MARK 6:1-6
WHEN I WAS ABOUT TWELVE,
I READ A BOOK CALLED “MR. BLUE” BY MILES CONNOLLY. MAYBE SOME OF
YOU OLDER PEOPLE REMEMBER THAT BOOK. IT WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1928,
AND REMAINED IN PRINT UNTIL 1980. I REMEMBER THE STORY NOT BECAUSE
OF THE DESCRIPTION OF MR. BLUE AS A MODERN-DAY SAINT FRANCIS, BUT
ABECAUSE OF A STORY WITHIN THE NOVEL WHICH IS TOLD BY MR. BLUE. HE
SPEAKS OF A FUTURE WHERE THE GOVERNMENT HAS HERDED ALL HUMAN BEINGS
INTO GIANT CITIES, WHERE ALL THEIR BASIC NEEDS ARE PROVIDED. THEY
GET A PROTEIN MIXTURE TO EAT AND WATER LACED WITH VITAMINS TO DRINK.
THERE IS AN ACTIVE EFFORT TO WIPE OUT ALL RELIGIONS AND TURN
EVERYONE'S DEVOTION TO THE STATE. THERE ARE STILL A FEW PARTS OF THE
WORLD WHERE THE GOVERNMENT HAS NOT REACHED, AND THE STORY BEGINS WITH
THE CAPTURE OF A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE FROM ONE OF THESE AREAS. THE MEN
AND WOMEN ARE ASSIGNED JOBS, AND THE HERO WORKS AS A LABORER. HE
MANAGES TO SNEAK OFF AND IN A TINY BIT OF DIRT HE GROWS A FEW GRAINS
OF WHEAT AND STARTS A GRAPE VINE. ONE OF HIS CO-WORKERS NOTICES
THIS, AND AFTER A WHILE, DECIDES TO TELL THE AUTHORITIES OF THIS
UNAUTHORIZED ACTIVITY. AS THE POLICE COME SEARCHING FOR THE
RENEGADE, HE IS ON THE ROOF OF THE BUILDING. HE HAS A TINY CUP
CONTAINING JUICE FROM A SINGLE GRAPE, AND SOME OF THE GRAIN, GROUND
WITH STONE AND FORMED INTO A WAFER WITH A LITTLE WATER; AND JUST AS
THE POLICE ARE ABOUT TO BURST IN ON HIM, HE HOLDS THEM UP AND SAYS,
“THIS IS MY BODY...THIS IS MY BLOOD.” AND THE SKY IS FILLED WITH
JESUS AND THE HOST OF HEAVEN COMING WITH TRUMPET BLASTS TO END THE
WORLD. FOR THE MAN WAS A PRIEST, AND HAD JUST SAID THE LAST MASS.
ONE OF THE MOST
SCANDALOUS LINES IN SCRIPTURE, I THINK, IS IN THE GOSPEL TODAY. IT
SAYS, “HE WAS NOT ABLE TO PERFORM ANY MIGHTY DEED THERE, APART FROM
CURING A FEW SICK PEOPLE...” I THINK FOR THOSE OF US WHO KNOW
JESUS TO BE BOTH GOD AND MAN, WHEN IT SAYS HE ISN'T ABLE TO DO
SOMETHING, IT IS KIND OF A SHOCKING STATEMENT. SO WHAT DO WE MAKE OF
THIS?
THE GOSPEL IMPLIES THAT
JESUS CAN'T DO ANY MIGHTY DEEDS EITHER BECAUSE EVERYONE IS TOO
FAMILIAR WITH HIM, OR BECAUSE OF THEIR LACK OF FAITH, AND MAYBE THE
TWO ARE BASICALLY THE SAME REASON. THERE ARE, OF COURSE, OTHER
PLACES IN THE GOSPELS WHERE JESUS ATTRIBUTES A MIRACLE TO THE FAITH
OF THE PERSON WHO IS BEING CURED. BUT THEN AGAIN, THERE ARE MANY
OTHER MIRACLES WHERE FAITH IS NOT MENTIONED, OR WHERE FAITH SEEMS
UNLIKELY, AS WITH THE RAISING OF THE LITTLE GIRL THAT WE HEARD ABOUT
LAST WEEK, OR THE RAISING OF LAZARUS.
THE GOSPEL OF MARK IS THE
ONE GOSPEL THAT PORTRAYS JESUS AS BEING A LITTLE FALLIBLE, OR PERHAPS
A BETTER WAY OF PUTTING IT, AS TRULY HUMAN. THERE ARE OTHER
PASSAGES, LIKE THE ONE WHERE HE CURES A BLIND PERSON, BUT HAS TO DO
IT TWICE, SINCE THE FIRST TIME THE PERSON COULD SEE, BUT NOT AT ALL
CLEARLY. AND THERE ARE OTHER SUCH CURIOUS PASSAGES, THAT STAND IN
SUCH CONTRAST WITH THE OTHER THREE GOSPELS. JOHN'S GOSPEL OF COURSE,
IS ALMOST THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE; NOTHING IS BEYOND JESUS' POWER, AND
HE DOESN'T HAVE TO LAY HANDS ON ANYONE, DOESN'T HAVE TO MAKE MUD TO
COVER THE EYES, OR STICK HIS FINGERS IN THE EARS OF THE PERSON TO
RELIEVE HIS DEAFNESS. IN JOHN, JESUS SIMPLY SAYS THE WORDS; THERE
IS NOTHING THERE ABOUT FAITH. SO WE HAVE THESE VERY DIFFERENT
PICTURES OF JESUS.
