When Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Not since 1932 has the United States dominated the Winter Olympics like it has this year.  To our Canadian readers (my cousin Kerri, for one), I’m not trying to gloat. But it’s been almost 80 years since we’ve performed like this.

And for the first time in at least 20 years, I’ve actually set apart time to watch the Olympics with my family. What an enjoyable experience.

Growing up, our family watched both the Summer and Winter Olympics every four years. Franz Klammer and Scott Hamilton were Olympic medalists whom I admired. But something happened in my teens. I grew familiar with watching them. Over time, I grew bored and stopped watching them altogether. Until this year.

In today’s reading, we’ll look at what happens when we become familiar with something (actually someone) more important than the Winter Olympics. Please join me!

TODAY’S READING

Leviticus 13:1-59
Mark 6:1-29
Psalm 39:1-13
Proverbs 10:10

INSIGHTS AND EXPLANATIONS

Leviticus 13. The leprosy this chapter—and the rest of Scripture—refers to isn’t the kind where a “face-off in the corner” means literally a face off in the corner. It’s more accurately rendered “lesion” or “scaly skin.”

The New Bible Commentary further explains, “The unfortunate person pronounced unclean by the priest because of a serious skin disease was required to do several things which were tantamount to mourning rites, involving torn clothes, unkempt hair and a covered lower face. In a sense he or she was virtually counted ‘dead’, since the disease had allowed death to invade a still living body, and was condemned to a life of separation from both the community and the place of worship.”

The plight of lepers in Bible times make Jesus’ acceptance of them that much more pronounced.

Mark 6: 6. The New Bible Commentary offers an interesting insight: “Usually, Mark says that people were amazed at Jesus; here, he says that Jesus was amazed at them.” It’s also interesting that Jesus didn’t work miracles to build faith; he worked miracles in response to faith.

Mark 6:6-13. Isn’t it interesting that his disciples followed in Jesus’ footsteps? Jesus, the former carpenter, wasn’t flashy. In the same way, he sent out his disciples as peasants who relied on God to provide for their needs through the generosity of the people they helped. Their mission wasn’t to make money, their mission was to help people.

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THE WORD MADE FRESH

Throughout his ministry, Jesus encountered criticism from the people closest to him. Earlier in Mark, we read that his family thought he was crazy. In Mark 6:1-6 we learn that the people in his hometown doubted him. Familiarity truly breeds contempt.

Mark offers a sad commentary on the people’s familiarity with Jesus: “they took offense at him.” The Greek word, skandalízō, means to stumble. What made them stumble? Jesus was so…human. They grew up with Jesus. They knew his father Joseph before he died. They watched Jesus hone his skills as a carpenter. How could Jesus, a carpenter, become the Messiah? How could the Messiah be just like them? But he was and he is!

I grew up with Jesus, too. All too easily I become familiar with him. I read nice stories about Jesus in my Bible and they fail to move me. I receive communion every week at church and fail to appreciate the sacrifice Jesus made on my behalf to forgive my sin.

Fortunately, Mark offers a clue to breaking out of our familiarity with Jesus in verse 5: “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.” The people who Jesus healed were the ones who were sick. They humbled themselves enough to ask him to intervene.

We so easily become enamored with ourselves that we fail to believe we’re sick and broken. When we fail to acknowledge our brokenness, we fail to see our need for Jesus.

I’m not advocating that we brow-beat ourselves, but an honest acknowledgement of our brokenness places us in the position for Jesus to heal us. By acknowledgement, I don’t mean a general “I’m messed up.” What are the specifics of your brokeness?

Acknowledging them may help you break out of your familiarity with Jesus.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

1. What spoke to you in today’s reading?
2. What causes people to become familiar with Jesus? What causes you to be familiar with Jesus? How can you tell when you’ve become “familiar”?
3. What brokenness can you acknowledge to Jesus?

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Michael co-pastors The Neighborhood Church in Littleton, Colorado.

