Mark 6:1-6

1 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him.

² And 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!

³ Is 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.

⁴ But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”

⁵ Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.

⁶ And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

Also found in Matthew 13:54-58.

His own country (v.1) — Nazareth, where He lived for almost 30 years. A different visit than the one recorded in Luke 4:16-30.

It is telling that the people did not deny either Jesus’ wisdom or miracles. They just refused to believe that He was God.

astonished (v.2) — struck, as by a blow, astonished to the point of losing self-control — The Greek gives the idea their self-possession was exhausted. They were flabbergasted. Tense indicates continuous action.

Where did this Man get these things? (v.2) — This should be read as a curt, laconic, and stinging comment.

mighty works (v.2, 5) — miracles in the sense of supernatural power

carpenter (v.3) — Jesus worked with Joseph as carpenter and, probably, continued on His own after Joseph’s death. He was “the” carpenter of Nazareth.

James became the leader of the Jewish church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13; Galatians 2:9, 12) and author of the book of James. Judas became the author of Jude. Very little is known of the others. At this point, even after growing up with Jesus, hearing Him speak, and seeing His miracles, His own half-siblings did not believe. Also, this proves that the claim by some that Mary remained a virgin for life is wrong.

They were offended in Him. The contrast between a peasant of Galilee who had earned His daily bread by the sweat of His brow for the first thirty years of His live, with the Person who delivered those wonderful discourses and performed those miracles, was too much for His townspeople. They were offended with Him. The word is skandalizo, “to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way upon which another may trip or fall, to cause a person to begin to distrust on whom he ought to trust and obey”; in a passive sense, “to find occasion of stumbling in a person, to be offended in a person, to see in another what one disapproves of and what hinders one from acknowledging his authority.” they could not explain Him, so they rejected Him. — Wuest, pages 120-121.

prophet (v.4) = forth-teller, one who speaks out God’s message.

It is significant here that Jesus makes a definite claim to being a prophet. He has already claimed to be the Jewish Messiah (John 4:26; Luke 4:21), the Son of Man with power of God (Mark 1:10; Matthew 9:6; Luke 5:24), the Son of God (John 5:22). — Wuest, page 121.

A few sick (v.5) — This probably means that the people of Nazareth were so offended and so deep in their unbelief that they refused to bring their sick to Jesus.

circuit (v.6) — He traveled in a circle to the villages around Nazareth.