And having come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, Whence has this [man] this wisdom and these works of power?
After the seven parables of the kingdom, Jesus comes home and teaches in the synagogue of the town where He grew up. The crowd is stunned, and the question they ask — where did a carpenter's son get wisdom and power like this? — carries scorn, not faith.
Their astonishment does not turn into faith. One writer shows what the town admitted about Jesus, and what it refused.
The unbelief of Israel in the presence of His teaching naturally follows. He was in His own country and taught them in their synagogues. They were astonished at His wisdom and mighty works. Even so, the result is the scornful question, "Is not this the carpenter's son? … And they took offense at Him." A prophet He is, but without honour in His own country and in His own house. They do not deny the display of glory. But they do not receive the One in whom it was displayed as God would have them receive Him. They judge Him by what nature can see and understand.
Commentators note where that town stood, both on the map and in people's opinion.
Nazareth was His country, His fatherland (patris), and is called so elsewhere in the Gospels. And Nazareth was a despised town or village in the despised province of Galilee. It lay far from Jerusalem and Judah, in the most northern part of Israel's tribal districts. In the days of the idol-worshipping king Jeroboam, those districts revolted from the rule of David's royal line. In the prophecies of Isaiah it is described as Galilee of the nations — the land of darkness and the shadow of death.
Their question has an answer. One writer sets it beside the other times Jesus amazed His hearers, and says where His knowledge came from.
All who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and His answers. Later His public ministry made His hearers exclaim, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?" They also asked, "How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?" This shows that His knowledge did not come from the usual sources — that is, from rabbis or from writings. It was personal and intuitive.
The town could not deny the wisdom or the works. What they refused was the conclusion those facts pointed to.
They have to admit His wisdom and His mighty work; but what right has He to them? They know His mother and His relatives, and these suggest no such greatness. They should surely have argued that all this in Him was not natural but supernatural. There was more in Him than nature could account for. But no! They will rather discredit what they see and know than accept such things from a carpenter's son. Divine power must not work without human credentials.
They knew His earthly family, and stopped there. One writer names who they missed.
His own knew Him not. They speak of His earthly relations. For them He is "this man." His Father they knew not. They call Him "the son of the carpenter." So His earthly people still reject Him. Sadly, many who call themselves by His name during this age treat Him no better.
Israel had already refused Him as King. Here the same nation refuses Him as a prophet, and the loss is theirs.
To them He was only "the carpenter's son." They knew His family after the flesh. The kingdom of heaven was nothing in their eyes. The revelation of this kingdom went on elsewhere. There the knowledge of divine things was given. These people saw nothing beyond what the natural heart could perceive. Their unbelief held back the blessing of the Lord. Israel rejected Him as prophet, as well as king.
- Where from — The town asked the right question. Their mistake was to answer it from His family tree instead of from the wisdom and works in front of them.
- Astonished — Nobody denied the wisdom or the mighty works. Yet admiration is not faith. They wondered at Him and still would not receive Him.
- Credentials — They would not take divine power from a carpenter's son without human backing. Unbelief will discredit what it sees rather than accept an unexpected source.
- Familiar — They knew His mother and His relatives, so He stayed "this man" to them. The closeness that should have helped them hid His Father instead.
- Held back — Israel rejected Him as prophet as well as King, and the revelation of the kingdom went on elsewhere. Their unbelief cost them the blessing.
Is not this the son of the carpenter? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?
Jesus comes home to Nazareth, and the people who watched Him grow up hear His wisdom and see His power. Their answer is a list of names — a trade, a mother, four brothers — and the question is whether that is any reason to refuse Him.
Everything the people of Nazareth said was accurate. What went wrong was the use they made of it. They let what they knew of His relatives outweigh what they had just heard and seen.
They have to admit His wisdom and His mighty work; but what right has He to them? They know His mother and His relatives, and these suggest no such greatness. Surely they should have argued that all this in Him was not natural but supernatural. There was more in Him than nature could account for. But no! They would rather discredit what they see and know than accept such things from a carpenter's son. Divine power must not work without human credentials. The root is out of dry ground. The plant may be anything you please, but for them the dry ground is enough to condemn it.
The trade named here is Joseph's. But He is also called "the carpenter" Himself, and that word points to the years before His public ministry.
It matters to the Christian that the Lord was not only called 'the carpenter's son,' but also 'the carpenter.' This implies that He worked as a craftsman before He began His heavenly Father's 'business,' for which He specially came into the world. It shows the real manhood He had taken in grace.
