Offended by the Lord

Wednesday in Ordinary Time Year B
Gospel of Mark 6:1-6
Homily by Deacon Joe Stackhouse February 1, 2012

Can you imagine being offended by the Lord? Yet, that is what Mark records in his gospel for today. On the Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue and began to teach. At first, the people were impressed with his wisdom and with what he had to say. In short order, however, they took offense, although Mark is not entirely clear about the cause of their indignation.

Was it that Jesus spoke as an ordinary person, a carpenter who earned his living, with no religious authority to teach? Was it that he said something that caused them to take offense? Perhaps it was both. Perhaps he first said something that challenged their way of seeing things. And had they accepted what he said, they would have had to change their way of living. Since they weren’t willing to do that, they simply dismissed what he said. An ordinary guy with an opinion they didn’t like was just that. No reason to listen to him. Indeed, they were offended.

We can well imagine the message that Jesus delivered that day. It would have been the same message he repeated throughout his mission on earth: I don’t see any true faith in this place. You are more interested in doing religion than in doing justice. You are more interested in my miracles than in caring for the poor, the vulnerable, the outcast, the sick, the marginalized. You are more interested in religious ritual and celebration than in living a life of loving sacrifice for others. You substitute following religious rules for doing God’s will. This is likely the message that caused the people in his day to take offense, and no wonder. All this from a carpenter, an ordinary person who works for his living; no different from them.

The message that Jesus preached that day so long ago is far more familiar to us than it was to those in the synagogue. His message—as much now as it was then—is a call to follow him, to live a certain kind of life, to be a certain kind of person. The decision to follow Christ is a decision to be a person who is loving, kind, patient, understanding, merciful and just towards others, especially the poor and vulnerable members of society. Or as St Paul puts it, the Christian way of life is life in the Spirit. The Spirit of God helps us be the kind of person we are called to be.

This is what motivates Jesus to say on another occasion, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Mt 11:6). The invitation that Jesus extends is not a reason to be offended, but a blessing that leads to eternal life. Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the full. For this reason, we are indeed blessed that God so loved us that he became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. We are blessed that Jesus is like us in every way, as St. Paul says—in failure and success, in sorrow and in joy, in doubt and in faith—in all ways except in sin. Jesus came to show us who the Father is and how we can get to his home. This is the good news that Jesus preached in the synagogue so long ago. We are truly blessed to hear his message once again.