In Mark 6:1-6, Jesus returns to Nazareth, His hometown, where He begins preaching and performing miracles. However, the people there refuse to believe that the one who grew up among them could be the Messiah. As a result, Jesus performs only a few miracles in their midst.
Mark 6:1-6Mark 6:1-6 commentary describes how when Jesus returned to His hometown and taught in the synagogue, the people were astonished yet offended by Him, and because of their unbelief, He performed only a few miracles there.
Sometime after Jesus healed the woman with a 12-year hemorrhage and secretly raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead, he left Capernaum (Mark 5:21-42Mark 5:21-42 commentary) and returned to Nazareth:
Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him (v 1).
Jesus’s hometown was Nazareth. Nazareth was located a few miles west of the Sea of Galilee This time when Jesus returned to His hometown His disciples went with Him. Nazareth was a small town.
When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue (v 2a).
On the Sabbath, Jesus began to teach in the synagogue. Synagogues were the center of worship in each town. They were meeting places. Pharisees operated the synagogues. And they taught the people their interpretations of the Law of Moses (the tradition) and promoted Jewish culture.
According to their custom, on the Sabbath, the Pharisees would teach in the synagogue. For Jesus to be able to teach in the synagogue, He would have to have been invited to do so by one or more of the leaders of that particular synagogue.
Jesus was a rabbi, (a venerated teacher of the Scriptures and Jewish law) who had been invited to teach in synagogues before (Mark 1:21Mark 1:21 commentary) and His teachings astonished those who heard Him (Mark 1:22Mark 1:22 commentary). His miraculous healings of people and casting out of demons had also made Jesus more widely known.
Jesus’s notoriety grew after He left Nazareth to begin His Messianic ministry. According to Luke, Jesus left His hometown when He “was about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23Luke 3:23 commentary).
Now the famous rabbi had returned to His hometown and He was invited to teach in Nazareth’s synagogue on the Sabbath. Because Nazareth was such a small town, this likely was the same synagogue of Jesus’s youth and young adulthood. It was probably the same synagogue where He was taught the Law of Moses, the writings of the Prophets, the history of Joshua and Judges, of David and the other kings, and the Traditions of the Pharisees.
When the Sabbath came, Jesus—the local boy who had become known all throughout Galilee and beyond—began to teach in the synagogue.
Luke’s chronological account of Jesus’s earthly life and ministry (Luke 1:3Luke 1:3 commentary) may also have written about this moment (Luke 4:14-30Luke 4:14-30 commentary).
If Luke 4:14-30Luke 4:14-30 commentary is a parallel account of this moment, then this event occurred soon after Jesus’s public ministry began in Capernaum and the message that He delivered to the synagogue of Hishometown came from the prophet Isaiah (Luke 4:17Luke 4:17 commentary).
Jesus read only a part of two verses. These two verses were Isaiah 61:1-2Isaiah 61:1-2 commentary. And this is what Luke records Jesus reading:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19Luke 4:18-19 commentary)
This prophecy from Isaiah speaks of the Lord’s anointed—the Messiah—and the liberation and restoration of Israel that He will proclaim.
It is notable that Jesus did not finish the verse and read what came next in Isaiah’s prophecy.
One reason this was notable was because according to the traditions of the Pharisees, whenever someone read or taught in the synagogues, they were not permitted to read less than three verses. Jesus read less than two full verses and “closed the book” and “gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]” (Luke 14:20aLuke 14:20a commentary).
This break in tradition (but not the Law of Moses) would have immediately caught the attention of everyone present. Luke describes the surprise of the audience when he writes:
“and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.” (Luke 14:20bLuke 14:20b commentary)
Jesus’s decision to stop reading part way through the second verse was no accident. It was deliberate. He was making a profound point. His point becomes clearer by considering what came next in Isaiah’s prophecy, which Jesus did not read.
This is what came next in Isaiah’s prophecy:
“And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:2b-3Isaiah 61:2b-3 commentary)
Isaiah 61:1-2aIsaiah 61:1-2a commentary (the verses Jesus read) describe how the Messiah would proclaim liberty to the captives of Israel.
