1 Jesus went out from there and come into His hometown; and His disciples follow Him. 2 When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? 3 Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at Him. 4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” 5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6a And He wondered at their unbelief.
are the miracles in verse 2 referring to the few miracles in verse 5 or do the rejecters believe jesus could do miracles?
is not the verse 6 saying that unbelief causes disability in jesus’ miracle power?
Yes, the miracles in 2 refer to 5. There’s a couple things going on here. First, recall that as Bart has said many times on the blog Mark writes of a Jesus who’s real identity is misunderstood by everyone, even his own disciples, hence the astonishment described in verse 3. Elsewhere in Mark people attribute his miracle working powers to demonic possession. That feeling is paralleled here although it isn’t explicitly stated. This is what verse 6 implies. Contrast the disbelief here with a similar situation from Mark 1:20 (somewhere along in there, the pericope of Jesus in the synagogue). I’ve read a number of times that verse 4 and it’s maxim about a prophet with no honor is reflective of Mark’s community, a Jesus group not a Christ cult. Those who believe in a Syrian setting for Mark’s community (Joel Marcus, Burton Mack and many others) believe the community was composed of Jewish outsiders segregated by their own beliefs and also the Jewish War.
Modern faith healers do, indeed, preach your interpretation of verse 6. It provides them with a convenient and “scriptural” excuse for when the “power of God” just isn’t working as it should.
I think we have a scientific definition for this phenomenon of faith healing today. It’s called “placebo effect”.
screwtape said
Modern faith healers do, indeed, preach your interpretation of verse 6. It provides them with a convenient and “scriptural” excuse for when the “power of God” just isn’t working as it should.I think we have a scientific definition for this phenomenon of faith healing today. It’s called “placebo effect”.
It’s instructive that non of the fabulous miracles of old happen today; Anyone recently raised from the dead? Cripples suddenly able to walk, deaf or blind healed. Well no “god doesn’t work that way” except the Bible tells us he does. Not only do you have placebo, but also psychosomatic ailments etc
spiker said
screwtape said
Modern faith healers do, indeed, preach your interpretation of verse 6. It provides them with a convenient and “scriptural” excuse for when the “power of God” just isn’t working as it should.I think we have a scientific definition for this phenomenon of faith healing today. It’s called “placebo effect”.
It’s instructive that non of the fabulous miracles of old happen today; Anyone recently raised from the dead? Cripples suddenly able to walk, deaf or blind healed. Well no “god doesn’t work that way” except the Bible tells us he does. Not only do you have placebo, but also psychosomatic ailments etc
It happens every week on Jimmy Swaggert’s program. Whether or not it’s real is immaterial, to those in attendance it’s as obviously real as the air they breathe.
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spGreg Matthews said
It happens every week on Jimmy Swaggert’s program. Whether or not it’s real is immaterial, to those in attendance it’s as obviously real as the air they breathe.
Amazing! One would have thought Swaggart would be working at Mcdonald’s or something by now.
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