A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house

 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him.  And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.  And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, "Where did this Man get these things?  And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!  Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon?  And are not His sisters here with us?"  So they were offended at Him.  But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house."  Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.  And He marveled because of their unbelief.  Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.  He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff -- no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts -- but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.  Also He said to them, "In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place.  And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"  So they went out and preached that people should repent.  And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.

- Mark 6:1-13

Yesterday, we read that when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.  And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name.  And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death.  Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."  So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.  Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians.  She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.  When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.  For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."  Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.  And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"  But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  And He looked around to see who had done this thing.  But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well.  Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."  While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?"  As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."  And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.  Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.  When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep?  The child is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.  Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."  Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age.  And they were overcome with great amazement.  But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.

 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him.  And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.  And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, "Where did this Man get these things?  And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!  Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon?  And are not His sisters here with us?"  So they were offended at Him.  But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house."  Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.  And He marveled because of their unbelief.  Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.  My study bible points out that this double response of being both astonished and offended occurs frequently with those who encounter Christ -- see Luke 11:14-16 and John 9:16.  It adds that Christ's rejection in his own country foreshadows His rejection by the whole Jewish nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14).  The references to brothers and sisters we've discussed recently in an earlier encounter with Jesus' relations (see this reading and commentary).  "Brothers" and "sisters" can refer to extended relatives (such as cousins, for example, or step-brothers and sisters) both by Jewish tradition at the time,  as well as in typical usage today all around the Middle East. 

 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.  He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff -- no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts -- but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.  Also He said to them, "In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place.  And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"  So they went out and preached that people should repent.  And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.   The disciples are sent out two by two on their journeys.  In Matthew's list of the Twelve, names of the first apostles are given two by two, perhaps indicating who went with whom on this first journey.  Jesus has given them power in the ability to heal spiritually, and we note the humility with which they've been dispatched:  taking nothing for the journey, and commanded to remain in the first welcoming lodging, no matter how humble. An "apostle" is literally "one sent out" in the Greek.

In today's reading, we can observe something about the power of faith, as it works (or doesn't, as the case may be) in both "stories" in today's verses.  Jesus travels to His hometown of Nazareth, and the neighbors are both astonished and offended by this change that's come over this man they know as the carpenter's son.  Where did this wisdom and this healing come from?  How can these things now come from Him, the one they know (or perhaps, thought they knew all about)?  They're offended in some way because He's risen above the person they knew Him to be; or perhaps more truly what they are offended at is His holiness.  How could such power and wisdom come from this man?   And it's this holiness and power that is shared with the apostles as they are sent out two by two on their first mission.  He's given them the power to heal and to restore, to cast out unclean spirits.  Elsewhere we're told that what they preach as they go out is that "the kingdom of heaven has come near."   This power bestowed by Christ upon them is the presence of the Kingdom; hence the testimony of rejection in shaking the dust off their feet where they are not welcomed.  In complete humility this Kingdom comes via its apostles, its emissaries.  The one thing necessary is faith.  Faith connects everything; it connects us with this power and with this Kingdom.  It makes the manifold works of Christ's ministry possible.  Even Jesus marvels at the unbelief He finds in His hometown of Nazareth, and there, in contrast to all of the extraordinary works that have spurred throngs of people everywhere He has gone, He can do no great works.  In the absence of faith, there is no connection to the power of the holy.  We look at yesterday's reading, at the woman with the twelve years' blood flow, and her touch that made this connection with Christ and His power, because of her faith.  And the message becomes clear:  the compassion of Christ is always present, it is inexhaustible, but it is somehow channeled into our lives via our faith, and holiness can be at work in us through that open door, that connection of faith.  One wonders, therefore, what may be the condition of life where there is no faith.  Without it, there may be no indication of the power of the holy, the capacity for transformation and healing possible within the body of faith and the gifts of the Spirit.  Via this connection with one another, such as through prayer, we also see faith at work on behalf of other people, as we pray even for the world around us.  But it is a strange and sad thing to contemplate what it is to miss the benefits possible via a "connection" of trust.  In the end, faith is an act of trust.  In the Greek, it is "trust" that is the root of the meaning of the word for faith.  It becomes a question of putting our faith in some-one, this person -- the One who has come to us incarnate as Jesus.  That is the connection, a person-to-person connection, like shaking hands with someone with whom you have a kind of instant depth of recognition.   Can you put your trust in Him?  And how does He return that faith?  Our trust is like an invitation, like making a place for the seed in our hearts that grows to produce great fruits.  Let us remember it is this power of faith that, once again, works throughout the Body of Christ, through others who share it and bond in that same connection, and the great cloud of witnesses who are all alive and present for one another.  It's important to think about prayer in this sense, and its enlivening quality that works from any distance.  We just don't know what power our faith taps into.  It is devastating to think what life would be without that, and without all the capacities for hope, and strength, and life in abundance that faith can bring.