Isaiah 61:2b-3Isaiah 61:2b-3 commentary (the verses that Jesus did not read) describe how the Messiah would bring about the day of judgment and God’s vengeance upon Israel’s enemies (Isaiah 61:2bIsaiah 61:2b commentary) and how the Messiah would “grant”—i.e. “bring about”—Israel’s redemption (Isaiah 61:3Isaiah 61:3 commentary).
Jesus was the Messiah. But when He came to earth the first time, He did not come to do the things described in Isaiah 61:2b-3Isaiah 61:2b-3 commentary.
When Jesus came to earth the first time, He did not bring judgment upon God’s enemies but rather He came to bring them salvation from their sin and separation from God (John 3:17John 3:17 commentary).
Moreover, Jesus did not grant Israel political liberation from Roman oppression when He came to Israel the first time.
When Jesus returns to earth, He will bring judgment and God’s “vengeance” (Isaiah 61:2bIsaiah 61:2b commentary) upon Israel’s enemies (2 Thessalonians 1:6-92 Thessalonians 1:6-9 commentary, commentaryRevelation 19:11-20Revelation 19:11-20 commentary). And He will “grant” full restoration to God’s people when He comes to earth for the second time (2 Thessalonians 1:102 Thessalonians 1:10 commentary, commentaryRevelation 11:15Revelation 11:15 commentary, 22:1222:12 commentary).
The reason Jesus did not continue reading in Isaiah 61Isaiah 61 commentary was because He did not come to accomplish God’s vengeance or grant political liberation at that time. He came to proclaim liberation (Isaiah 61:1-2aIsaiah 61:1-2a commentary) during His first advent, which is why Jesus read that portion of Isaiah’s prophecy.
This was made clear by what Jesus said to His listeners in His hometown synagogue once He stopped reading and closed the scroll.
“And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:21Luke 4:21 commentary)
In other words, Jesus was proclaiming Himself to be the Messiah and that “Today” (Luke 4:21Luke 4:21 commentary) was the literal day that the Messiah fulfilled Isaiah’s then 750-year-old prophecy that the Messiah would “proclaim the liberty to the captives” and “proclaim the favorable year of the LORD” (Isaiah 61:1-2aIsaiah 61:1-2a commentary).
The prophecy of “this Scripture”—i.e. the scripture that Jesus read (Isaiah 61:1-2aIsaiah 61:1-2a commentary) was fulfilled “today” (Luke 4:21Luke 4:21 commentary). But the prophecies that Jesus did not read concerning what came next in Isaiah—(Isaiah 61:2b-3Isaiah 61:2b-3 commentary) were not part of “this Scripture” (Luke 4:21Luke 4:21 commentary) and would be fulfilled at a later date when Jesus returned to earth.
Jesus was making several astonishing claims at once through what He chose to read and not read, and through the first remark He made when He finished reading Isaiah.
Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah.
He was claiming that this ancient Messianic prophecy was being fulfilled in their hearing today.
Through His intentional omission, Jesus was indicating that He had not come to fulfill all the Messianic prophecies today or at once, particularly the judgment prophecies and the prophecies where the Messiah would defeat Israel’s political enemies.
This was a lot for Jesus’s listeners to process. Mark describes their astonished response to Jesus’s message when they initially heard what He said to them in the synagogue that Sabbath:
and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?” (v 2b).
Many of the people who were listening to Jesus in His hometown synagogue on that Sabbathwereastonished and unsure of what to make of what He had just claimed. They began asking three questions:
Where did this man get these things?
And what is this wisdom given to Him?
And such miracles as these performed by His hands?
All three of these questions were asking how Jesus could say and do such remarkable things. They were asking where and how Jesus gained such wisdom and power to perform the miracles which they had heard that He had done (Matthew 13:54Matthew 13:54 commentary).
If Luke was writing of the same incident, he wrote of the listeners’ initial approval of Jesus:
“And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips.” (Luke 4:22aLuke 4:22a commentary).
