Jesus in a Slump?

~ Bible Bits

Jesus in a Slump?  • 
Mark 6:5  •

So he could do no miracles there other than lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. (David Stern, Complete Jewish Bible)

No. Jesus never goes into slumps.

But we are a bit amused when looking at Mark 6:5, where it (almost) seems as if Mark is writing with some tongue-in-cheek humor. Jesus could do no miracles. Nope. None whatsoever. None except healing the sick just by touching them.

There is actually quite a bit more of serious interest in this verse, and the circumstances of Christ’s healing powers in Nazareth, but we won’t explore these things here.

We’ll leave you with a few translations of Mark 6:5 to examine carefully. First the context, from the New International Version:

1Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.  “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,a Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.  4Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6He was amazed at their lack of faith. (NIV)

And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. (KJV)

And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. (NASB)

And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. (NRSV)

So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. (NABRE)

He was not able to do a miracle there, except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. (NET)

And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. (ESV)

So He was not able to do any miracles there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. (HCSB)

The New Living Translation and the Message both embellish and add some explanation:

4-6 Jesus told them, “A prophet has little honor in his hometown, among his relatives, on the streets he played in as a child.” Jesus wasn’t able to do much of anything there—he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them, that’s all. He couldn’t get over their stubbornness. He left and made a circuit of the other villages, teaching. (Message)

And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. (NLT)

Blessings to you!

We don’t really think that Mark was attempting a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor.  And Jesus never goes into any slumps!

Published by Bible Bits

We are a small team of Christians. Our ministry is to coax Christians and Jews to do more Bible reading, and coax non-Christians to read the actual Bible for themselves. Bible Bits is focused primarily on the first group: those who are already Christians or Jews, especially those who have an analytical nature and curiosity for digging into the small details of the Bible text and God's message. We are evangelical Christians. As such our bias is Christian and we anticipate our audience to be largely Christian, somewhat Jewish, and hopefully somewhat neither. We are evangelical Christians. Our focus is salvation. Our desire is to serve on Christ's salvation team. We desire to see Christ bring people to him and to his eternal salvation. Our method is to promote Bible reading and study. God's blessings to you! Read the Actual Bible for Yourself!