St. Mark 6: 1-6

Dec. 16, 2021

And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.

2And 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?

3Is 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.

4But 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.

5And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

6And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

“5And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. ” It’s human nature; we often don’t recognize what is good and true even when it’s right in front of our faces. We are far faster to discount than to believe. I think it’s true of believers as well. We tend to get lazy, I think, in our belief and practice – it’s easier to do the abbreviated version of the offices of Morning and Evening prayer at the back of the prayer book than it is to do the offices at the front of the book.

I’m talking about myself as well. For a long time I did the abbreviated forms of the offices. An unexpected thing happened and it drove me back to the long forms of the prayers. I think they are more challenging and thought provoking than the short forms. They have more meat (1Corinthians 3:2) and I have to work a little harder at them.

At His birth, there were already believers – shepherds and wise men. Let’s be the kind of believers that marvel at Him, offering ourselves to Him – our souls and bodies (pg 81 – 1928 Book of Common Prayer).

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