Articles
No Honor in His Hometown
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 offense at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, 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 marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching. (Mark 6:1-6)
One of the most puzzling features of Jesus’ earthly ministry is the time that he is recorded to have spent in his own hometown of Nazareth. Earlier in the gospel of Mark, Jesus travelled to Capernaum and performed an astonishing miracle in their synagogue on the Sabbath. He exercised authority over a demon and exorcised the demon from the one it was possessing (Mark 1:21-28). The synagogue at Capernaum was so amazed at this event that the news spread like wildfire throughout the district of Galilee.
However, when Jesus comes to his own hometown, things go a little differently. At first glance, the scenes from 1:21-28 and 6:1-6 look similar. Both take place on the Sabbath. Both take place in a synagogue. Both involve Jesus teaching. Both texts even use the exact same verb to describe the crowd’s “astonishment” at Jesus’ teaching (exeplēssō) (1:22; 6:2). However, the scenes diverge quickly. At Capernaum, Jesus performs a miracle. However, at Nazareth, the text emphatically states that Jesus could not do any miracle (with a few exceptions) (6:5). At Capernaum, the congregation is amazed when they see Jesus commanding the unclean spirits (1:27). However, at Nazareth, Jesus is amazed at the congregation’s lack of belief (6:6). What happened?
Jesus’ own interpretation of the event is that “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relative and in his own household” (6:4). What prompts this statement? Why treat his relatives and kinsmen so callously? This isn’t the first time that Jesus has skewered the traditional notions of family in favor of a more “spiritual” understanding of family (Mark 3:31-35). But why say this in the Nazarene synagogue?
The true point of divergence between Capernaum and Nazareth has to do with the reasons for their respective astonishment. At Capernaum, Jesus is seen more for who he is. Twice, the people of the synagogue note that he teaches as one who actually has authority, rather than as a mere scribe (1:22, 27). By contrast, the people at Nazareth are amazed for a totally different reason. They do not see Jesus’ authority, evident in his teaching and conduct. Rather, they question where he got his wisdom and where he got his miracles (6:2)! “There’s nothing special about Jesus!” they seem to think. “He’s just a carpenter!” (This is the one place in the gospels where Jesus is explicitly called a carpenter). To them, Jesus wasn’t a learned rabbi, but a lowly craftsman. His mother and brothers had been part of the community for decades. He had no special education or unique authority. There was no explicable reason why he should have been able to do the deeds he did or say the words he said. Who is he to teach them? Who is he to instruct their community? It is no wonder that they “took offense” at him! They were scandalized by the notion of the way of truth being in the mouth of a lowly carpenter.
Throughout Mark, Jesus has been striving to conceal his miracles from Jews (Mark 1:44; 5:43) while encouraging Gentiles to share the good news of the miracles they had witnessed (Mark 5:19-20). The reason for this may be in part because the Gentiles did not have any of the traditional or theological “baggage” that the Jews would have had when thinking about the Messiah. At Nazareth, the situation is even worse. As depressing as it sounds, the town might have agreed with Nathaniel’s assessment, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46) and the with the Pharisees’ [inaccurate] claim “that no prophet arises from Galilee” (John 7:52). How sad it is, when those who are “closest” to the truth turn out to reject it! How disheartening that those to whom the Lord was nearest in geography would be those who were farthest from him in spirit! Those who witnessed Jesus growing up should have been the first to follow him, but instead, they possessed an extraordinary disbelief—one that caused our all-knowing Lord himself to marvel (Mark 6:6)!
Does this sort of thing happen today? Were Jesus to come into a “Church of Christ,” would he find a reception like he did in his own hometown? How terrible it would be if those who claim to be closest to him in name turned out to be again furthest from him in spirit! Do we marvel at the “unreasonableness” of his demands and the “unrealistic” nature of his exhortations? Or do we marvel at his authority and at the fact that God, creator of the universe, opted to take on flesh to redeem us? When we hear the exhortation to take up the cross and follow, do we cause that command to die the death of a thousand qualifications? Or do we see Jesus as someone for whom it is worth it to give up all things, all pleasures, all interests, all human preoccupations, and indeed even our lives themselves?
Let us honor Jesus, so that we can someday join him in his true hometown above.
