Have
you ever had your credentials checked? I bet you have. Have you ever been
stopped by the police and had to show your driver’s license and registration?
How about when you applied for your driver’s license and you had to show your
birth certificate, marriage certificate, social security card or passport. Or
when you log into Facebook, you put in your user ID and password. Or when you
stand in line at the airport to get your boarding pass and you show ID. Or you
applied for a job and had your references and education verified.
Have
you ever had the wrong credentials, forgotten your ID, missed a certification
or insurance payment and your coverage lapsed? It can be an uncomfortable
position to be in when you don’t have the correct credentials, or when your
credentials get questioned. You can begin to question your own sanity and your own
memory.
Jesus’
credentials are questioned by the people of His hometown. He has gone home with
His disciples. He is preparing them to go out two by two. He is showing them
how ministry is done. But in the process His credentials get questioned,
questioned by the very people who knew Him growing up in Nazareth.
The
questions come in two areas: His work and His family.
The
first set of questions that Mark records deal with His ministry. The first
question deals with the origin of His teaching. Where did it come from? We
might ask, what book did He read? What seminar did He attend? What websites did
He read? They can’t figure out how He came up with the things He was teaching.
What Jesus taught was a very different take on religious tradition and the
character of God. He taught that God wasn’t only “way out there” He was also “right
here in me.”
The
people also questioned the wisdom He was given. They didn’t question that it
was wisdom, really insightful things about life and God. They recognized that
His teaching was filled with wisdom. It was not the typical wisdom that religious
teachers of that day dispensed. Jesus’ teaching had punch, substance, impact.
It rang true in the core of their being. They had never heard anything like
this before.
But
that wasn’t all. Jesus teaching was backed up and reinforce by the miracles
that He did. His miracles often seem to have a direct correlation to the
content of His teaching. He would talk about His power and authority over
spiritual matters and then cast out demons. He would assert His rule of the
physical universe and then heal the sick. He would talk about His position as
the Author of life and then raise the dead. It is this connection that made
what He did so powerful and unique.
No
wonder the people who heard Jesus teach that day had many questions. We too
might have many questions, very similar to those people of that day. We read about
this extra ordinary man and His wisdom and miracles, and we too wonder where it
originated. The only explanation that makes sense is that Jesus was who He
claimed to be, God in the flesh. Any other explanation just falls short.