Mark 6 begins with the account of Jesus teaching in his home town. The people there recognize him and are amazed at his teaching. They knew that he had no real formal education and chose to reject him. They marveled at his works, but must have assumed that it was some sort of trick. They knew him too well. They knew his family. They knew that Joseph was a carpenter. They thought they had him all figured out, but they didn’t.

They missed the message, they missed the miracles, but most importantly the missed the Messiah because they were focused on familiar. They couldn’t see the forest for the trees. They threw the baby out with the bathwater. They were indignant because they thought they knew him. They thought he was a common man trying to be uncommon it never entered their minds that he could be the uncommon reaching out to the common.

Do we miss seeing what He would do in our lives because we have treated Him as common? The culture and sub-culture in which I live is in danger of missing Jesus because he has become common. We treat him like a genie or Santa Clause, we relegate him to the world of mystical cultural phenomenon, but really pay him little attention. Have we forgotten that He is God? have we forgotten that He is the only path to peace with God? Have we forgotten that its His kingdom?