Mark 6:1-13
Grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Unbelief is a tough thing for us to deal with not only in the context of Jesus but even in our everyday interactions with other people. We all have friends, family, and acquaintances whose words we take with a grain of salt. Even with our dealings with the authorities of this world we struggle to believe what we are told. As the old joke goes, I'm from the government, I'm here to help.
Ezekiel, Paul, and Jesus all encounter unbelief in our readings and have some special insights to share.
Ezekiel was called to carry the Word to the Israelites a rebellious nation that God called to be His own.
The reading from Ezekiel starts after the vision he sees. The vision definitely otherworldly and if you know anything about ufology this vision has been used in various claims of ancient alien contact starting with the book and movie Chariots of the Gods.
The vision is fantastic and really gets Ezekiel's attention. We read the Spirit comes and stands him on his feet. God says "Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites." A powerful vision, addressing Ezekiel by a title not by name, and saying the people will know a prophet is among them would be good indicators God is angry. In fact Ezekiel is part of the first wave taken to Babylon 10 years before the fall of Jerusalem. Archeological findings indicate 90 percent of the people were worshipping Baal as Judah crumbled under the siege.
Regardless of the challenge Ezekiel was true to the mission and preached repentance to the unbelievers. They did not listen to Ezekiel at least not until Jerusalem had fallen. Then the people did turn back to God. Ezekiel was the messenger the fact that the people didn't listen was not held against. Archeologists believe that 90 percent of the people were worshipping God during the captivity.
Ezekiel's faith in the one true God kept him on mission before and during captivity.
Paul was an unbeliever in Jesus Christ. So zealous in his unbelief that he persecuted and hunted down the believers of the Way. However Jesus had another plan, a traumatic interaction with Paul on the road to Damascus. In the Epistle reading Paul relates his experience in third person to the church in Corinth that had its ups and downs with belief. Despite the problems Paul didn't give up trying to correct their errors and help them mature in their faith of Jesus Christ. He didn't repeatedly visit Corinth but rather through letters encouraged them. He understood it was important to continue his journeys and reach as many as possible.
Paul's faith in the triune God kept him on mission.
In the Gospel Mark records the return of Jesus to his home town where because of their familiarity with Him they do not believe in His divine nature. They are astonished at the wisdom and the mighty works of Jesus but take offense at the carpenter whose mother, brothers, and sisters they know so well. Their unbelief makes revelation of His divine nature impossible. Mark notes Jesus' amazement at their lack of faith.
This account may lead us to think that Jesus has some limitation to His power. That is not the case. If we trace all the way back to Abraham we find God working through people of faith. It is not that Jesus has no power over the people of His hometown; it's that He only works through those of faith. Unfortunately, they went beyond unbelief the question asked, "Is this not..." infers that the people wanted to sway others to unbelief as well.
The sending of the twelve also gives us some insight into unbelief. The twelve are sent out with nothing but instructions. I'm sure they had their doubts but faith in Jesus was stronger than their doubts. They went out and healed the sick and did miraculous things in the name of Jesus. I'm sure the twelve also shook the dust off their feet a time or two as well because of the unbelief of a village.
We don't know Jesus' intent on sending out the twelve. It may have been to spread the word farther than one group could or maybe it was a training mission for the apostles. Regardless it does fall in line with the ministry that Jesus demonstrated.
Jesus didn't expend additional time on those that would not believe. He preached and moved on to other villages. The goal was to plant seeds. The Word is a seed that works in each person who hears the truth. The Spirit comes along to nurture the seed and grow faith in the hearer.
God is not interested in forcing someone to believe and we are not capable of forcing someone to believe. Our mission is not to brow beat people into attending church. The mission is to plant the seeds.
With the fall of Jerusalem Ezekiel's words changed from the dire warnings of destruction to a message of hope in a God who loves His people. The Word worked in the people's hearts and they turned back to God.
Paul planted seeds through his words and actions. He shared the gospel message everywhere he traveled. As a Pharisee Paul always went to the synagogue first in hopes of reaching his fellow Jews but then would reach out to the Gentiles.
Jesus planted seeds through His words and actions. He shares a gospel message of hope through faith and mercy. His healings that are elaborated in the gospels always point to faith as the healing agent.
Unfortunately, there are more than a few in our world that think pressure is the way to bring people to Christ. They are either ignorant of the message or perhaps mislead with interpretations that are more human reasoning than divine inspiration.
The truth is we merely need to emulate the walk of Jesus.
In the name of our risen Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
