Wednesday: Rejection and Reception
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 31st of July 2024
Read Mark 6:1-6. Why did Jesus’ hometown people reject Him?
Usually when a small-town person becomes popular, people back home bask in the attention. Not Nazareth. They were offended and surprised at Jesus’ success as a teacher and healer. His shift from being a builder to a teacher seemed hard for them to accept. There also may have been some animosity that He did most of His miracles in Capernaum (see Luke 4:23). And He had already had a disagreement with His family (Mark 3:31-35).
Read Mark 6:7-30. How does the mission of the Twelve Apostles contrast with the beheading of John the Baptist?
Image © Providence Collection from GoodSalt.com
This is the third sandwich story in Mark (see lesson 3). The mission of the Twelve Apostles in taking the message of Jesus everywhere stands in sharp contrast with the imprisonment and silencing of the Baptist. The disciples are told to travel light and depend on others for support. This strategy actually makes missionaries dependent on the people they serve, which helps bond them to those who need their message.
But the Baptist had no such bond with Herod and his family. John’s death is told in shocking detail as the plotting Herodias takes advantage of Herod’s ambivalence and lust. Herodias’s daughter seems to add to the scandalous plan by the grotesque request that the Baptist’s head be delivered on a platter.
The silencing of the clarion voice of the Baptist occurs at the same time as the Twelve Apostles proclaim repentance, just as the Baptist did. John’s death foreshadows Jesus’. John is put to death, buried, and reported as risen from the dead (Mark 6:14-16,29), as Jesus would be (Mark 15:1-47 and 16:1-20). These parallel stories point toward a coming crisis for Jesus and His followers.
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Have you ever been rejected like Jesus was or experienced some hard-to-understand crisis? What did you learn from those experiences that could perhaps help you the next time something like that happens? |
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The story of John the Baptist's death is an enigma among the miracles Jesus performed around the same time. Why didn't Jesus step in and save John from being beheaded?
In preparation for this comment, I read several commentaries by contemporary theologians. While some of them were lengthy and used the full extent of their vocabulary, I concluded that none of them had a definitive answer. It was a case of; if you don't know the answer you cover it with words.
So I won't try and emulate those great minds, but will simply make a couple of observations.
John's death may have been untimely and rather capricious but we do not follow Jesus for a long and easy life.
And that leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but his life and dedication to purpose also leave an example for Christians today.
Thank you for keeping it simple and clear...
It is painful to realize that even holy men can lose their lives so "easily" but comforting to be warned, by example, of this reality.
I am learning to cherish every moment while it lasts and to remember that we are pilgrims.
It is a grim and sobering reality that all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12
One thing that amazes me all the time was the ability of old time Christians to just embrace their calling to serve God and do so without looking back, sometimes i look and think and compare with how most of us would probably respond if we were asked to leave everything behind and serve or in the case of John just work as a missionary to the death,remember these guys were no different to us they had families, societies, friends ,jobs etc.
Now look, God's ministry today does not really take us out of our comfort zones, because we have a field big enough in our backyards in the form of family, neighbours, workmates, friends, local gardening groups, etc. They need that word, we don't need to move across deserts and seas like Jesus or the apostles did, we have got social media apps that can reach one who needs the word in any part of the world in an instant.
Biggest takeaway from this lesson is that we need to out our hands and do our part in this ministry.
Feeling rejected is not a good feeling at all. But thanks to God, everything passes, and overcoming traumas is very important. Trusting in Jesus to remove any darkness in the heart is best. He is sensible to our pains and anguish. He can turn what seems a "lost battle" into a blessing of joy.
It is reasonable to question why Jesus did not do something to save John the Baptist from execution. Didn't Jesus spend most of his time saving life by healing the sick, casting out devils, and even raising the dead. It is human to be inclined to only associate Jesus with "good" things. It can be difficult to perceive John's execution as "the will of God." God's ultimate will is to save us, and death, a lack of healing, not giving us the promotion or the desired job we prayer for, may be his will for us, because, in his wisdom, God may determine that giving us what we want, may work against his desire and our salvation. A personal relationship with God creates that trust and confidence in God that whatever happens in our life, he allows it for our good.
