Fresh Bread

"One Year Bible" New Testament Passage
Mark 6:1-29

And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.  And many hearing Him were astonished saying, "Where did this Man get these things?  And what wisdom is this which is given to Him ..."  Mark 6:2 (NKJV)

Two times in today's passage there is a description of amazement.  First, in Mark 6:2, the people were amazed at the teaching of Jesus.  Second, later when many resisted the Lord, it says that Jesus was amazed and "marveled because of their unbelief." (Mk. 6:6)  There are two groups of people here.  One group is amazed at how wonderful God is.  The second group causes God to be amazed at how unbelieving they are.  I always want to be a part of the first group!

It is interesting to consider what the people said about Jesus' teaching.  They asked, "Where did He get this stuff?"  Of course, the answer is that Jesus got it in the very book they were holding in their hands.  They had the wisdom and the teaching all along, they just couldn't recognize it or receive it.

There's a lesson here for us.  We often cry out to God for answers.  All along the answers are right there in your hands in God's Word.  Jesus did not introduce the people to a new book they had never heard before.  He taught them out of the Scriptures they had been reading all along.  The fresh bread is always the old bread that has the freshness of God's breath on it.

That's the way God works today by the Holy Spirit.  He breathes on truth and makes it come alive to you.  There really are no new teachings.  They are only new to us.  And that happens because we have a fresh encounter with God.

So daily we should open our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to quicken God's eternal truth to us.  That will always be amazing!