ACC ~ Mark 6 v1 - 6

OVERVIEW:

Jesus blessed by his own labor the unpretentious vocation of carpentry (EPHREM THE SYRIAN). As a youth he did not separate himself from his synagogue tradition (ORIGEN). At Nazareth Jesus lived an active, common life, identifying with the poor, obedient within the economic order as an ordinary workman (JUSTIN MARTYR). Yet as the eternal Son, he came down into our broken humanity as if we were already his own (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). As a magnet is drawn toward iron, so faith is drawn toward God’s healing power, which may surmount disbelief but works with greater power among those who believe (ORIGEN). Human willing can temporarily thwart God’s gifts by its faithless resistance. This is the ironic pseudo-power of unbelief—the refusal of God’s gifts (JOHN CASSIAN). Meanwhile God’s gracious purpose is not finally obstructed by the resistance of any particular recipient. Determined not to coerce freedom, God respects even the freedom that resists his promptings (GREGORY NAZIANZEN).

6:1 | He Came to His Own Country

HE TAUGHT IN SYNAGOGUE

Origen: “His own country” refers to Nazareth … because of the saying, “he shall be called a Nazarene.” [1] … In his own country Jesus was not held in honor, but he was held in honor among those who were “strangers from the covenants,” [2] the Gentiles. Only let it be noted that he taught in their synagogue, not separating from it, and not disregarding it. [3] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 10. 16. [4]

[1] Mt 2:23.

[2] Eph 2:12.

[3] Cf. Mt 13:54.

[4] TLG 2042.029, 10.16.32-34, 44-45, 49-50; ANF 9:424. He was less honored by those in the covenant than by those outside. In seeking his own, his own received him not.

HOW CAN ONE WHO IS EVERYWHERE BE SAID TO “COME TO” SOME PLACE?

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: How can he be said to go out and to come in, whom no space can enclose? What country can be his, who made, and who possesses, the whole universe? In truth, Christ goes out and comes in not of himself, nor for himself, but in you, and on behalf of you, until he recovers you from your exile, and calls you home from your captivity. [1] SERMONS 49. [2]

[1] Gen 3:8; Ps 24:1; Mt 9:13; 18:11; Lk 15:4.

[2] Cetedoc 0227+, 49.8; GMI 119*. The eternal Son comes to our broken humanity as if our banishment from our native unfallen humanity were a breach to be overcome.

6:3 | The Carpenter, the Son of Mary

COMMON LABOR

JUSTIN MARTYR: Jesus came as the son of a carpenter. [1] He was not physically attractive, just as the prophets had predicted of him. [2] He was merely a carpenter, making ploughs and yokes, and instructing us by such symbols of righteousness to avoid an inactive life. DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO 7.9. [3]

[1] Cf. Mt 13:55.

[2] Cf. Is 53:2.

[3] TLG 0645.003, 88.8.1-7; GMI 120*.

CARPENTRY A BLESSED OCCUPATION

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: The ordinary workmen will come to the son of Joseph singing:

“Blessed be your coming, [1]

O master of workers everywhere.

The imprint of your labor is seen in the ark, [2]

And in the fashioning of the tabernacle [3]

Of the congregation that was for a time only!

Our whole craft praises you, who are our eternal glory.

Make for us a yoke that is light, even easy, for us to bear. [4]

Establish that measure in us in which there can be no falseness.”

HYMNS ON THE NATIVITY 6. [5]

[1] Cf. Ps 118:26.

[2] Cf. Ex 25:10-16.

[3] Cf. Ex 26.

[4] Cf. Mt 11:30.

[5] NPNF 2 13:239**. He blessed common labor by his own hands that ordinary workers everywhere might see how he participated in their humble work.

6:5a | He Could Do No Mighty Work There

WHAT DOES “COULD NOT” MEAN IN GOD’S CASE?