MARK AND JOHN ARE ALSO
SEPARATED BY MANY YEARS, SCHOLARS TELL US. MARK WAS WRITTEN ABOUT 30
TO 40 YEARS AFTER JESUS DIED; JOHN ABOUT 70 TO 100 YEARS. BY THE
TIME JOHN WAS WRITING THE CHURCH HAD BEEN REFLECTING ON JESUS FOR
QUITE A WHILE; WHEN MARK WROTE, THE CHURCH WAS STILL YOUNG, AND
PROBABLY THERE WERE STILL PEOPLE AROUND WHO ACTUALLY REMEMBERED
SEEING AND HEARING JESUS.
WELL, THAT'S ALL
INTERESTING HISTORY, AT LEAST TO ME. BUT JESUS, NOT BEING ABLE TO DO
MIGHTY DEEDS? THIS IS WHAT I THINK. WHEN JESUS BECAME A HUMAN
BEING, HE HAD TO TAKE ON LIMITATIONS, BECAUSE HUMAN BEINGS ARE
LIMITED. WE ARE SUBJECT TO PAIN, DISEASE, IGNORANCE, TEMPTATION ..
AND MUCH AS WE LIKE TO THINK OF JESUS AS THE GOD-LIKE PERSON
DESCRIBED IN JOHN, IT'S MORE LIKELY THAT HE WAS MORE LIKE THE HUMAN
BEING IN MARK. AND WHILE HE COULD WORK MIRACLES, HIS MIRACLES OF
HEALING SEEMED TO REQUIRE THE CONSENT OF THE PERSON BEING HEALED, IN
OTHER WORDS, FAITH. AND THAT IS AS IT SHOULD BE; GOD RESPECTS WE
HUMAN BEINGS SO MUCH THAT HE DEFERS TO OUR FREE WILL, EVEN WHEN WE
MAKE STUPID OR SINFUL CHOICES. AS A GOOD FATHER, THIS MAY BREAK HIS
HEART, BUT HE STILL GIVES US OUR INHERITANCE AND WATCHES US WANDER
OFF TO ANOTHER COUNTRY, HOPING WE WILL RETURN.
THE PEOPLE OF NAZARETH
SAW JESUS AS THE KID WHO GREW UP THERE, DISAPPEARED FOR A WHILE, AND
NOW WAS BACK, PUTTING ON AIRS. WHERE DID HE GET THIS STUFF, THEY
ASK. HE'S ONLY A CARPENTER AFTER ALL. AND JESUS STOOD READY TO GIVE
THEM EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED, BUT COULD NOT, BECAUSE HE HAD
DELIBERATELY TAKEN ON THAT LIMITATION – HE COULD ONLY WORK MIRACLES
IF THE PERSON BELIEVED HE COULD.
AND THAT HAS IMPLICATIONS
FOR US. WE CLAIM TO BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS PRESENT UNDER THE
APPEARANCE OF BREAD AND WINE, PRESENT JUST AS HE WAS TO THOSE
ANCESTORS OF OURS IN THE TOWN OF NAZARETH. YET AN OUTSIDE OBSERVER
COULD HARDLY BE BLAMED FOR THINKING THAT WE DON'T REALLY BELIEVE
THIS. AFTER ALL, A LOT OF US COME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY DRESSED FOR A
DAY AT THE BEACH. SOME OF US CARRY ON A CONVERSATION DURING MASS.
SOME OF US RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST WITH HARDLY ANY THOUGHT. WE COME
LATE, WE LEAVE EARLY, AND WE LET OUR MINDS WANDER. AND AS WE SPEND
OUR WEEKLY 45 MINUTES WORSHIPING THE GOD-MAN WHO DIED FOR US, SO THAT
WE COULD ENTER HEAVEN, WE GLANCE AT OUR WATCHES, WONDERING IF THE
BATTERY NEEDS CHANGING.
AND ARE WE NOT BEING LIKE
THOSE PEOPLE IN NAZARETH? IS OUR FAMILIARITY WITH THE EUCHARIST
KEEPING US FROM RECOGNIZING THAT THIS MAN, PRESENT UNDER THE
APPEARANCE OF BREAD AND WINE, IS REALLY GOD, THE GOD WHO WANTS TO
HEAL US, TO CONSOLE US, TO GIVE US EVERY GOOD THING?
WHAT KIND OF MIRACLES ARE
WE MISSING, BECAUSE OF OUR LACK OF FAITH? I SUSPECT, MANY, BECAUSE
MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN, ALTHOUGH THEY SEEM FEW AND FAR BETWEEN.
TODAY IS A GOOD TIME TO
PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE GRACE TO RECOGNIZE JESUS FOR WHO HE REALLY
IS, AND PRAY FOR THE GIFT OF FAITH THAT ALLOWS US TO BE REALLY
PRESENT TO HIM. AND PERHAPS WE MIGHT EVEN PRAY WITH FEAR AND
TREMBLING, OF COURSE, THAT DURING OUR LIFE-TIMES THE DAY WILL COME
WHEN THE OLD ORDER IS PUT TO DEATH AND THE NEW WORLD IS FINALLY
REALIZED, WHERE CHRIST COMES IN TRIUMPH TO BRING ABOUT HIS KINGDOM
FOREVER.