Some of the listeners began attempting to answer their own questions about where Jesus gained such wisdom and power with negative questions—questions of incredulity:
“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” (v 3).
The people of Nazareth knew Jesus like no one else. They were familiar with his profession and family.
His listeners in the synagogue asked: Is this not the carpenter?
This was a rhetorical question with an implied answer of “Yes.” This is the carpenter. And this rhetorical question and its implied answer pointed to a further implication. The further implication was this: that because this man who said and did astonishing things was (only) the carpenter, it therefore did not seem possible to them that Jesus could not be as great as what they had heard Him to be. And by extension, neither did it seem possible for Jesus to be the Messiah who fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy as He had just claimed.
It is also interesting that Mark 6:3Mark 6:3 commentary is the only verse in the Bible that explicitly describes Jesus’s pre-Messianic profession as “carpenter.” Similarly, the parallel verse in Matthew describes Jesus as “the carpenter’s son” (Matthew 13:55Matthew 13:55 commentary) which is the only time Joseph, Jesus’s adoptive father, is described as a carpenter. And it is the latest time in Jesus’s life that the gospels directly reference Joseph. All the other direct references to Joseph, Jesus’s earthly step-father, are centered around Jesus’s birth and childhood.
In Mark 6:3Mark 6:3 commentary, commentary the word translated carpenter is the Greek word τέκτων (tek-ton).
While “tekton” is often associated with woodworking, its meaning in the first-century context was broader. A tekton referred to a craftsman, builder, or artisan—someone skilled in construction work, often with wood, but also with stone and other materials, depending on the region’s resources.
In Galilee, and especially near Nazareth (which was close to the predominantly Roman city of Sepphoris, a large urban center undergoing major construction during Jesus’s youth). The term tekton would not simply conjure the image of a village woodworker. It could easily imply a construction worker, stonemason, or even a general builder. It may have been that Jesus and Joseph helped with the construction of Sepphoris.
Thus, when first-century readers heard Jesus described as a tekton/carpenter, they would have pictured someone accustomed to manual labor who built structures. A carpenter was a respectable profession. A carpenter would have been expected to know about construction work, not rabbinic wisdom.
His listeners knew not only Jesus’s pre-Messianic trade, but they also knew His family well. They had lived and worked and went to synagogue together alongside Jesus’s family for years. Their familiarity with Jesus’s family added to their incredulity of His claim to be the Messiah.
They asked:
Is not this…the son of Mary…? and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?”
They knew that Jesus was Mary’s son. Mary was also raised in Nazareth (Luke 1:26-27Luke 1:26-27 commentary). After the death of Herod, Mary and her husband Joseph returned to Nazareth from Egypt when Jesus was a child (Matthew 2:22-23Matthew 2:22-23 commentary). The fact that Joseph is not mentioned by name likely indicates that he had passed away by this point. As mentioned above, Joseph is referenced in Matthew’s gospel as “the carpenter” when the listeners asked themselves: “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:55Matthew 13:55 commentary).
The expected answer to both these rhetorical questions is “Yes. This is the son of Mary. Jesusis the carpenter’s (Joseph’s) son.” The implication of these rhetorical questions is that because Jesus is the son of Mary and thecarpenter, He could not be the Messianic figure He claims to be.
Similarly, Jesus’s listeners, incredulous of His claim to be the Christ, dismiss Him with other questions along these same lines: Is not Jesus the…brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?
Jesus’s brothers were really His half-brothers. They had the same mother, but their father was Joseph. (Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit—Matthew 1:18Matthew 1:18 commentary, commentaryLuke 1:35Luke 1:35 commentary).
Jesus’s listeners identify at least four of Jesus’s half-brothers in their skeptical question: James, Joses, Judas, and Simon. According to those in the synagogue, Jesus also apparently had half-sisters as well, but His listeners do not state their names.