GREGORY NAZIANZEN: One meaning of “could not” is simply the limits of some human will. Take, for example, the point that Christ “could not” fulfill any signs in Nazareth was due to disbelief on their part. [1] Something essential for healing is required on both sides—faith on the part of the patients, power on that of the healer. So one side without its counterpart “could not,” so to speak, perform them. As this can be seen in medical care, it can also be seen in moral transformation. Similarly involving the limits of the will are the texts: “The world cannot not hate you” and “How can you [2] speak good, being evil?” [3] The metaphor of “impossibility” here must mean free refusal by the will. The same idea applies to those passages which say that what is impossible for humanity is possible for God. [4] Note also those passages that say that a person “cannot” (in one sense) be born a second time [5] and a needle’s eye “cannot” let a camel through. [6] What would stop these events happening if God willed them directly? [7] Besides all these there is, as in the case we are presently considering, a “cannot” in the sense of that which is totally inconceivable. We cannot conceive that God can be evil or fail to exist. It is inconceivable that reality cannot exist or two times two is fourteen. So here it cannot be the case that the Son would do anything which the Father would not do. ORATION 30, ON THE SON 10-11. [8]

[1] Mt 13:58; Mk 6:5.

[2] Brood of vipers.

[3] Mt 12:34.

[4] Cf. Mt 19:26; Mk 10:27.

[5] Jn 3:4.

[6] Mt 19:24; Mk 10:25; Lk 18:25.

[7] Setting aside human freedom.

[8] TLG 2022.010, 10.13-11.6; FGFR 268**; cf. LCC 3:183. The phrase “he could not” implies not that the Savior lacked power but that the recipients of the divine gift lacked the faithfulness to receive divine power.

IMPEDING GOD’S GIFTS

JOHN CASSIAN: In some cases he so richly poured forth the mighty work of healing that the Evangelist was led to exclaim: “He healed all their sick.” [1] But among others the unfathomable depth of Christ’s goodness was so thwarted that it was said: “And Jesus could do there no mighty works because of their unbelief.” [2] So the bounty of God is actually curtailed temporarily according to the receptivity of our faith. So it is said to one: “According to your faith may it be to you,” [3] and to another: “Go your way, and as you have believed so let it be to you,” [4] and to another “Let it be to you according as you will,” [5] and again to another: “Your faith has made you whole.” [6] THIRD CONFERENCE OF ABBOT CHAERMEON 15. [7]

[1] Mt 8:16; Lk 4:40.

[2] Mt 13:58; Mk 6:6.

[3] Mt 9:29.

[4] Mt 8:13.

[5] Cf. Mt 15:28.

[6] Mt 9:22; Mk 5:34; 10:52; Lk 8:48; 17:19.

[7] Cetedoc 0512, 13.15.390.13; NPNF 2 11:432-33*. Our unreadiness temporarily impedes God’s offering us his gifts.

6:5b | Except That He Laid His Hands upon a Few Sick People and Healed Them

DISTINGUISHING GOD’S POWER AND OUR FAITH

ORIGEN: And perhaps, as in the case of metallic substances there exists in some a natural attraction toward some other thing, as in the magnet for iron, and in naphtha for fire, so there is an attraction in such faith toward the divine power according to what Jesus said: “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, ‘Move to another place,’ and it shall be moved.” [1] Matthew and Mark wished to present the all-surpassing value of that divine power as a power that works even in those who do not believe. But they did not deny that grace works even more powerfully among those who have faith. So it seems to me that they accurately said not that the Lord did not do any mighty works because of their unbelief, but that he did not do many there. [2] Mark does not flatly say that he could do no mighty work there at all, and stop at that point, but added, “except that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them.” [3] Thus the power in him overcame even their unbelief. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 10.19. [4]

[1] Mt 17:20.

[2] Cf. Mk 6:5.

[3] Mk 6:5.

[4] ANF 9:426*; TLG 2042.029, 10.19.19-34. Italics added.

6:5c | And He Marveled Because of Their Unbelief

THE “POWER” OF UNBELIEF

JOHN CASSIAN: If the faith of those who bring them or of the sick is lacking, it may prevent those who possess the gift of healing from exercising it. SECOND CONFERENCE OF ABBOT NESTEROS 15.1. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0512, 15.1.426.22; NPNF 2 11:445*; LCC 12:258, Western Asceticism, 258.