He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief.
And he went about among the villages teaching.
Comment: I guess that it was about 30 years since he had been born. But surely there must have been some who had heard about Jesus not being Joseph’s son. This happened in the same place. Surely some must have heard about the angelic choir and the stories about the visiting magi and the slaughter by Herod of the little children at the time of Jesus birth. Nazareth wasn’t all that far from Bethlehem and travellers surely spread the story! Maybe not. But they had seen the quality of his workmanship as a carpenter; they had surely noticed the quality of His character. It says that they were amazed at His teaching presumably both in its content and its presentation; they had noted His ‘mighty works’, presumably His healings. The passage doesn’t mention Joseph – is that a reference to Him being thought a bastard? Perhaps they don’t mention Joseph because he was dead. They did know His mother and siblings. Whatever it was they cast His qualities aside and remembered only His ordinary human life in their midst and rejected Him. Their unbelief meant that He was able to do little in their midst. Unbelief, and lack of faith, in the light of such clear evidence of the Person He was, is always destructive. That is true even today.
Prayer: Help me to see clearly and act appropriately!
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments on this passage. I believe that if people of that day and time had heard about the visitation of the angels to the shepherds in the fields 30 years ago, they had probably forgotten about this, and possibly a new generation had grown up and hadn’t heard about this. We humans seem to forget things we need to remember, and remember things we need to forget. That is why each generation makes much the same mistakes as the previous generation, because people don’t remember history. And the comment Jesus makes about a prophet being without honour in his own hometown and household still holds true today. God bless you.
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