Commentators differ here. Some read the words as a settled fact about His life. Others treat them as an insult from His enemies, and will not build on them.
Those who refused and rejected Him because of His lowly origin called Him "the carpenter." To me it goes too far to say that this proves the Lord worked at the trade. Scripture is silent about this; it gives us their taunt, but it does not say He was a carpenter. But if He did work, then all I say is, He ennobled and consecrated and exalted that trade for ever.
The sneer says more than the speakers meant.
In the synagogue they stumble at the very grace in which He had taken His place among them as "the carpenter's son." And He truly was the Builder's Son. "The builder of all things is God": He is the Son of the great Architect, and Himself the Builder of His Church upon the Rock. Read beneath the reproach here, and we glimpse the glory of Him whose very humiliation is the occasion for His displaying that glory! Faith takes up the taunt of the world and accepts it as the statement of the most glorious fact. He is indeed the Carpenter's Son.
The verse names four brothers: James, Joseph, Simon, Judas. Their exact relation to Jesus has been disputed.
"His brothers" were sons of Mary after His own birth... Some would like to make them out to be sons of an earlier marriage of Joseph. We do not know anything of an earlier marriage, and neither do they. We do know that Scripture is quite plain.
At this point they did not believe in Him. The turning point came from the very event that might have destroyed their hope.
They were unconverted all the time the Lord was on earth. They were clearly converted after the Lord died and rose. It is very beautiful to see that God broke them down by the very thing that might have made them stumble for ever. The crucifying of the Lord might have blocked everything. But God used that and the Lord's resurrection not only to wake their souls, but to bring them in.
The obstacle was not evidence. It was rank.
They listen to His words of wisdom. They gaze with wonder at His works of power. But they say, "Is He not connected with the family of the carpenter? His mother, and brothers, and sisters — are they not well known to us?" Social pride refuses to receive divine truths from One whose family is so low in the social scale. He stands outside the circle of their religious officials.
- Known — Nazareth had the facts right: a carpenter's family, a mother named Mary, four brothers. Knowing about Jesus is not the same as trusting Him.
- Lowly — The trade in this verse shows a real manhood taken in grace. He came with no wealth, rank, or backing.
- Credentials — Their demand was that divine power arrive with human credentials attached. It never does, and that is what made them stumble.
- Reversed — Faith takes the same words as a confession. He is the Carpenter's Son, and His humiliation is where the glory shows.
- Later — His own brothers did not believe Him then. God used the cross and resurrection to bring them in.
And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then has this [man] all these things?
The people of Nazareth run through the family list — mother, brothers, and now the sisters living among them. They treat that list as an answer. Their question sounds like curiosity. It is a verdict. Nothing this ordinary, they think, could account for the wisdom and the works they had just seen.
The town could not deny what it had heard and seen. What it could not accept was the family attached to it.
In His own country His teaching moved them at least far enough to astonish them at the wisdom and the mighty works. Yet they are offended because of His lowly origin and His family ties — a carpenter's son, His mother, four brothers, and sisters all known among them. Their unbelief hindered any further display of divine power in goodness there.
Nazareth knew the sisters in the town and the brothers by name. Commentators take this as a real family — children born to Mary after Jesus.
Formal religion has claimed that Mary had no other children than the Lord Himself. It therefore assumes that these were nephews or nieces. But Psalm 69:8 settles it: "I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons." Mary had at least seven children after the Lord was born, since "all" His sisters implies at least three.
Some suggest instead that these were Joseph's children by an earlier marriage. Others answer that plainly:
"His brothers" were sons of Mary after His own birth. Of course we can understand why Roman Catholics have been anxious to argue that they were sons of Joseph and not of Mary. But they were sons of Mary and of Joseph. They would like to make them out sons of a former marriage of Joseph. We do not know anything of a former marriage, nor do they. We do know that Scripture is quite plain.
They had to admit the wisdom and the works. Their question was what right a carpenter's son had to them.
They have to own His wisdom and His mighty work; but what right has He to them? They know His mother and His relatives, and these suggest no such greatness. So they should have argued that all this in Him was not natural but supernatural. There was more in Him than nature could explain. But no! They would sooner discredit what they see and know than accept such things from a carpenter's son. Divine power must not work without human credentials.
They never argued with the wisdom or the works. They refused the One behind them.
