And he went out from thence, and
came into his own country; and his disciples follow
him. And when the sabbath day was come, he began
to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him
were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man
these things? and what wisdom is this which is given
unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought
by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son
of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of
Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with
us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said
unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but
in his own country, and among his own kin, and in
his own house. And he could there do no mighty work,
save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk,
and healed them. And he marvelled because of their
unbelief. And he went round about the villages,
teaching. (Mk. 6:1-6).
Grace be to you and peace from God
our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ! (2
Cor. 1:2)
Dear brothers and sisters, someone
has said that the older prejudices are the harder
and more long-lasting they are. Sometimes such
prejudices remain forever. People have many prejudices
and most of them have a very long history. The
Word of God says us today of one of the most horrible
prejudices - a neglect of the Gospel.
In today's Gospel reading of Mark
we can see how the Son of God comes to Nazareth,
to His small homeland, to a town where He grew
up and where many people have seen Him growing
up. His disciples followed Him to Nazareth, too.
We read that on Saturday Jesus goes to the local
synagogue. As well as we have come today to the
place of our Sunday worship. The Lord comes also
today in His Word and Supper to us today. The
Lord always comes to His Church in the Old Testament.
He also comes to us always whenever we are gathered
in His Name. As He says, "For where two or
three are gathered together in My Name, there
am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20).
And His Spirit teaches us, "Not forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner
of some is; but exhorting one another: and so
much the more, as ye see the day approaching"
(Hebrews 10:25).
The Lord entered the synagogue in
Nazareth visibly. (Please pay attention that the
same Lord is present with us today invisibly.)
Nazareth inhabitants that came on that Saturday
to the synagogue saw another Nazarene that was
teaching the Word there. But His Word was so different
from what they have heard before. He was teaching
not like their rabbis were teaching them. His
actions were marvelous and His righteousness was
prevailing over the righteousness of Pharisees.
Yet they were questioning His teaching. We read
in the Gospel, "Many hearing him were astonished,
saying, From whence hath this man these things?
and what wisdom is this which is given unto him,
that even such mighty works are wrought by his
hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary,
the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda,
and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?"
Can not we hear similar words today as well? Can
not we have similar thoughts in our minds when
we begin to doubt God and His Word? Can not be
as astonishing when we open the Bible, a book
in a hard or a soft cover? Was not it published
in a regular print shop? Did not regular people
were printing it and binding it? And what about
those people who speak of Jesus as of a regular
man? Do not "Jehowa's witnesses" ask
similar questions while trying to spread their
deadly doctrines?
Dear brothers and sisters, the Word
of God condemns such an attitude. It is written,
"And they were offended at him." The
Greek word used here is much stronger than its
English equivalent. Greek uses the word here that
says that people were fatally trapped because
of their unbelief in Jesus. To have such thoughts
about Christ means to be in a fatal trap. To reject
divine nature of the Savior, to doubt He is real
God is to be in hugs of eternal death. To deny
the Lord His divinity is to deny our own eternal
life that was won by Him on the Roman Cross. To
doubt the divinity of the Son of Mary is to doubt
our forgiveness merited by His blood and our resurrection
granted by His glorious resurrection on the third
day after His death on the Calvary.
The Lord reacts with pain to this
unbelief of His compatriots. He says, "A
prophet is not without honour, but in his own
country, and among his own kin, and in his own
house." Dear brothers and sisters, the world
does not want to hear the Gospel. The world hates
God. Apostle John writes, "Love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is
not in him. For all that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is
of the world. And the world passeth away, and
the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of
God abideth for ever" (1 John 2:15-17).
Dear fellow Christians, once we
belonged to the world, too. The world was feeding
our lust and our pride. We were people that were
revolting against God. We were lost people. But
God Himself took initiative and called us through
the Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ. He has justified
us and He asks us to honor Christ's Gospel, for
it gives eternal life in God's Kingdom. And the
Lord also tells us what should we expect from
the world when we will share the Gospel.
The Lord says a prophet is not without
honor. But a prophet has no honor in his own country.
This is so true about our Savior. And this is
also true about His people, about us. The Lord
says that absence of honor may even grow into
open hatred and even persecution of Christians.
In the Gospel of Matthew (5:10-12) we read His
words about such a time, "Blessed are they
which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you,
and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely,
for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for
great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted
they the prophets which were before you."
This is why, dear brothers and sisters,
do not be surprised when unbelievers will not
pay any attention to your gentle talk of Christ.
Do not be also surprised that some people will
try to stop you speaking of Christ. This we should
expect from the world. This is why even some of
our friends and even members of our families will
not honor us as talk of the Savior. But such an
attitude should not discourage us. This should
not kill our desire to share the Gospel. And this
shoud not stop our peace-keeping mission, of which
the Holy Spirit proclaims, "God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them; and hath committed
unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we
are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did
beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:19-20).
The Lord esteems highly those who
bring the Word of reconciliation with God in the
Name of Christ. He says, "Blessed are the
peacemakers: for they shall be called the children
of God" (Matthew 5:9). To do this remain
in Christ. Remain in His Word and try as often
as possible to commune with the true body and
blood of our Savior in His Holy Supper. This is
vital for us. For our faith has to be sustained.
For only as long as the Spirit of Christ lives
in us, so long we are the light for the world
and the salt of earth. As the Savior says, "Ye
are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have
lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?
it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be
cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is
set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light
a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a
candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that
are in the house. Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew
5:13-16).
Dear brothers and sisters, the world
shows us many prejudices but lets us also remember
that similar prejudices were also to Christ and
to most of His people. As the Lord marveled of
unbelief of His compatriots so we can marvel of
unbelief of many Ukrainians today. But please
pay attention to the actions of the Savior. We
read that He "went round about the villages,
teaching."
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord
continues to teach us as well. He continues to
forgive us our sins. He takes away our doubts.
With His Gospel He continues to heal our souls
and makes our hearts pure. The Lord was doing
these things in Nazareth and around Israel. He
continues to do it in Kyiv and all around the
world. He was doing this almost two thousand years
ago. He does it today. And He will do it everywhere
and always. For God does not change. And Gospel
does not change. And Christ never stops. Because
of this God's love to us let us continue to witness
of our wonderful Savior. Let us do our job, the
Lord will faithfully complete His part. In the
Name of Christ. Amen.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love
of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be
with you all. Amen. (2 Cor. 13:14).
