BSFL Sunday School Commentary for the week of September 20, 2009

The Challenge of Knowing Jesus                  Mark 6

Are there challenges to knowing Jesus? And if so, is there a risk of "failure" in following Jesus if we underestimate the challenge? If you have ever prepared for something that required intense preparation or training, you know the feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment when the goal was accomplished. And if perhaps you failed to reach the goal, you know the feelings of failure and despair. Can we have similar experiences when seeking to follow Jesus? Can we take Jesus for granted and give Him less respect than He deserves?

Jesus' disciples had not been following Him long when they began to witness opposition. I'm sure it became clear to them before long that following Jesus would be no ordinary undertaking. It would tax their faith, stamina, and closely-held beliefs and opinions. Following Jesus today requires more than signing a card, getting wet, sitting on a pew, and looking respectable. Mark 6 gives us a glimpse into what the disciples dealt with as they followed Jesus.

They must have anticipated a great homecoming for Jesus when He returned to His hometown. How surprised they must have been when those who grew up with Jesus were suspicious of Him and doubted. The townspeople knew the Jesus they grew up with, but were offended by this new Jesus. their lack of faith actually amazed Jesus, and He chose to do very few miracles there.

Have you ever re-connected with someone from your past, from before you were following Jesus? Were they amazed or offended at the change following Jesus has made in your life? Not everyone approves of a life lived following and being changed by Jesus. some will not believe, just as the people of Jesus' hometown. They will have difficulty seeing past the "you" they knew, and the one they see now. This can be painful. Rejection hurts. As a result of being rejected, we may have little or no influence on them for Christ. The challenge here is to remain faithful to Jesus, to love those rejecting us unconditionally, and to look for ways to serve them and convince them of the reality of our transformation in Christ.

The account of Jesus walking on the water and the disciples in the storm pose difficulties for some. Did Jesus send them out on the water and into a storm? It certainly appears as if He did; or at the least, He sent them out on the water knowing a storm was coming. Nothing comes into our lives that God does not either cause or allow. He allows storms, even when we are following Him in full obedience. These are often 'storms of perfection' (Dr. Warren Wiersbe's term, not mine) and not 'storms of correction'. We are not being punished; we are being challenged and strengthened. In times of trial when we are afraid we can depend on Jesus to not only be there, as He was with His disciples, but to give us what we need in the storm.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect for many in following Jesus is confronting traditions that steer us away from Him or effective service to others. In Mark 7 Jesus reacts to the Pharisees' accusations concerning His breaking of the traditions. He did not wash His hands before eating. Their concern was more with ceremonial washing to be religiously clean before others than with any thoughts toward personal hygiene. Their man-made traditions and interpretations of the law had so burdened the Jews that keeping up with it all was practically impossible. They were the self-proclaimed "ritual police" that made it their duty to point out when Jesus disregarded useless traditions.

In most cases religious traditions are begun to aid us in worship, service, or remembrance. There is nothing sinful about that. But too often we cling to old ways and practices that no longer have any relevance and make no sense to those outside the church we are trying to reach. Our "going through the traditional motions" shout to others that we are chained to the past and hopelessly irrelevant. But when we seek to make hamburger from these sacred cows, look out! We will be branded as heretics, just as Jesus was, for violating the traditions of those who have gone before. The Mishnah, a collection of Jewish traditions in the Talmud, stated, "It is a greater offense to teach anything contrary to the voice of the Rabbis than to contradict Scripture itself." (Mark, vol. 2 in Holman New Testament Commentary, pg. 114.) Many churches ought to have a similar statement over their doors.

If there is a conflict between our traditions or practices and God's Word, or that keeps us from reaching people, we need to ditch the traditions and serve the Lord with sincerity.