Mark 6 - Prophets and Politics

February 8th, 2026                      “Prophets and Politics”                Rev. Heather Jepsen

Mark 6:1-29

          This week we continue our study of the gospel of Mark.  Last week we read about Jesus’ healing powers.  He raised a girl from death, and a woman was healed simply by touching his robes and hoping in a miracle.  Today we find that not everyone received Jesus with such hope and faith.

          We pick up right where we left off.  Jesus has just healed Jarius’ daughter and now he and his disciples travel to the village he grew up in, Nazareth.  Remember, Jesus has a home in Capernaum, so this isn’t where he currently lives, rather Nazareth is his childhood home.

          Many of us have moved far away from where we grew up, and we know that when we return to those towns it can be hard for folks who knew us as children to accept who we have become as adults.  The experience is no different for Jesus.  He teaches in the synagogue, but he is rejected by the townspeople. 

          Why? Because they think they already know who Jesus is.  Their minds are made up in advance of his preaching.  “Where did he get all this?  What wisdom has been given to him?  Isn’t he the carpenter, the son of Mary?”  Everyone in Nazareth knows Jesus as a member of the labor class, working with wood to make doors and tables and the like.  To teach in the synagogue is to claim the role of scribe, a member of the learned class.  Jesus is elevating himself above his birth status and that brings dishonor to him and his family of origin.  To make the claims that Jesus does is offensive.

          Plus, there is the scandal of his heritage.  Notice that the crowds mention his mother and brothers and sisters but not his father.  We have no birth narrative in Mark’s gospel, and it appears that Jesus has no one to claim as a father either.  A fatherless son, preaching in the synagogue, claiming knowledge he cannot possibly have, its no wonder his hometown rejected him.

          We noticed last week that Jesus’ ability to heal is connected to people’s belief.  With little or no belief in Nazareth there can be no healing miracles.  And where we often read that observers are overcome with amazement at Jesus’ works, here we find a wonderful literary twist as Jesus himself is amazed at people’s unbelief.

          Jesus leaves Nazareth for the neighboring villages and commissions the disciples to go out to teach.  He encourages them to take nothing along and to accept no gifts.  They are simply to enjoy the hospitality of those who welcome them and to curse those who do not. 

That’s what shaking the dust off your sandals means, it’s a curse.  When Matthew tells this story he will claim that the disciples call down the judgement of Sodom upon those that reject them.  (Note here that this supports my theory that the sin of Sodom is a lack of welcome versus homosexuality.)

          It is interesting to note that even though the disciples are often portrayed as lacking understanding and even faith, still they are sent out to do the work of Jesus.  Flawed as they are, they can still channel Jesus’ authority and power if they find themselves welcomed by those who believe. 

          The next section is an extended story about king Herod and John the Baptist.  This is another good spot for our biblical interpretation and study.  Now I mentioned to you before that Josephus, a Jewish historian, has record of both Jesus and John the Baptist in his writings.  That means that we have a historical record of John the Baptist’s death, and it doesn’t align with the story that Mark is telling.

          Josephus writes: “John, surnamed the Baptist, was a good man and had exhorted the Jews to lead righteous lives, to practice justice towards their fellows and piety towards God.  When others too joined the crowds about him, because they were aroused to the highest degree by his sermons, Herod became alarmed.  Eloquence that had so great an effect on mankind might lead to some form of sedition, for it looked as if they would be guided by John in everything that they did.  Herod decided therefore that it would be much better to strike first and be rid of him before his work led to an uprising, than to wait for an upheaval, get involved in a difficult situation and see his mistake.  So, John was brought in chains to Machaerus and there put to death.”

          So historically we have a record that Herod killed John because he feared a political uprising.  This makes sense as this is the reason that Jesus too, who begins his ministry after the death of John, will be killed by Pilate.

          Mark, on the other hand, has this complicated story about Herod and his brother’s wife, the dance of the daughter, and the head of John on a platter.  Where did he get all this?  Probably hear say.  It’s true that Herod had lots of family intrigue, killing family members and the like.  And it is true that he married his brother’s wife which would be an unholy union in Jewish eyes.  And for centuries folks have loved this juicy story as it has spawned the character of Salome and the dance of the seven veils.  So, very exciting bit here, the slander of Herod, but not the true story about how and why John the Baptist was killed.

          The rejection of Jesus in his hometown, the rejection of the disciples on their mission, and the rejection of John the Baptist and his message of repentance are all about the intersection of religion and politics.  I know that we like to imagine that the Bible is non-political or that Jesus is non-political but that betrays the historical setting of these stories and the message of Jesus himself.

          Everything about the Jesus movement is in contrast to and in conflict with the Roman Empire.  In Rome power moves from the center out, from folks like Herod and Pilate out to the people on the margins.  In the Jesus movement, the power is located on the margins and moves in, like the disciples going out to spread the word.  Jesus can do miracles outside the synagogue but not in it.  He can perform deeds of power in Capernaum but not Jerusalem.  The movement spreads from the edges to the center.

          In Rome power is top down, from Ceasar to Herod to the armies and police.  In the Jesus movement the power is bottom up.  From the unclean outcast and sinner, the tax collectors and prostitutes, those without respect and power they are the ones with a seat at the table.  They are the ones who have power in the kingdom of God.

          Rome is about the strong having power over the weak and it is about getting more for yourself.  Rome is about owning and gathering and exerting force whenever and wherever you can.  The Jesus movement is about putting the weak before the strong, the needs of the minority over the needs of the majority, and the first being last and the last being first.  Rather than being about amassing more wealth for yourself, the Jesus movement is about giving everything away. 

          When we examine these themes, we find that the rules of Rome are incompatible with the message of Jesus Christ.  Top down power, strong central force, amassing personal wealth, and supporting the strong over the weak are all the ideas of Rome and are all against the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ.  You cannot be a good Christian and a good Roman.  Either you are part of the movement that begins with John and Jesus, or you are aligned with Herod and Pilate.  There is no in-between.

          When Jesus goes to Nazareth, he goes to those who claim his name, his hometown.  Yet those who claim to be Jesus’ brothers and sisters reject him in practice.  How many Christians in our world today reject the cause of Christ?  I am reminded of those pastors who would test their churches by dressing up as homeless people and then gauging their congregation’s welcome.  We would pass such a test, but many churches would not.  How many people in our country today claim the name of Christ but then refuse to recognize Christ when he is in their midst?

          Jesus tells us that prophets are rejected among their own kin and in their own house.  That’s because prophets call us to see hard truths.  The word of God is as clear for us today as it has always been.

          “You shall have no other gods before me.”

          “You shall love the immigrant for you were immigrants.”

          “You shall give to everyone who asks of you.”

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

          “Whatever you do to the least of these you do to me.”

          If we claim the name of Jesus and then reject his teaching then we are no different than the people of Nazareth, a place where Jesus could do no miracles and he was amazed at their unbelief.  If we follow the likes of Herod instead of John the Baptist, then we are complicit in the sins of empire. 

          The Bible is political, the gospel is political, and the life of faith therefore must be political.  Of course people don’t like it and it is offensive.  The true gospel can be nothing but offensive, for it is politics that killed John and it is politics that will kill Jesus.  May we be brave enough to follow where Jesus leads us today, away from empire and toward the kingdom of God.  Amen.