Luke’s similar (if not parallel) account of Jesus teaching in the synagogue of His hometown records that initially, “all were speaking well of Him and wondering at the gracious words from His lips” (Luke 4:22aLuke 4:22a commentary). But when they began to consider His background, the familiarity that the people of Nazareth had with Jesus and His family appears to have turned their wonder into doubt, and from doubt to offense.
And they took offense at Him (v 3b).
Even though they were astonished by His teaching and miracles, they seem unable to grasp that Jesus could be their Messiah. They wondered how someone from among them had gained such wisdom and miraculous power. What they could not comprehend, they refused to believe.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household” (v 4).
Jesus laments their lack of faith by stating a principle: A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown.
By stating this principle on this occasion, when He was being rejected by His hometown, Jesus observed aloud how this principle played a factor in their rejection of Him as the Messiah—the Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15Deuteronomy 18:15 commentary, 18-1918-19 commentary).
Jesus’s remark speaks to the tragic irony that those most familiar with a prophet often fail to recognize his true significance. Rather than honoring him for the wisdom and authority he possesses, his own community dismisses the prophet because they cannot see past their assumptions and familiarity. The prophet’s extraordinary calling is obscured by ordinary memories, and his divine mission is reduced in their eyes to commonality. The unwillingness of the people of the prophet’s hometown to believe shows that honor often comes more readily from those who encounter a messenger fresh, without preconceived biases.
Jesus, of course, is the prophetHe was speaking of, and as the Messiah, He was the prophet who was promised long ago through Moses that the LORD would send to Israel to speak directly to His people (Deuteronomy 18:15Deuteronomy 18:15 commentary, 18-1918-19 commentary).
Jesus’s observation also demonstrated how He was doubted even among his own relatives and in his own household. The Gospel of John also describes the unbelief of Jesus’s brothers:
“For not even His brothers were believing in Him.” (John 7:5John 7:5 commentary)
But at least two of Jesus’s half-brothers eventually came to believe in Him as the Messiah.
Soon after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to His half-brother, James (1 Corinthians 15:71 Corinthians 15:7 commentary). This seems to have had a major impact on James’s faith in Jesus. Jesus’s half-brother James would go on to lead the Christian church in Jerusalem, apparently serving as the lead elder (Acts 15:13Acts 15:13 commentary, 21:1821:18 commentary). He was also the author of the Epistle of James where he describes himself as “a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1James 1:1 commentary). According to Josephus, James was stoned to death and martyred for his faith.
Jesus’s half-brother Judas was Jude, the author of the Epistle of Jude. Jude also described himself as “a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James” (Jude 1:1Jude 1:1 commentary).
Luke’s similar (if not parallel) account of Jesus teaching in the synagogue of His hometown (Luke 4:16-29Luke 4:16-29 commentary appears to elaborate on the things Jesus saidto His unbelieving neighbors.
In addition to saying “no prophet is welcome in his hometown” (Luke 4:24Luke 4:24 commentary), Luke also records Jesus as saying that His listeners demanded public miracles to be done there in Nazareth to prove the truth of His claims (Luke 4:23Luke 4:23 commentary). Jesus chastised them by citing examples of how Elijah and Elisha performed miracles for Gentiles back in their days because they could find no one faithful in Israel (Luke 4:25-27Luke 4:25-27 commentary).
“And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13:58Matthew 13:58 commentary)
Mark observes:
And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief (v 5).
Instead of explicitly stating why Jesus did not do many miracles there in His hometown like Matthew did (Matthew 13:58Matthew 13:58 commentary), Mark simply states the bare fact that He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.
Interestingly, Mark says that Jesus could do no miracle. This infers that Jesus was unable to do any miracles in Nazareth because there was no faith in Nazareth. This highlights how greatly God values our faith.
To be clear: God does not need our faith to do anything. God can do whatever He wants with or without our belief in Him. But God is pleased by our faith (Hebrews 11:6Hebrews 11:6 commentary). And God often chooses to work on people’s behalf through their faith in Him.
Jesus only quietly did a few miracles when He was in His hometown for a few believing individuals, such as laying His hands on a few sick people and healing them.
