Where Did This Man Get All This

Where Did This Man Get All This?

By Teresita Weind


Mark 6:2


In the Lord, in the Lord, my soul is anchored in the Lord. –African American Spiritual


The Gospels are the lived experiences of One who knew he had come from God, and was going back to God. Jesus was anchored in the Lord and he knew it! What difference did/does it make to live with that consciousness? What impact does such a centered and focused life have on others? Apparently a centered and focused life raises questions about origin and source.

He taught, he healed, he expelled demons and exercised power over nature from the same center and source: he was anchored in God. “And many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!”


This! What is this? The question is good. The question is valid. The question opens the door to depth and mystery. Where do we human beings get what we have, and what difference does it make to live from the consciousness of our origin and source?


God, you have moved upon the waters,

You have sung in the rush of wind and flame;

And in your love, you have called us sons and daughters,

Make us people of the water and your name.

-MartyHaugen

The question gives us pause to stop and look at the person, the presence and the power of Jesus. In God’s love, Jesus was not only called Son, he was the Incarnation of Love, the full embodiment of Divine Love in human form. Because Jesus was anchored in God and knew the source of his power, when he taught, when he healed, and when he expelled demons, those who listened, those who felt his touch and those who were released from bondage were drawn to the same source in Whom he was anchored. Jesus was both expression and experience of the Love of God.

The Love and Presence of God in Jesus is the THIS in question!


By birth, we are anchored in the Lord. Baptism is the public profession of being anchored in Creative, Redeeming and Sanctifying Love. We originate in God, and we are going back to God who sustains us with every breath we breathe.


All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above.

O, thank the Lord; O, thank the Lord for all God’s love.


The Gospel, the question about “this,” and the list of Jesus’ relatives prompted me to take out my own birth and baptism certificates. Both certificates are documents of important and significant beginnings. Both certificates acknowledge an anchoring in God.

Today, we are aware of an ugly side of our American History in which human beings were denied birth or baptismal certificates. African Americans, born into institutional slavery, were not given birth or baptismal certificates. They were denied the legal document of humanity. Yet, even without the formal documents, African Americans did and continue to bear witness to being “anchored in God.” Clearly, there is something deep within the human being that not only knows source and origin, but that can bear witness to being anchored under duress and oppression.


Even after being rejected in his own hometown, Jesus went about among the villages teaching. Conscientious Christians work to change structures and systems that dominate and manipulate because we know . . .


Our soul is anchored in the Lord!


Vivien Thomas, racially rejected, returned to Johns Hopkins Hospital to continue the work of saving “Blue Babies,” because he knew . . .


His soul was anchored in the Lord!


Peacemakers still protest the School of the Americas because we know . . .


Our soul is anchored in the Lord!


Crossroads and other groups committed to educating toward complete eradication of racism, remain faithful in the struggle because they know . . .


Their soul is anchored in the Lord!


There is real strength in every Community of Believers who continues to follow the One who came in the flesh, acknowledged his Source, bore witness to returning to the same Source, and was faithful beyond what any structure or system could ultimately destroy. This is the energy and strength that keeps us faithful to the same call Jesus received from God. Where Jesus got all this is the same place we continue to get all the this we need to work for a Kingdom of Justice and Peace. For, “it’s in every one of us to be wise. Find our heart, open up both our eyes. We can all know everything without ever knowing why. It’s in every one of us, by and by.”

Even when the eyes of the beholders miss the mystery of the depth and wisdom of us who Believe we are anchored in the Lord, we find strength in the THIS to respond to God’s call to live, love and serve in the name of Jesus Christ!


(Comments to Teresita at teresita.weind@sndden.org .)