Mark 6: Opposition Mounts

From the sunny times of great crowds falling over themselves to try to hear what this exciting and enigmatic preacher and healer is saying and doing, gradually the opposition which was muted at first begins to grow and spread.

Initially it was the demons who recognized who Jesus is, and fled from his command with protest.

The protests are taken up by the religious establishment which is confused about the nature of Jesus' life and work.

They are joined by Jesus' own family and hometown crowd, who do the usual kind of putdown of the local guy become famous – “he's just a handyman, there's nothing special about him.”

This dismissive attitude shows up again at the end of John's Gospel, where Mary mistakes Jesus for a gardener.

Of course the irony in both situations is that Jesus is the one who can fix things, the true handyman;

he is the one who can make them grow into what God intends them to be, the true gardener!

The message of Jesus is multiplied when the disciples are sent out in pairs to drive out demons and to announce God's repentance.

But Jesus also notes that they should expect opposition, to back away and move on, lest the opposition pile up too quickly.

Their actions should awaken memories of the prophets of prior centuries who spoke God's word to unwilling audiences, who lived and often died because of what they said and did.

This leads directly to speculation about the relationship between John the Baptizer and Jesus.

King Herod has this strange love/hate fascination with John.

He wants to listen, at least out of curiosity to what he has to say, but at the same time he is annoyed and repulsed by John's straightforward condemnation of misdeeds, even those committed by the king.

Or perhaps we should say, especially by those committed by the king.

In the end, Herod is willing to sanction murder in order to avoid a little social embarrassment from a dancing girl and her scheming mother.

And it is a very real question then whether Jesus might suffer the same fate.

This adds to the tension in the Gospel not only for Jesus, but also for us, the readers of the story.

We know that misunderstanding, antagonism, and sometimes murderous hate swirl around someone who announces the truth of Jesus, still today.

Several weeks ago a Christian was sentenced to death in Pakistan for allegedly saying something against Islam's prophet Mohammed.

At these trials, typically no defense is permitted, only accusations and prosecution.

The mobs had already torched many homes and churches in the area, in a country where Christians have been for centuries but constitute a tiny, tiny minority.

It is in the midst of this growing sense of foreboding that we heard the story of the compassion of Jesus in the feeding of the 5,000.

Trouble is brewing, but in the midst of it all, Jesus is ready to reach out and deal with the physical as well as the spiritual needs of those around him.

He is interested not only in the sweet bye and bye, but also in the hungry here and now.

It has often been observed that the growling of empty stomachs may cover up the promise of the Gospel in a listener's ear.

The meals at St. Anthony's Center are prepared and offered each weekday, with no questions asked, no paperwork required.

And yes, we need to be asking ourselves where these folks are eating on the weekend, and what we should be doing about it.

That is a question to be explored by our leadership.

But Jesus is also after something bigger than physical hunger.

His feeding of the 5,000 is a sign of the breaking in of the kingdom of God.

It begins to happen where Jesus is, and by what he does.

Listen to the words again: [6:41] He took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven, blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples to give to the crowd.

I've emphasized four verbs from that verse, ones which should sound very familiar.

Whence have we heard them?

They are also the four verbs we hear in the Last Supper, the Words of Institution, to take, bless, break, and share the bread and wine, making Thanks-giving.

Sometimes we think of the Holy Communion as somehow an escape from the painful realities around us.

But note that the feeding of the 5,000 and the Last Supper's institution of Holy Communion take place in the midst of difficult, ominous, and dangerous times and situations.

As signs of the Kingdom of God, they give strength and direction, both physically and faith-fully, to all who receive them eagerly and expectantly.

I'm thinking of the 4^th movement of Mendelssohn's Symphony V, where suddenly a fresh theme is heard.

After all of the directions that have been explored in the prior three movements, a flute quietly introduces a new melody, Luther's chorale A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.

It begins to weave its way through all of the texture of the orchestra's music.

It is not an easy or straightforward takeover; there is much storminess along the way.

In the end, however, the melody brings together all of the hopes and expectations of the symphony in its strong and forceful conclusion.

We've named some of the difficulties in Jesus' work, and there are still more, but the theme of the kingdom has been introduced, and it will at length be victorious.

From our point in the midst of the work, we cannot hear the final resolution of all of the conflicts in which we are participating...but it will come.

There is a sad and distressing note which is finally voiced a bit further on, in chapter 8 of Mark.

He says of the disciples that they could not understand about the loaves because “their hearts were hardened.”

What we are dealing with in this gospel is the creative Word of God being acted out in our midst.

The feeding of the 5,000, the walking on the sea, the healing of the demon-possessed, etc., as well as our celebration of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion are all acts that point to and initiate a new creation.

Can we hear it and receive it, or are we like the confused disciples whose hearts were hardened even though they were eyewitnesses to so much?

We're heading toward that big question ahead which is voiced in chapter 8: Who do you say that I am?[8:29]

May our hearts be softened so that in God's good time we can with the centurion at the cross [15:39] and the disciples of every generation say: Truly, this is God's Son. Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.