If Luke’s account (Luke 4:16-30Luke 4:16-30 commentary) is a description of the same moment, then these healings likely took place before Jesus taught in Nazareth’s synagogue rather than after He taught. This is because Luke’s account describes how the people became filled with rage as they heard what He was saying to them (Luke 4:28Luke 4:28 commentary) and they took Jesus to the edge of a cliff in order to throw Him down from it and kill Him (Luke 4:29Luke 4:29 commentary), “But passing through their midst, He went on His way” (Luke 4:30Luke 4:30 commentary). The people tried to execute JesuswhenHe spoke to them in the synagogue, and it appears that He left Hishometown right away.
As His hometown considered Jesus, they went from wonder to unbelief to offense to “rage” (Luke 4:28Luke 4:28 commentary).
It was both tragic and ironic that those who had the greatest opportunity to believe in Jesus were among those who believed in Him the least. Sadly, the incredulity of Jesus’s hometown caused Him to wonder at their unbelief.
Their unbelief and rejection of Him was likely incredibly painful and humiliating to Him. But the pain and humiliation He endured in Nazareth was only a foretaste of what He would soon suffer.
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Mark 6:1-6 meaning
The parallel gospel account for Mark 6:1-6Mark 6:1-6 commentary is found in Matthew 13:53-58Matthew 13:53-58 commentary. Luke 4:14-30Luke 4:14-30 commentary is possibly another parallel account of the same event described in Mark 6:1-6Mark 6:1-6 commentary.
Mark 6:1-6Mark 6:1-6 commentary describes how when Jesus returned to His hometown and taught in the synagogue, the people were astonished yet offended by Him, and because of their unbelief, He performed only a few miracles there.
Sometime after Jesus healed the woman with a 12-year hemorrhage and secretly raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead, he left Capernaum (Mark 5:21-42Mark 5:21-42 commentary) and returned to Nazareth:
Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him (v 1).
Jesus’s hometown was Nazareth. Nazareth was located a few miles west of the Sea of Galilee This time when Jesus returned to His hometown His disciples went with Him. Nazareth was a small town.
When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue (v 2a).
On the Sabbath, Jesus began to teach in the synagogue. Synagogues were the center of worship in each town. They were meeting places. Pharisees operated the synagogues. And they taught the people their interpretations of the Law of Moses (the tradition) and promoted Jewish culture.
According to their custom, on the Sabbath, the Pharisees would teach in the synagogue. For Jesus to be able to teach in the synagogue, He would have to have been invited to do so by one or more of the leaders of that particular synagogue.
Jesus was a rabbi, (a venerated teacher of the Scriptures and Jewish law) who had been invited to teach in synagogues before (Mark 1:21Mark 1:21 commentary) and His teachings astonished those who heard Him (Mark 1:22Mark 1:22 commentary). His miraculous healings of people and casting out of demons had also made Jesus more widely known.
Jesus’s notoriety grew after He left Nazareth to begin His Messianic ministry. According to Luke, Jesus left His hometown when He “was about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23Luke 3:23 commentary).
Now the famous rabbi had returned to His hometown and He was invited to teach in Nazareth’s synagogue on the Sabbath. Because Nazareth was such a small town, this likely was the same synagogue of Jesus’s youth and young adulthood. It was probably the same synagogue where He was taught the Law of Moses, the writings of the Prophets, the history of Joshua and Judges, of David and the other kings, and the Traditions of the Pharisees.
When the Sabbath came, Jesus—the local boy who had become known all throughout Galilee and beyond—began to teach in the synagogue.
Luke’s chronological account of Jesus’s earthly life and ministry (Luke 1:3Luke 1:3 commentary) may also have written about this moment (Luke 4:14-30Luke 4:14-30 commentary).
If Luke 4:14-30Luke 4:14-30 commentary is a parallel account of this moment, then this event occurred soon after Jesus’s public ministry began in Capernaum and the message that He delivered to the synagogue of His hometown came from the prophet Isaiah (Luke 4:17Luke 4:17 commentary).
