Commentary
Beloved Son of God
This short passage from Mark’s
Gospel gives two identifications for Jesus.
Together, they teach us a great lesson of God’s way.
Jesus “comes from Nazareth of
Galilee,” which in the words of Ched Myers, “Jesus is from Nowheresville.” [1]
Nazareth is not even mentioned
in the Old Testament [2]. At the time of
Jesus, some scholars believe the town had no more than 30 people, overshadowed
by nearby Sepphoris, Herod Antipas’ capital. [2]
There, in “obscure and tiny”
Nazareth [3] Jesus lived and worked as a carpenter. In the opinions of those who knew him, he was
no more than the carpenter. And his
neighbors, the people of Nazareth did not appear to be people of faith
(Mark 6: 3-6). [4]
Nazareth is so insignificant
that Mark needs to identify it with Galilee.
But Galilee is not much better.
It was an area of a mixed population and mixed religions. Galilee during the time of the New Testament
was “at least half Gentile in population, half pagan in [religion], and
bilingual.” [5] For
sure, devout Jews and their religious leaders in Jerusalem looked down upon
Galilee and its residents with contempt.
Yet this man Jesus, who is from
“Nazareth of Galilee,” is identified by God as God’s beloved Son, “with whom I
am well pleased.”
It is
so for us. The only identification that
matters comes from God: that we are
God’s beloved sons and daughters.
--------------------
[1] Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man, 128, quoted by
Francis Moloney, The Gospel of Mark, A
Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002; p. 36.
[2] Raymond Brown, Joseph Fitzmyer, and Roland Murphy, Eds. The New
Jerome Biblical Commentary, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990; p.
636
[3] Ibid., p. 689.
[4] Ibid., p. 608
[5] Ibid., p. 638
No comments:
Post a Comment