When Inoculations Go Horribly Wrong

The New York City streets are barren, overrun by sagebrush and wild animals. And to his knowledge, only one person remains: Dr. Robert Neville.

In the movie I Am Legend, the cure to cancer is discovered. After proving 100% effective in over 10,000 clinical trials, everyone in the United States is given the breakthrough treatment, which would also serve as an inoculation against all forms of cancer.

But the ionoculation went horribly wrong.

In this thriller, starring Will Smith, we learn that not all inoculations are created equal. If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it. And pay close attention to the ending–because it offers a different inoculation with rich spiritual overtones.

In today’s reading, we’re going to look a little closer at a deadly inoculation that may hit close to home. It does to me.

TODAY’S READING

Genesis 42:18-43:34
Matthew 13:47-14:12
Psalm 18:16-36
Proverbs 4:7-10

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INSIGHTS AND EXPLANATIONS

Genesis 42:36-43:2, 23. By refusing to send Benjamin with Reuben, Jacob chose to keep Simeon in house arrest in Egypt. From the appearance, Jacob must have given up hope that he would ever see Simeon again (see verse 36). I wonder what Simeon did while waiting to be released? But also, consider this: the sons hid this family secret about Joseph from their father for 20 years.

If karma was true, these brothers would have died for their sin.

Matthew 13:54. Jesus was living in Capernaum at the time, which is why a big deal was made about Jesus’ return to Nazareth.

Matthew 14:2–4. The Bible Background Commentary explains, “The first-century historian Josephus also reports Herod Antipas’s affair with his sister-in-law Herodias. The tetrarch and his paramour divorced their spouses to marry one another, and Herod thereby offended his former father-in-law, the Nabatean king, ultimately leading to a war in which Herod’s honor suffered greatly.”

Matthew 14:7. Herod was obviously drunk because he didn’t have the authority to grant any of the Roman Empire’s territory to anyone.

Psalm 18:30-36. What a beautiful passage—but do we really believe it? Do we believe that all God’s ways are perfect? If so, then we must trust that he’s in control regardless of the circumstances.

Proverbs 4:7. This is convicting. I don’t value wisdom like Solomon. No matter what the cost, attaining wisdom is of supreme importance.

THE WORD MADE FRESH

Reading the last part of Matthew 13, I couldn’t help placing myself in the story. In his triumphant return home, Jesus began teaching in the synagogue—likely his first time in Nazareth—and praying for the sick. So how did Jesus’ family and friends respond?

“Isn’t he the carpenter’s son?”

“We know Jesus’ family—who is he to teach us?”

“Who does Jesus think he is, calling God his father and asking him to heal people? He acts like he has a special connection to God.”

Matthew tells us that the people who knew Jesus best, “took offense at him.”

Proving the adage that familiarity breeds contempt, Jesus encountered minimal success among his family and friends.

Sometimes I get concerned that I’ve become inoculated with the Gospel. You know how inoculations work—you take a small dosage of a virus, which over time, makes you immune to its affects.

Having spent my life in the church, I readily admit that I easily become immune to the Gospel. I take just enough to build a resistance to it. Jesus then becomes so…familiar.

I especially battled this in seminary. All day long we studied the Bible. We prodded and examined it so much that at times I wondered if we had killed it. Rather than the living word, we handled Scripture as if were a corpse to be examined.

As a result of a few mission trips overseas, I’ve seen the incredible affects of the Gospel on people. Changed lives. Freedom from addictions. Dramatic healings.

Perhaps they don’t occur as often here because we’ve become overly familiar with Jesus.

Lord Jesus, please forgive us for becoming overly familiar with you. We need new eyes to see you again for the first time.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

1. What spoke to you in today’s reading?
2. Do you think Joseph was justified in his treatment of his brothers? What would you have done? Why?
3. How do you break free from being inoculated with the Gospel?
4. Describe a time when you encountered a difficult situation, only to discover that God really was in control.

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