1Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2And 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, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?" So they were offended at Him.
4But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house." 5Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.
One part I struggle with this text is the statement that he could do no mighty work here. Isn't God almighty and able to do anything in any circumstances? It doesn't seem right that he was unable to have any success here. The impact of this statement also depends on what is meant by the term "mighty work".
At first I thought that because a prophet is honored except by his own people, that his own people would not have faith in him and without faith, Jesus could do no mighty work. But again, this doesn't seem right. I always thought God could do anything. Besides, He was able to heal a few sick people, so it wasn't like he could do nothing.
The people there were offended at him. I wonder if the statement that he could do no mighty work here was meant to be read as he was not allowed by anyone to do mighty work here. He began to teach at the synagogue, but then at the people's offense, he was forced to leave before he had done much more than heal a few sick.
The people were questioning how this carpenter, whose family they all knew well, could possibly have the wisdom to do such mighty works. I'm guessing they heard about much of the healing he had been doing. But I would think that the mighty work that Jesus was unable to do here was referring to saving souls.
I think that the biggest lesson for me in this story is to be very cautious about my own prejudices, especially regarding those I feel I know well. Am I even aware of prejudices against those I know well? Quite possibly the better I feel I know someone, the stronger my prejudices may be. And I don't think this lesson is to be applied only to prophets. I think this should be applied to anything we are asked to believe of someone else. How can someone I know be attributed credits that don't fit in with what I know of them? Easily, God can do anything!
This is the second time that there is a reference to his own people's reaction to his works. Back in Mark 3:21, it said: But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind." I was interested in reading that because it gave me the feeling that Jesus understands family strife. But it didn't say what to do to handle the situation.
This verse goes beyond the one in Mark 3:31, in that it says how to react to it. He still came to preach in His own country even though he knew their disbelief in Him. He didn't get angry with them. He didn't try pounding the truth into them. He did what He could, healing a few sick. In the end, He simply marveled because of their disbelief, then left them and went about His purpose
I think this is telling us that when we are in a house divided, a broken family, it is still important that we don't cut all ties with the family. That we still come join the family but be ourselves, even if it means we may be rejected for being ourselves. Don't try to force any issues. Don't get angry at the rejection, but marvel at the situation. But above else, don't forget your purpose and continue what you must do. Jesus set the example for us.