Jesus read only a part of two verses. These two verses were Isaiah 61:1-2Isaiah 61:1-2 commentary. And this is what Luke records Jesus reading:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
(Luke 4:18-19Luke 4:18-19 commentary)
This prophecy from Isaiah speaks of the Lord’s anointed—the Messiah—and the liberation and restoration of Israel that He will proclaim.
It is notable that Jesus did not finish the verse and read what came next in Isaiah’s prophecy.
One reason this was notable was because according to the traditions of the Pharisees, whenever someone read or taught in the synagogues, they were not permitted to read less than three verses. Jesus read less than two full verses and “closed the book” and “gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]” (Luke 14:20aLuke 14:20a commentary).
This break in tradition (but not the Law of Moses) would have immediately caught the attention of everyone present. Luke describes the surprise of the audience when he writes:
“and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.”
(Luke 14:20bLuke 14:20b commentary)
Jesus’s decision to stop reading part way through the second verse was no accident. It was deliberate. He was making a profound point. His point becomes clearer by considering what came next in Isaiah’s prophecy, which Jesus did not read.
This is what came next in Isaiah’s prophecy:
“And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn
To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
(Isaiah 61:2b-3Isaiah 61:2b-3 commentary)
Isaiah 61:1-2aIsaiah 61:1-2a commentary (the verses Jesus read) describe how the Messiah would proclaim liberty to the captives of Israel.
Isaiah 61:2b-3Isaiah 61:2b-3 commentary (the verses that Jesus did not read) describe how the Messiah would bring about the day of judgment and God’s vengeance upon Israel’s enemies (Isaiah 61:2bIsaiah 61:2b commentary) and how the Messiah would “grant”—i.e. “bring about”—Israel’s redemption (Isaiah 61:3Isaiah 61:3 commentary).
Jesus was the Messiah. But when He came to earth the first time, He did not come to do the things described in Isaiah 61:2b-3Isaiah 61:2b-3 commentary.
When Jesus returns to earth, He will bring judgment and God’s “vengeance” (Isaiah 61:2bIsaiah 61:2b commentary) upon Israel’s enemies (2 Thessalonians 1:6-92 Thessalonians 1:6-9 commentary, commentary Revelation 19:11-20Revelation 19:11-20 commentary). And He will “grant” full restoration to God’s people when He comes to earth for the second time (2 Thessalonians 1:102 Thessalonians 1:10 commentary, commentary Revelation 11:15Revelation 11:15 commentary, 22:1222:12 commentary).
The reason Jesus did not continue reading in Isaiah 61Isaiah 61 commentary was because He did not come to accomplish God’s vengeance or grant political liberation at that time. He came to proclaim liberation (Isaiah 61:1-2aIsaiah 61:1-2a commentary) during His first advent, which is why Jesus read that portion of Isaiah’s prophecy.
This was made clear by what Jesus said to His listeners in His hometown synagogue once He stopped reading and closed the scroll.
“And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”
(Luke 4:21Luke 4:21 commentary)
In other words, Jesus was proclaiming Himself to be the Messiah and that “Today” (Luke 4:21Luke 4:21 commentary) was the literal day that the Messiah fulfilled Isaiah’s then 750-year-old prophecy that the Messiah would “proclaim the liberty to the captives” and “proclaim the favorable year of the LORD” (Isaiah 61:1-2aIsaiah 61:1-2a commentary).
The prophecy of “this Scripture”—i.e. the scripture that Jesus read (Isaiah 61:1-2aIsaiah 61:1-2a commentary) was fulfilled “today” (Luke 4:21Luke 4:21 commentary). But the prophecies that Jesus did not read concerning what came next in Isaiah—(Isaiah 61:2b-3Isaiah 61:2b-3 commentary) were not part of “this Scripture” (Luke 4:21Luke 4:21 commentary) and would be fulfilled at a later date when Jesus returned to earth.
Jesus was making several astonishing claims at once through what He chose to read and not read, and through the first remark He made when He finished reading Isaiah.
