Matthew 13:53-58 53And it happened when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there. 54and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56And are not all his sisters with us? Then where did this man get all these things?” 57And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
This story illustrates the key question of Matthew’s Gospel: will people accept the authority of Jesus and his identification as Emmanuel and Israel’s Messiah? This story also puts into real life the message of many of the parables of this chapter. The opposition to Jesus’ ministry begins to grow in Matthew’s record of Jesus’ ministry. The choice becomes clearer as time goes on. Two stories of rejection are now given: Jesus’ rejection at his hometown of Nazareth, and John’s rejection by Herod and beheading.
Jesus taught many things in the synagogues of the small towns. It was the place people gathered to hear Scripture read and explained. Luke gives this story earlier in his account (Luke 4:14-28), if it is indeed the same experience, and also gives more details about the sermon Jesus actually spoke in the synagogue. Matthew does not seem concerned about the words Jesus spoke but the reaction to them since his purpose at this point is to make the line more visible about choosing to accept Jesus.
The surprise of this story is how the people responded to Jesus by asking five questions of interrogation. These questions focus on Jesus’ abilities and identity and hint that the people saw him as only one of the “boys from the village.” The surprise of these questions is that the people of Nazareth did not recognize Jesus since he grew up there. Nazareth was a small village, and everyone probably knew each other.
First, they question his wisdom and power, basically, his teachings and healing abilities. The evidence should have been clear that no human could do these things but only God. But, people are blinded to the miraculous by their hardened and blinded hearts. Second, they question about his family origins and being Joseph’s son. Joseph is not mentioned again in the Gospels after Jesus was twelve years old, so it is highly likely he had died by this time. At least the people knew something about Jesus’ background as a carpenter.
The next two questions focus on Jesus’ family. The people recognized Jesus as being part of the family of Joseph and Mary and knew his brothers and sisters. Joseph and Mary had a large family and many children after Jesus was born. Often when a name is given in the New Testament, that person was well known. The James mentioned here is the one who wrote the book James in the New Testament.
The last question summarizes the doubts of the people. Jesus seemed like one of the village members and part of a well-known family. Yet, there was something different about him. This difference was so visible that the people took offense at Jesus. They were “scandalized” (eskandalizonto) by their doubt and could not see past their prejudices. They had put Jesus into a box of their own making and could not reconcile what they were seeing with what they were thinking.
Jesus responds to their rejection in two ways. First, he gives a proverbial statement that highlights how people reject God’s revelation spoken through a prophet. Jesus came as a prophet, someone who “spoke forth” the word of God. He spoke as one with divine authority, but the people of Nazareth rejected him like Israel rejected God’s prophets in the Old Testament. They did not honor those to whom they should have listened. Second, Jesus did not do many miracles there, only healing a few sick people (Mark 6:5). We may wonder why we do not see many miracles. One possible reason is that people today are like those in Nazareth and doubt Jesus. This story is another warning of what happens when people do not accept Jesus.
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