Mk 6:1-6 He is the Son of God
Within a series of Trinity Sundays, today we have another piece of passage which is also about the Trinity, or the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as one God. The teaching of Trinity seems to be difficult for some of us; and because it is difficult to grasp, the teaching is always under attack. I think some of the obvious attacks in recent days are from Jehovah Witness, and those people actually have knocked almost all the doors of the Chinese families in Sydney. However, we have to remember that although the teaching of Trinity is difficult, it is from the Bible. These teachings were passed down by the apostles and then written in the Bible. Therefore it is wrong to reject the teaching simply just because we find it difficult to understand with our modern mind. This kind of rejections arises from a mind using human experience and logic as the final authority, and that is exactly the problem Jehovah Witness. Well, let’s go back to our passage, of course today we can’t touch every aspect of the teachings of Trinity, but rather we will concentrate on one thing, that Jesus is the Son of God. Or in brief, we are taught that while the Son of God was born as human Jesus, being like us, yet He also remained divine. Jesus was both a human and the Son of God. That is the teaching, written down with the support of the first hand witnesses, and also with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Here in V.1-3 the story tells us that there was a challenge to the people in Jesus’ hometown Lazarus when he came home. The challenge was about Jesus’ identity. Well, the people there actually had well recognized the power of Jesus, because before his coming back to Lazarus, they should have heard about the great deeds Jesus had done. Just look back to the end of chapter Four, we can see that Jesus had calmed the storm in the sea. In Chapter Five, he had driven out the demon from a man and also caused two thousand pigs to die. And after that he had raised a girl from the dead. Therefore there was always a large crowd of people either searching Him or following Him. He was already very famous before coming home. And even at hometown, He impressed his people with his teachings because he knew well about the Old Testaments. Then, in the eyes of the people in Lazarus, who was Jesus? From His words and deeds He should be a very special person. But on the other hand, in his hometown everybody knew his past. In Jesus’ earlier life He was just an ordinary carpenter. In the end, they decided to reject Jesus, they thought there should be nothing special with Him. He had to be an ordinary fellow just like them. And as a result, the Bible says, they even took offense at Him.
While the responses of those people have reflected certain characteristics of human psychology, here a question has also brought up to the readers. The question is: Who is Jesus? An ordinary man or someone very special? Here it looks like that Jesus described himself as a prophet, a person who speaks for God. V.4, Jesus said, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." Is Jesus a prophet? Yes and no, because according to the author of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is more than a prophet. Well I think the author Mark has wisely put in a riddle for you and me. So, let’s look at the very first verse of this book, Mark says: “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Here there are two titles for Jesus: Christ and the Son of God. And in 3:11, some evil spirits also cried out something about Jesus: “You are the Son of God.” Again in 5:7, a demon said: “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” Finally in 15:39, at the climax of the life of Jesus, when he had died on the cross, a centurion under the cross summed up Jesus’ life, saying: “Surely this man was the Son of God!” Mark always presents Jesus as the Son of God throughout the whole book. Therefore in this passage when Jesus referred to himself as a prophet, Mark uses it to present to us a riddle. The riddle is: if Jesus was rejected as a prophet, would he also be rejected as the Son of God? I think the answer is quite straightforward for us. For sure, it is much harder for the identity of the Son of God.
This riddle has pushed us to think deeper about our own position. Deep in our hearts and minds, do we really believe Jesus is the Son of God? How can the Son of God in the heavenly realm come to this mortal world and become our mortal being? And another question is: as we believe in one God of almighty and holy, who is the one and the only one, why is there the Son of God? Is he another God? In this critical moment of doubt, Mark brings to us a punching clause at the end of V.6, “Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith.” On the face of the story itself, Jesus was amazed at the responses of the people in his hometown. There had already been so many evidences for them that Jesus was not an ordinary man. He preached, He healed, He drove out demons, He controlled the nature, He did miracles, He had done much more than a prophet. However, the people still rejected him. That’s why Jesus was amazed at their disbelief. Then from this point we think a bit further, how about the disciples who were together with Jesus? Did they believe in Him? Furthermore, how about the disciples in the first century, who read this book with a prior knowledge of Jesus’ life? And finally, back to us, how about today’s disciples? We already have the full knowledge of Jesus’ life, his death and resurrection, together with all the witnesses and explanations written in the Bible. When Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith, is Jesus also amazed at our lack of faith?
