8 Jan - Mark 6

Today in the Tattoo Church Reading Plan we are reading Mark 6. This section in Mark has some interesting things to point out:

1. Like we see how people in Jesus’ home town, the people who had watched him grow up, had a hard time believing in him. They asked “Isn’t this the carpenter?” They could not understand how someone so “common” could speak with the authority and perform the miracles that Jesus did. It says they took offense to him. They just simply refused to believe in Jesus. 
2. Then Jesus left and he gathered “the Twelve.” Which reminds me of Ocean’s Eleven but without George Clooney, Brad Pitt, the robbery and no casinos, so I guess it’s not really like Ocean’s Eleven at all . . . but the we are in the desert! Anyhow, the Twelve are commonly referred to as the disciples of Jesus. They were 12 men that Jesus mentored. In Mark 6 we see Jesus sending these men out in pairs to bring healing to people who were hurting in many ways.
3. In verse 14 we read about this King Herod. Remember he was the guy in Mark chapter 1 who threw John, who was the cousin of Jesus, in prison. Here we see that Herod is a little afraid of Jesus because some people think he is John raised from the dead! Herod even says, “John, the man I had beheaded, has been raised from the dead!” Another words Herod was saying “Holy crap! Is this guy’s ghost going to come after me!”
4. Then one of the most well known miracles Jesus did was recorded starting in verse 30. Where we see Jesus wanting to get away and rest but the people just kept following him. When Jesus sees them the Bible tells us “he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” 
5. His apprentices are worried about the people not eating and Jesus tells them to feed the people, all five thousand of them. I can imagine his apprentices were like “uh, seriously dude?” Then Jesus feeds at least five thousand people with only five loaves of bread and two fish!
6. As if this was not enough for Mark to write down for us to read next we see Jesus walking on water and calming the storm. 

The cool thing about this section of Mark is we really see the humanity of Jesus. He was rejected by the people he grew up with and some of his own relatives.  He had a cousin who was wrongly thrown in prison and killed. Jesus felt compassion for people who needed a spiritual leader and were hungry. We also see that after these big events Jesus would need to get away and rest. But people were continuously drawn to Jesus not just because he was some great healer but because he cared about them. 

Can you identify more with Jesus now that you see a little more of his humanity? More importantly, does your life mirror the life Jesus lived? Maybe you don’t believe in God but it’s still a good practice to ask are you known for your compassion for others? Do you care about other people more than you care about your own comfort?