This was a lot for Jesus’s listeners to process. Mark describes their astonished response to Jesus’s message when they initially heard what He said to them in the synagogue that Sabbath:
and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?” (v 2b).
Many of the people who were listening to Jesus in His hometown synagogue on that Sabbath were astonished and unsure of what to make of what He had just claimed. They began asking three questions:
All three of these questions were asking how Jesus could say and do such remarkable things. They were asking where and how Jesus gained such wisdom and power to perform the miracles which they had heard that He had done (Matthew 13:54Matthew 13:54 commentary).
If Luke was writing of the same incident, he wrote of the listeners’ initial approval of Jesus:
“And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips.”
(Luke 4:22aLuke 4:22a commentary).
Some of the listeners began attempting to answer their own questions about where Jesus gained such wisdom and power with negative questions—questions of incredulity:
“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” (v 3).
The people of Nazareth knew Jesus like no one else. They were familiar with his profession and family.
His listeners in the synagogue asked: Is this not the carpenter?
This was a rhetorical question with an implied answer of “Yes.” This is the carpenter. And this rhetorical question and its implied answer pointed to a further implication. The further implication was this: that because this man who said and did astonishing things was (only) the carpenter, it therefore did not seem possible to them that Jesus could not be as great as what they had heard Him to be. And by extension, neither did it seem possible for Jesus to be the Messiah who fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy as He had just claimed.
It is also interesting that Mark 6:3Mark 6:3 commentary is the only verse in the Bible that explicitly describes Jesus’s pre-Messianic profession as “carpenter.” Similarly, the parallel verse in Matthew describes Jesus as “the carpenter’s son” (Matthew 13:55Matthew 13:55 commentary) which is the only time Joseph, Jesus’s adoptive father, is described as a carpenter. And it is the latest time in Jesus’s life that the gospels directly reference Joseph. All the other direct references to Joseph, Jesus’s earthly step-father, are centered around Jesus’s birth and childhood.
In Mark 6:3Mark 6:3 commentary, commentary the word translated carpenter is the Greek word τέκτων (tek-ton).
While “tekton” is often associated with woodworking, its meaning in the first-century context was broader. A tekton referred to a craftsman, builder, or artisan—someone skilled in construction work, often with wood, but also with stone and other materials, depending on the region’s resources.
In Galilee, and especially near Nazareth (which was close to the predominantly Roman city of Sepphoris, a large urban center undergoing major construction during Jesus’s youth). The term tekton would not simply conjure the image of a village woodworker. It could easily imply a construction worker, stonemason, or even a general builder. It may have been that Jesus and Joseph helped with the construction of Sepphoris.
Thus, when first-century readers heard Jesus described as a tekton/carpenter, they would have pictured someone accustomed to manual labor who built structures. A carpenter was a respectable profession. A carpenter would have been expected to know about construction work, not rabbinic wisdom.
His listeners knew not only Jesus’s pre-Messianic trade, but they also knew His family well. They had lived and worked and went to synagogue together alongside Jesus’s family for years. Their familiarity with Jesus’s family added to their incredulity of His claim to be the Messiah.
They asked:
Is not this…the son of Mary…? and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?”
They knew that Jesus was Mary’s son. Mary was also raised in Nazareth (Luke 1:26-27Luke 1:26-27 commentary). After the death of Herod, Mary and her husband Joseph returned to Nazareth from Egypt when Jesus was a child (Matthew 2:22-23Matthew 2:22-23 commentary). The fact that Joseph is not mentioned by name likely indicates that he had passed away by this point. As mentioned above, Joseph is referenced in Matthew’s gospel as “the carpenter” when the listeners asked themselves: “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:55Matthew 13:55 commentary).
The expected answer to both these rhetorical questions is “Yes. This is the son of Mary. Jesus is the carpenter’s (Joseph’s) son.” The implication of these rhetorical questions is that because Jesus is the son of Mary and the carpenter, He could not be the Messianic figure He claims to be.