As what I have mentioned earlier, when Jesus said He is the Son of God, this claim may be a trouble to some of the modern minds. The Jehovah Witness says that since God is the only one, then in terms of logic, there cannot be another deity, or Son of God. The Mormon says everyone can be like Jesus that every Mormon believer is able to acquire deity. On one end there is no Son of God, and on the other end there are plenty of sons of God. Each end uses their own logic and standpoint to judge the issue. Then, the thing is, how can we know the truth about God? Are we able to know the truth through our logic, or even our desire? Here I must emphasize a point that, since God is totally different with us, then without God’s initiative to tell us who He is, we can never have such knowledge about Him. And now God tells us about Himself through the Bible. The words written in the Bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit, therefore we call the Bible the Word of God. It tells us the knowledge of God; and in the Word of God, there is a centre of its messages, which is about Jesus Christ. Take today’s passage is an example, here it tells us that Jesus is the Son of God. He was already with the Father God before time and He is God, and He and the Father God are one. This is the message passed down from the apostles and now written in the Bible. Therefore, the choice is on us, whether we believe in this message, or we trust in our limited mind which may be formed only with human experience, logic or even desire. And lastly, only when we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, can we fully appreciate the love of God, as what is said in the Bible, “For God so loved the world, he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Here in V.1-3 the story tells us that there was a challenge to the people in Jesus’ hometown Lazarus when he came home. The challenge was about Jesus’ identity. Well, the people there actually had well recognized the power of Jesus, because before his coming back to Lazarus, they should have heard about the great deeds Jesus had done. Just look back to the end of chapter Four, we can see that Jesus had calmed the storm in the sea. In Chapter Five, he had driven out the demon from a man and also caused two thousand pigs to die. And after that he had raised a girl from the dead. Therefore there was always a large crowd of people either searching Him or following Him. He was already very famous before coming home. And even at hometown, He impressed his people with his teachings because he knew well about the Old Testaments. Then, in the eyes of the people in Lazarus, who was Jesus? From His words and deeds He should be a very special person. But on the other hand, in his hometown everybody knew his past. In Jesus’ earlier life He was just an ordinary carpenter. In the end, they decided to reject Jesus, they thought there should be nothing special with Him. He had to be an ordinary fellow just like them. And as a result, the Bible says, they even took offense at Him.
While the responses of those people have reflected certain characteristics of human psychology, here a question has also brought up to the readers. The question is: Who is Jesus? An ordinary man or someone very special? Here it looks like that Jesus described himself as a prophet, a person who speaks for God. V.4, Jesus said, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." Is Jesus a prophet? Yes and no, because according to the author of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is more than a prophet. Well I think the author Mark has wisely put in a riddle for you and me. So, let’s look at the very first verse of this book, Mark says: “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Here there are two titles for Jesus: Christ and the Son of God. And in 3:11, some evil spirits also cried out something about Jesus: “You are the Son of God.” Again in 5:7, a demon said: “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” Finally in 15:39, at the climax of the life of Jesus, when he had died on the cross, a centurion under the cross summed up Jesus’ life, saying: “Surely this man was the Son of God!” Mark always presents Jesus as the Son of God throughout the whole book. Therefore in this passage when Jesus referred to himself as a prophet, Mark uses it to present to us a riddle. The riddle is: if Jesus was rejected as a prophet, would he also be rejected as the Son of God? I think the answer is quite straightforward for us. For sure, it is much harder for the identity of the Son of God.
This riddle has pushed us to think deeper about our own position. Deep in our hearts and minds, do we really believe Jesus is the Son of God? How can the Son of God in the heavenly realm come to this mortal world and become our mortal being? And another question is: as we believe in one God of almighty and holy, who is the one and the only one, why is there the Son of God? Is he another God? In this critical moment of doubt, Mark brings to us a punching clause at the end of V.6, “Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith.” On the face of the story itself, Jesus was amazed at the responses of the people in his hometown. There had already been so many evidences for them that Jesus was not an ordinary man. He preached, He healed, He drove out demons, He controlled the nature, He did miracles, He had done much more than a prophet. However, the people still rejected him. That’s why Jesus was amazed at their disbelief. Then from this point we think a bit further, how about the disciples who were together with Jesus? Did they believe in Him? Furthermore, how about the disciples in the first century, who read this book with a prior knowledge of Jesus’ life? And finally, back to us, how about today’s disciples? We already have the full knowledge of Jesus’ life, his death and resurrection, together with all the witnesses and explanations written in the Bible. When Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith, is Jesus also amazed at our lack of faith?
As what I have mentioned earlier, when Jesus said He is the Son of God, this claim may be a trouble to some of the modern minds. The Jehovah Witness says that since God is the only one, then in terms of logic, there cannot be another deity, or Son of God. The Mormon says everyone can be like Jesus that every Mormon believer is able to acquire deity. On one end there is no Son of God, and on the other end there are plenty of sons of God. Each end uses their own logic and standpoint to judge the issue. Then, the thing is, how can we know the truth about God? Are we able to know the truth through our logic, or even our desire? Here I must emphasize a point that, since God is totally different with us, then without God’s initiative to tell us who He is, we can never have such knowledge about Him. And now God tells us about Himself through the Bible. The words written in the Bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit, therefore we call the Bible the Word of God. It tells us the knowledge of God; and in the Word of God, there is a centre of its messages, which is about Jesus Christ. Take today’s passage is an example, here it tells us that Jesus is the Son of God. He was already with the Father God before time and He is God, and He and the Father God are one. This is the message passed down from the apostles and now written in the Bible. Therefore, the choice is on us, whether we believe in this message, or we trust in our limited mind which may be formed only with human experience, logic or even desire. And lastly, only when we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, can we fully appreciate the love of God, as what is said in the Bible, “For God so loved the world, he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
评论
发表评论