1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this 6th Sunday after Pentecost is taken from Mark 6:1-13. It’s entitled, “Jesus Brings Good News,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Our text from Mark’s Gospel raises a troubling question. We are told Jesus, “...could do no mighty work,” in His hometown (Mark 6:5). Or, more literally, “He was not able to do any miracle there.” Why would Jesus be unable to perform miracles?
3. Mark has shown us Jesus can heal the sick (2:11-12), calm a storm (4:39), cast out demons (5:12-13), and raise Jairus, the Synagogue Ruler’s daughter, from the dead (5:41-42). In fact, we learned this past week that Jesus was so filled with healing power that it flowed from Him and a woman who touched His garment was healed in Mark chapter 5. But, after all of this, Mark tells us Jesus was, “...not able to do any miracle.” Why was Jesus unable to perform a miracle?
4. One possible answer might be because of God’s judgment. Jesus was unable to perform a miracle because God was judging these people. Jesus had just taught in their synagogue, and they rejected Him. Why, then, should God heal them? It is important to consider this answer because even today some people live burdened by this possibility. When they pray and do not receive healing, they wonder: “Is God judging me for my sin?”
5. While this seems like a reasonable answer, it does not match the mission and ministry of Jesus. Mark begins by revealing that good news has come in Jesus. Mark 1:1 says, “The beginning of the gospel, the good news, of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” While John the Baptist thought Jesus would come with an axe and fire to destroy all sinners, Jesus comes with the waters of Holy Baptism and words which bring salvation instead. In fact, the mission of Jesus is to take God’s judgment upon Himself so all people might be saved. On the last day, when He returns in judgment, Jesus will condemn those who do not believe. But until that time, He is on a mission... a mission of mercy. Jesus has come to save. People will question Him, misunderstand Him, even resist Him, but He will not stop until He has taken God’s judgment upon Himself and opened God’s Kingdom to all who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. So, upon deeper reflection, it is not because God is judging these people that Jesus cannot perform miracles there.
6. If it is not because of God’s judgment, then maybe, it is because of their lack of faith. Maybe Jesus was unable to perform miracles because the people did not believe. In some ways, this makes sense. Mark tells us Jesus marveled at their unbelief. Maybe, when faced with their lack of faith, Jesus was unable to perform a miracle.
7. This answer still circulates among Christians today, especially among those of the Word Faith Movement, otherwise known as the Prosperity Gospel. This movement believes that faith is a force and through the force of faith you can create your own reality. Turn on the TV and you can hear these faith healers say, “God wants to do good for you. God wants to bless you, but you have to have faith in order to get a miracle.” Listening to these preachers, someone suffering from cancer suddenly suffers from something worse: A crisis of faith. They begin to think God is not healing them because they do not have faith.
8. Here, we need to be clear. God does not need your faith in order to do a miracle. Miracles are revelations of God’s power over all creation. He who created the sea can still it with a word. He who formed the body can heal it with a touch. God, the all-powerful creator, does not need our faith to rule His world. Whose faith enabled Jesus to still the storm or feed five thousand people? In fact, on the last day, when Jesus raises the dead, who will be raised? Everyone: those who believe in Jesus will be raised to everlasting life and those who do not believe will be raised to everlasting condemnation. God is able to raise all people because God does not need our faith to perform miracles.
9. So, if Jesus is not judging the people for their lack of faith and if Jesus does not need faith to perform a miracle, why was Jesus unable to work miracles? Maybe it is because of His mission. Jesus has come to bring salvation to all people through His death on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins, not judgment. While miracles are not a reward for believing, they can lead to punishment for those who do not believe. In Mark, Jesus condemns those who seek signs from God. Mark 8:11-12 says, “The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” And, to those who have seen signs and yet still not believed, there is even greater condemnation. As Jesus says in Mark 11:20-24, “Woe to you... Capernaum... if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the Day of Judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” For Jesus to perform miracles in the face of unbelief would only increase God’s condemnation on the Day of Judgment. Jesus has just preached in His hometown and the people have resisted the Holy Spirit’s work through that word. To do miracles in the face of such resistance would only increase God’s judgment.
10. When a rich period of grace had broken out over Germany, Martin Luther in his writing “To the Councilmen of all cities of the German Nation, that they establish and maintain Christian schools,” made the terrifying statement in 1524: “God’s word and grace is a passing rain shower, which does not return, where it once was.” Hebrews 3:7-15 says, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.’” Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
11. In this text from Hebrews 3 we hear the cause why Israel could not enter into the promise land. Their lack of faith took from them the grace of God, and their lack of faith prevented the grace of God from returning to them. They had all seen the great signs and wonders. But instead of trusting in God like children, they grumbled constantly against him and did not believe his promises. And so, God swore in his wrath: “You shall not enter my rest.”
12. Un-thankfulness and contempt for God’s Word were the cause that Jerusalem lost the grace of God. The farewell speech of our Savior Jesus to the city was this: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who killed the prophets and stoned them, who were sent to you, how often would I have gathered together your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings; and you would not! Behold, your house shall be left desolate for you,” (Matthew 23:37-38). Martin Luther said unbelief, un-thankfulness and disdain have not allowed the rain and the gracious weather to remain in Germany.
13. But, Jesus will not stop on His mission of grace: Then and now. A bruised reed, He will not break. A smoldering wick, He will not snuff out. Jesus has been sent by His Father to bring good news. He fulfills this office. He will bring good news, send His disciples to bring good news, and, in His death and resurrection, become good news for all who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior.
14. Regardless of how the world responds to Jesus, Jesus will respond to the world in love. Sometimes with miracles, sometimes without, but always with the self-sacrificial love that brings God’s gracious embrace and never-ending life. All this did not change the plan Jesus had mapped out for the evangelization of the world. He called the twelve disciples to Him. To reach as many as possible with the saving Gospel and to give the apostles experience and training for their future work, He sent them out by twos on their first missionary journey. So, the apostles went out in His name and boldly proclaimed repentance wherever they went. No real good can be done by all our witnessing unless people first know and acknowledge their sins, otherwise even the sweetest Gospel message will be met with bored indifference. And the power of the Lord went with His messengers. Jesus will bring good news, send His disciples to bring good news, and, in His death and resurrection, become good news for all. Amen.
15. Prayer—O Lord, how can we ever thank You for making such blessed provision for the proclamation of the saving Gospel to the ends of the world, particularly for establishing the ministry of the Word and Sacraments in our midst! Forgive us when we have been unmindful and unthankful of such blessings, and help us to make more diligent use of them. Keep us from indifference and opposition to the truth, so that it may work in us repentance and faith and the joy of our salvation, and that such fruits of faith may be brought forth to glorify Your name. Amen.
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