Small Town Kid

Gospel: Mark 6: 1-6

The story of a small town kid becoming a big success is a compelling story.  How does someone without access to education or other advantage come to find success and renown? Some find the story so captivating that they are ready to believe it, while many others find such tales too good to be true and they refuse to believe it.  What both sides are doing, however, is making a decision on the person based on their own lives - whether they are motivated by jealousy or other form of self-interest.  

So, we have the person of Jesus whose story enters this very dynamic in his own day and up to our own day.  People make decisions about him based on all sorts of biases and factors based on their own egos.  They do not look at the works Jesus performs - works of mercy and compassion for the good of others.  And yet even these they find a reason to attach to their own self-interest and ego.  Some will say Jesus expels demons by Satanic power, while others will follow him just for their own possible benefit.  

And so it is with us.  Many follow Jesus just to claim some future benefit in heaven.  Others will castigate him as when he existed on earth.  In every case no is doing what is most important: doing these good works of Jesus for the benefit of others.  Jesus ignores the din of the crowd and just goes about performing deeds of mercy and compassion.  And so it should be with us.