Poor Jesus. The religious authorities don’t like him (too many examples to cite here). His family thinks he’s crazy and organize an intervention to persuade him to stop his foolishness (Mark 3:19f). Now, in his hometown synagogue, his neighbors simply cannot take him seriously. Basically, the five questions the crowd asks him boil down to this: We’ve known you since you were a kid; we know your parents, your brothers and your sisters. You’re a mere craftsman (the better translation of tektōn, which does not mean carpenter), what gives you the right to say and do all this stuff? The crowd is scandalized by Jesus (the word translated as ‘offense’ is in fact skandalon, which literally means ‘stumbling block’ – a thing which trips one up). Jesus can’t win! And in response, he uses an aphorism well attested to in ancient near eastern literature: There is no respect to be found in one’s hometown. To which Jesus adds (in light of Mark 3:19f), nor among one’s own family! In fact, the lack of faith on display negates any deed of power which Jesus might accomplish (vs. 5), since a closed mind and heart shut out the deeper faith in to which Jesus is calling (summoning) folks.
[This is Jesus’ third and final synagogue visit. In the first he teaches, and casts out demons (Mark 1:21f); in the second, he heals the man with the withered hand (Mark 3:1-6).]
So, Jesus instead embarks on a ‘teaching tour’ of the surrounding villages (a permissible translation of the Greek). The disciples are sent out in twos – perhaps to provide companionship, or mutual accountability, or perhaps reflecting the Jewish law requiring two witnesses in order to corroborate testimony. They are to carry a staff (for protection, and as a symbol of authority, per Exodus 38:18) and to wear sandals (a symbol of dignity, per Genesis 14:23). Taken together, these two items may evoke the Hebrews in Egypt eating the first Passover meal before escaping through the wilderness: “… your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand…” There is a new exodus now at hand. Regardless of the symbolism at play, the mission of the disciples is successful; and Jesus’ power and authority are seen to be transmissible to those who believe in him.
Celsus, a Second Century critic of Christianity, scoffed at a religion whose founder was a common laborer. And, while it is true that ‘familiarity breeds contempt,’ it is also true that a person can be underestimated perilously. An empty grave will prove that this is no mere tektōn.
