Mark 6:4

But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

From thence, from Capernaum and its vicinity, Jesus went away. The city which He had chosen as His home during His Galilean ministry had had ample opportunity of hearing Him and of knowing and accepting Him as the Savior of the world. Till now the success of His preaching had not been unqualified. The people were willing enough to see the Prophet perform miracles, but took little or no interest in the Word of eternal life. And so He removed the mercy of His presence from them, returning there only at the end of His labors in the North. He went to His fatherland, to His home town, Nazareth. It was the city in which He had grown up, from which He hailed, in which He naturally took a great interest, chapter 1:9-24. His disciples, especially the Twelve that were now enrolled under that name, followed Him. Their theological training was being carried forward with all speed, for the time was short. When it was Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue. Note: Throughout the gospels, the attendance of Jesus at services is related as a matter of course; it was self-evident for Him to be in the place where the Word of God was taught, at the time set apart for that purpose. Here the usual courtesy shown to a visiting teacher was extended to Him: He began to teach. It was not merely that He started His discourse, but He wanted the people of His home town to be the beneficiaries of the Gospel-message; for since the beginning of His ministry He had not been in this neighborhood. The address, or talk, as He delivered it that morning, was of a nature and of a content such as to provoke the greatest surprise and astonishment among His hearers. The comments were many and varied, and Mark records them faithfully: Whence did all this come to this man, this ability to speak, the wonderful content of His address, the power to perform such mighty works of which we have been told? Such speech, such wisdom, such powers in such a well-known person? How is it possible? What can it mean? But this eagerness for information, which might well have served as a type of curiosity for saving knowledge, was soon replaced by jealousy and contempt, the spirit of opposition. Some sneering remarks are heard: Is not this the carpenter, the worker in wood? the trades of the carpenter, the joiner, and the cabinetmaker being united in one person. A Christian writer of the second century who had been born in Samaria relates that Jesus during His early manhood made plows and yokes. The people of Nazareth thought they were thoroughly familiar with His family and antecedents. The son of Mary He is to them, Joseph having died, according to tradition, when Jesus was eighteen years old. His brothers (half-brothers, cousins) James and Joses and Judas and Simon were well known to the townspeople, as were the sisters of Christ (half-sisters, cousins). They thought that these facts precluded the possibility of His having learned anything worthwhile, not realizing that they were thereby passing judgment upon their own town and upon themselves, just as is done today, in similar situations. The upshot of the whole matter was that they were offended at Him, that is, they took offense wrongfully. Note: Even today people take offense at the lowliness of the Gospel and its preaching. If it came to them in the guise of something new, a new philosophical system, they would think it worth their while; but the simplicity of the Gospel, and the fact that they have been familiar with its teaching, as they foolishly think, from their youth, sets them against its glorious tidings and shuts them out from the glories of heaven. Jesus, among other things, Matthew 13:54, reminded them of a proverbial saying which fitted the case perfectly: Not is a prophet without honor except in his fatherland and among his kinsmen. This is a truth which is universally accepted. Instead of rejoicing over the fact that God has given one of their own family, out of their own midst, gifts and abilities to accomplish something for His honor, the kinsmen and former fellow-citizens will do everything in their power to discredit him. That was Christ's experience.