What Jesus? No Miracles? (Mark 6:5-6)

Most of us who have been through Sunday school have grown up with the impression that Jesus can do anything. Technically speaking, that's correct, for after all, He is God. But Mark recorded a particular section of the Bible that may seem like a surprise to many of us. There were times when Jesus was unable to do miracles, EVEN WHEN HE WANTED TO!

When miracles of healing do not occur, someone has to take the blame. The guilty sufferer would suppose that God had allowed that sickness to occur because of some sin in his life. The disillusioned pastor would assume that he needed to correct certain issues in the church or in his personal life before God would use him as an instrument of healing. If both think a little longer, they might come to the conclusion that maybe it's God's will that the sufferer is subjected to this agony and stigmatization, and before long resignation hides behind the facade of submission of both parties. Prayers offered might sound a little like this, "Jesus, if only You were here to take away this pain and disease!"

Matter of the fact is this, not everyone who came to Jesus was healed. Nowhere in any of the four gospels was it written: And Jesus healed everyone who came to him. He may have healed many, healed chronic disease and raised people from the dead, but did it work every time? Nope.

Let's take a look at Mark 6:5-6.

He could not do any miracles there (Nazareth), except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

Strong words. He COULD NOT do any miracles there. It was not because He did not want to, nor was it because He didn't take the opportunity. How would we explain this?

Theologians would take verse 6 as the explanation, i.e. their lack of faith meant that He could not do miracles. Uh huh. But what does it mean by a lack of faith? Is faith simply belief + obedience/action?

Nazareth was Jesus' hometown. He was not just the carpenter's son, he WAS the carpenter. A lowly occupation, plus He wasn't charismatic, good-looking or rich. The people of Nazareth had seen Him grow up, go to the synagogue, go to collect water from the well and deliver goods to customers. Suddenly, He was a celebrity with super-powers and brilliant scriptural insight.

Healing was impossible in the town because of this: Familiarity, which led to them assuming they knew who Jesus was. Put yourself in His neighbors' shoes. The quiet boy sitting with his mother every Sunday at the 4th row of your church's pews has suddenly become a celebrity. Everyone wants to know Him, to be with Him, and what's the first thing that goes through your mind?

"What the heck, if only they REALLY knew who he was. He's nothing special. I've seen Him grown up. I KNOW what He's really like."

There you got it. The reason why miracles did not happen. Jesus was not successful with every miracle, and that's a fact. Was He the problem? I don't think so. Was God purposefully holding back His love and healing power? If we believe that Jesus is God, then that's an impossibility. So what stops healing from coming?

Mark teaches us in the excerpt that even when Jesus was on Earth, He wasn't 100% successful. There is also the lesson of over-familiarity, when we think we know it all, how Jesus is like, how God is like. It is my strong belief that we will never really know how God is like. The Bible contains everything we need to know, but the best is still reserved for the end, during His return. In the meantime, we should be careful not to make statements that overemphasize the power of Jesus Christ. His power is truly ultimate and unmatchable BECAUSE it incorporates our will, and the world gives it the a name for this relationship that we all think we know only too well:





Love.





Love: The one thing that we might have thought we known before, and suddenly, are convinced that we know nothing about. -Valentino Casanova

And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. -Matthew 13:58