Jesus was called a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He knows how difficult and painful life can be as he experienced more than His share of rejection, sorrow, and grief.
The story of John the Baptist 's death reveals that God may not always "deliver us from evil" but will turn that evil around and bring good out of it. We don't see the bigger picture, but God does.
Herod had every reason to be terrified of Jesus because of his cowardice to refuse Herodias's daughter's request. He could have simply said, "anything but that" to her. He had been set up by Herodias and should have stood for principle instead of having peace in the palace at any price.
John knew that He, Jesus, had to increase, while his own popularity would wain, and yet he was okay with it. When the guards came for him he must have known it wasn't going to end good for him yet he like Jesus, was led silently like a lamb to the slaughter. In his heart he must have known that something bigger than himself was playing out and that even if it meant laying down his life it was well with his soul.
How do we respond when our world turns upside down, when friends and or family reject us for our faith? When our plans don't turn out as we had hoped, does it make us bitter, or does it make us better?
We have only one life to live. Who's glory will we live it for? "What will it profit a man to gain the world but lose their soul"
John was content to say, "you can have all this world, but give me Jesus". How about us?
"Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say ’twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last." C.T. Studd
The topic of today’s lesson is – “Rejection and Reception”. It is difficult for me to accept the writer’s reason regarding Jesus’ advise ‘to travel lite’ to mean that this “makes missionaries dependent on the people they serve, which helps bond them to those who need their message.”
I consider that the advise to ‘travel lite’ is to simply protect them from opportunists who would otherwise want to seek their possessions and possibly kill them. After all, it is the power of the Holy Spirit which Jesus anointed them with to also direct their travels. In the case of the apostles – who they meet, where they are to stay, and how they would be supported. Mark 6:7-9.
Jesus is recorded saying: “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place” – Mark 6:10; accept the invitation of this one willing person and stay put. Jesus sending them out ‘two by two’ also indicates His concern with their 'safety'. He gave the apostles an important learning-experience - to stand strong in their new faith. Jesus wanted them to learn to face whatever the situation may be – rejection or reception – without Him being present.
The account of the reasons for John’s beheading describes the lenth to which a hateful person is willing to go to seek revenge; even more shocking as it was plotted and demanded by a women.
Forgiveness and faith, both are indispensable pillars of our Christian faith. It is so very important to establish one's willingness to forgive. If not, the wound cannot heal because the individual refuses to accept God's healing for it – Matt.18:21-22.
Thank you all for sharing.Praying for my daughter to get well.She has colds.
Men in Israel were usually identified by their father’s name. In Mark 6:3 Jesus is identified by his mother’s name, meaning they were saying he was illegitimate. It got me thinking that Mary would have lived with the belief of most or all the towns people that Jesus was the result of an adulterous affair, which would have been very difficult in a shame and honour based society.
Is it possible that Jesus was connected to Mary as his father had already died?
People were still connected to their father even after his death. I think it's quite possible that the illegitimacy accusations were in the background. John 8:41 is one example that alludes to that.
Great lesson for spiritual growth.
One day I heard a preacher mention like this. In all Gospel books, that on Friday when Jesus died , The tomb of the saint / righteous were opened . We consider that John the Baptist is saint . So being said that “probably “ John the Baptist was resurrected on that day?
I wouldn't speculate about who was in that group. We don't know who those people were, though they were likely people who had died recently as they seem to be recognized when they went into the city. If they are the same people as the twenty-four elders, then they were a fairly small number.
The Biblical definition of saint includes all believers - there isn't a hierarchy. These people were believers, but not necessarily people whose names we'd know. Maybe John was among them, but I suspect it would have created extra attention if he was.
Jesus called John the baptist the greatest man who ever lived. Yet what of this world’s benefits did he enjoy? He had the simplest of dress, he had an austere diet, he lived in an austere environment with apparently no real house to live in, he was never married, he had no children, as far as we know, he never went on vacation, he had a short ministry, his ministry looked like a failure, and he lived a short life that ended tragically. We say we live a great life when we enjoy the benefits he never had.