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.