Jesus Is Rejected in His Hometown

After Jesus finished speaking these parables, he left that place and came to his own country. His disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue there.

Many who heard him were astonished. They asked where he had got this wisdom and these mighty works. Instead of receiving him, they questioned how someone they knew could speak and act like this.

They talked about the family they knew. They named his mother Mary, his brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas or Judah, and they mentioned his sisters too. Because of this, they took offence at him.

Jesus answered that a prophet is not without honour except in his own country, and in his own house. Mark also says, among his own relatives. The people nearest to him did not honour him as they should have.

Because of their unbelief, Jesus did not do many mighty works there. Mark says he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. He marvelled at their unbelief, and then he went around the villages teaching. Why can it be hard to see clearly when someone seems too familiar to us?