He was in His own country and taught them in their synagogues. They were astonished at His wisdom and mighty works, yet the result is the scornful question, "Is not this the carpenter's son? … And they took offense at Him." A prophet He is, but without honour in His own country and in His own house. They do not deny the glory shown in Him. But they do not receive the One in whom it was shown as God would have them; they judge Him by what nature can see and grasp.
Their vocabulary gives them away — He is only ever "this man" to them.
What is all this but proof of His full rejection? His own did not know Him. They speak of His earthly relatives. To them He is "this man." They did not know His Father. They call Him "the son of the carpenter." And so He is still rejected by His earthly people.
The chapter closes with a loss, and the loss was self-inflicted. Nothing in Him had weakened.
They did not see in Him Emmanuel, or even the Son of Abraham, the Son of David. To them He was just the son of the carpenter, and they knew His relatives so well. That unbelieving familiarity made them stumble at Him. His power was as full as ever, but their unbelief held it back.
One writer sums it up: "Nazareth shuts itself out from the blessing that was ready to be poured out on them" (Numerical Bible Notes).
- Known — Nazareth could name His mother, His brothers, and His sisters. The town thought that list settled who He was.
- Named — Commentators take those brothers and sisters as Mary's own children, born after Jesus. Psalm 69:8 is cited as decisive.
- Judged — They never denied the wisdom or the works. They judged the Person by what nature could see, and demanded human credentials before they would accept divine power.
- Offended — Familiarity, not ignorance, tripped them up. To them He stayed "this man," the carpenter's son, and His Father remained unknown.
- Forfeited — His power was as full as ever. Their unbelief shut the door on it, and Nazareth lost the blessing that was ready for them.
And they were offended in him. And Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honour, unless in his country and in his house.
The Lord returns to the town where He grew up and teaches in the synagogue. His neighbours cannot deny His wisdom or His works. What they refuse is the man they think they know: the carpenter's son.
Nazareth was His home town, and both the town and its province were looked down on.
Nazareth was His country, His fatherland (patris), and is so called elsewhere in the Gospels. And Nazareth was a despised town or village in the despised province of Galilee. It lay far from Jerusalem and Judah, in the far north of Israel. Those northern tribes had revolted from the rule of David's royal line in the days of Jeroboam, a king who led them into idol worship.
Their amazement was real. What they refused was not the evidence but the Person behind it.
He was in His own country and taught them in their synagogues. Despite their astonishment at His wisdom and mighty works, the result is the scornful question, "Is not this the carpenter's son? … And they took offense at him." A prophet He is, but without honour in His own country and in His own house. They do not deny that glory was on display. But they do not receive the One in whom it shone as God sees Him. They judge Him by what nature can see and understand.
At home, people judge a man by the family they already know.
He was the carpenter's son, and that was enough to cause His rejection. They judged according to the flesh: the relatives of Jesus were among them, and they did not look any further. He is astonished at their unbelief. He leaves them, but not before doing what the needs of some of them demanded. His grace never failed. A prophet is not without honour except in his own country; for it is there that He is known according to the flesh. So it was with Jesus, not only in Nazareth, but also in Israel.
Familiarity, not fault, was the problem.
This does not mean that the Lord was rejected in His own country, as we might be, because of known weakness or failure. Instead, they used their familiarity with Him in the affairs of daily life to discount His divine mission from God.
Their reasoning ran backwards. Instead of letting the wonder explain the man, they let the man discredit the wonder.
So they ought to have argued that all this in Him was not natural but supernatural. There was more in Him than nature could explain. But no! they will rather discredit what they see and know than accept such things from a carpenter's son. Divine power must not work without human credentials.
The verse ends with His own household, and even His brothers proved the point.
He was no creature of His circumstances. What He was did not come from man, and He accepted no honour from man… And the proverb still holds. A prophet may be honoured anywhere sooner than among those who know him best in his everyday life. Did not this for a long time dim the eyes even of His brothers (John 7:5)?
Israel refused Him in more than one role.
The Lord resumes His work among the Jews. To them He was only "the carpenter's son." They knew His family after the flesh. The kingdom of heaven was nothing in their eyes… Their unbelief stopped the blessing of the Lord. Israel rejected Him as prophet, as well as king.
The failure at Nazareth has a modern form.
He comes among them with divine wisdom and divine power. He ministers the truth among the poor of the land and heals some sick people. He never panders to the vanity of human nature that loves display and rejects men because of their humble origin… So in our day, are we not in danger at times, even as Christians, of hindering the work of God? The pride and vanity of the flesh slights the ministry of a servant of God because of his humble origin.
