Reading Mark 6, we see the people question this 'ordinary' Jesus that stands before them. 'Where did this man get these gifts? Isn't this the carpenter?'
And they took offence at him (v3).
Without a glimpse of his majesty and splendour, it's easy to think this historical do-gooder is just a character in folklore or nursery rhymes. Wasn't he just born in a stable? Wasn't he just the adopted son of a tradesman? Wasn't he just born to a teenage mum? Wasn't he just a carpenter? Wasn't he just a poorly-travelled guy from the outskirts? Wasn't he just some random figure in history?
It seems so easy to replace the very powerful with the very plain.
It's easy to think of Jesus as so ordinary that he must (surely) be make believe - and it's easy to take offence at him today as well. Why does such a man have the right to speak into our lives and offer such a radical solution?! Surely someone so distant in the past, who was captured, tortured and buried, cannot impact my life in 21st century London? Surely a story so far-fetched is closer in connection to Santa or the Tooth Fairy than being a genuinely life changing option?
If you fail to investigate this Jesus further yourself, and just rely on the snippets of opinion about him circulating modern culture, then you'll likely take offence at him too, just as they did in the days prior to his crucifixion.
There is a beautiful, ordinary and very very unassuming quality to Jesus. One thing I always find so fascinating is that God, the Saviour of mankind, walked dusty roads to get to work. He ate, slept, sneezed, laughed, learnt and yawned. It's through the seemingly incredibly ordinary that the extremely extraordinary happened.
Don't let the everyday, 'ordinary' details, stop you from delighting in a far more grand picture.
He was a carpenter. But He was also far far more.
