would have had a clear memory of Jesus as 'the carpenter.' That is in contradiction, I realize, to those who believe Christ had been absent from his country since his early teens – perhaps in India. I also realize that many think the siblings of Jesus came from a previous marriage on the part of Joseph, but what if that was not the case?


What if Joseph had been around longer than many want to believe. I am not suggesting that the sex life of revered saints was prolific, but if a woman has one child a year, fourteen years plus eight would have Joseph around in Mary's twenties and when Jesus was eight. We know Joseph was around when Jesus was twelve. With such a large family, why did Joseph and Mary travel to Jerusalem with just a twelve-year-old Jesus? If they left all the other children in the care of others and just took Jesus, that would suggest a specific purpose.


I could go on. Three small verses can -- given enough thought, bring many new questions to bear. It is obvious that I think on these matters. Such thoughts are a joy, for they are elevated above the everyday. If any follow my writings, I would sincerely hope that it is for the same reason. May the Holy Spirit answer our every question.