- Nearness. Nazareth knew Him best. Knowing Him according to the flesh is what blinded them.
- Evidence. They admitted His wisdom and His mighty works. They would not admit that such power could come without human credentials.
- Circles. The saying widens from country to house: even His own family did not believe Him at first.
- Office. Israel refused Him as prophet as well as king, and their unbelief stopped the blessing.
- Warning. The same pride still slights a servant of God for his humble background. It hinders the work of God today.
And he did not there many works of power, because of their unbelief.
The chapter of parables ends in Jesus' home town. The people there had known Him since childhood, and they would not have Him. This last line of Matthew 13 shows what their unbelief cost them. It also raises a hard question: how can a village hold back the power of God?
These last verses still belong to the chapter of parables. They record the verdict Israel reached about its own Messiah.
These verses still close the chapter. They contain the verdict that the unbelief of the Jews reached about the Lord. He was in His own country. His works were not denied, but the Jews trip over Him as over a stone that makes men fall. He is the prophet without honour in His own country and in His own house. He is the son of the carpenter. In a word, even in Israel He is judged by what is outward and human.
The problem at Nazareth was not a lack of evidence. They admitted His wisdom and His works. Then His family became their reason to reject Him.
They have to admit His wisdom and His mighty work; but what right has He to them? They know His mother and His relatives, and these suggest no such greatness. They should have argued that all this in Him was not natural but supernatural — that there was more in Him than nature could explain. But no! They would sooner discredit what they see and know than accept such things from a carpenter's son. Divine power must not work without human credentials.
The very thing that offended them was His glory. His lowly place was no flaw to explain away.
That was His glory, and for it they despised Him. He was not the product of His circumstances. He took nothing from man and received no honour from man. Nor could He, for His part, give honour to man, or vouch for one who had fallen away from God. He could serve, and to serve He came into the lowest place, though He could not accept the highest place from man. People who had never judged the world or themselves rightly could not judge Him rightly.
Knowing His family kept them from knowing who He is.
This chapter closes with Jesus back in His own district, and at that time the people there were quite unbelieving. They did not see in Him Emmanuel, or even the Son of Abraham, the Son of David. To them He was just the son of the carpenter, whose relatives they knew so well. That familiar, unbelieving view of Him made them stumble at Him. His power was as great as ever, but their unbelief held it back, just as the unbelief of Joash, the king of Israel, limited his victories (see 2 Kings 13:14-19).
Matthew writes that Jesus did not do many mighty works. Mark records the same visit in different words. One writer reads that difference as deliberate.
The difference between these two scriptures fits the way each Gospel presents Christ. In Matthew, where Christ appears as the Messiah, there is no question about His power to do the mighty works. What Matthew makes prominent is the state of the people: through unbelief they could not profit by His presence among them. So the record is, "He did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief." In Mark, on the other hand, where Christ is seen as the Servant, our attention goes to the way unbelief limited His activity.
Another writer asks why Jesus did not simply overwhelm their doubt with a display of power.
These men of Nazareth were full of unbelief. Where there was this unbelief, our Lord would not remove it by dazzling feats of power, because a result produced that way would have had no moral worth. He had already given unbelief plenty of signs, but men had gained nothing from them, and those who heard His word did not mix it with faith.
The verse is not only history. It shows what opens the way for blessing, and what blocks it.
It is a solemn thought how much unbelief may hinder the work of God in our own day. If faith draws the blessing out, it is just as true that unbelief blocks its flow. Still, His grace rises above our pride and unbelief. He healed some sick people, even though the blessing was limited to "a few."
The loss was theirs. Blessing stood ready, and they closed the door on it.
So Nazareth shuts itself out of the blessing that was ready to be poured out on them.
- Cause. The verse points to unbelief, not to any weakness in Christ. His power was as great as ever; their unbelief held it back.
- Blindness. They admitted His wisdom and His works. Then they discredited both rather than take them from a carpenter's son. Divine power had to show human credentials first.
- Glory. The lowly place that offended them was His glory. He came low to serve, and He took no honour from man.
- Contrast. Matthew shows the Messiah, so he brings out what the people could not receive. Mark shows the Servant, so he brings out how unbelief limited His work.
- Consequence. Nazareth shut itself out of blessing that stood ready. Unbelief still hinders the work of God, yet grace still reaches a few.