Similarly, Jesus’s listeners, incredulous of His claim to be the Christ, dismiss Him with other questions along these same lines: Is not Jesus the…brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?
Jesus’s brothers were really His half-brothers. They had the same mother, but their father was Joseph. (Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit—Matthew 1:18Matthew 1:18 commentary, commentary Luke 1:35Luke 1:35 commentary).
Jesus’s listeners identify at least four of Jesus’s half-brothers in their skeptical question: James, Joses, Judas, and Simon. According to those in the synagogue, Jesus also apparently had half-sisters as well, but His listeners do not state their names.
Luke’s similar (if not parallel) account of Jesus teaching in the synagogue of His hometown records that initially, “all were speaking well of Him and wondering at the gracious words from His lips” (Luke 4:22aLuke 4:22a commentary). But when they began to consider His background, the familiarity that the people of Nazareth had with Jesus and His family appears to have turned their wonder into doubt, and from doubt to offense.
And they took offense at Him (v 3b).
Even though they were astonished by His teaching and miracles, they seem unable to grasp that Jesus could be their Messiah. They wondered how someone from among them had gained such wisdom and miraculous power. What they could not comprehend, they refused to believe.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household” (v 4).
Jesus laments their lack of faith by stating a principle: A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown.
By stating this principle on this occasion, when He was being rejected by His hometown, Jesus observed aloud how this principle played a factor in their rejection of Him as the Messiah—the Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15Deuteronomy 18:15 commentary, 18-1918-19 commentary).
Jesus’s remark speaks to the tragic irony that those most familiar with a prophet often fail to recognize his true significance. Rather than honoring him for the wisdom and authority he possesses, his own community dismisses the prophet because they cannot see past their assumptions and familiarity. The prophet’s extraordinary calling is obscured by ordinary memories, and his divine mission is reduced in their eyes to commonality. The unwillingness of the people of the prophet’s hometown to believe shows that honor often comes more readily from those who encounter a messenger fresh, without preconceived biases.
Jesus, of course, is the prophet He was speaking of, and as the Messiah, He was the prophet who was promised long ago through Moses that the LORD would send to Israel to speak directly to His people (Deuteronomy 18:15Deuteronomy 18:15 commentary, 18-1918-19 commentary).
Jesus’s observation also demonstrated how He was doubted even among his own relatives and in his own household. The Gospel of John also describes the unbelief of Jesus’s brothers:
“For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”
(John 7:5John 7:5 commentary)
But at least two of Jesus’s half-brothers eventually came to believe in Him as the Messiah.
Soon after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to His half-brother, James (1 Corinthians 15:71 Corinthians 15:7 commentary). This seems to have had a major impact on James’s faith in Jesus. Jesus’s half-brother James would go on to lead the Christian church in Jerusalem, apparently serving as the lead elder (Acts 15:13Acts 15:13 commentary, 21:1821:18 commentary). He was also the author of the Epistle of James where he describes himself as “a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1James 1:1 commentary). According to Josephus, James was stoned to death and martyred for his faith.
Jesus’s half-brother Judas was Jude, the author of the Epistle of Jude. Jude also described himself as “a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James” (Jude 1:1Jude 1:1 commentary).
Luke’s similar (if not parallel) account of Jesus teaching in the synagogue of His hometown (Luke 4:16-29Luke 4:16-29 commentary appears to elaborate on the things Jesus said to His unbelieving neighbors.
In addition to saying “no prophet is welcome in his hometown” (Luke 4:24Luke 4:24 commentary), Luke also records Jesus as saying that His listeners demanded public miracles to be done there in Nazareth to prove the truth of His claims (Luke 4:23Luke 4:23 commentary). Jesus chastised them by citing examples of how Elijah and Elisha performed miracles for Gentiles back in their days because they could find no one faithful in Israel (Luke 4:25-27Luke 4:25-27 commentary).
Similarly, Matthew’s parallel account explicitly states:
“And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”
(Matthew 13:58Matthew 13:58 commentary)
Mark observes:
And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief (v 5).
Instead of explicitly stating why Jesus did not do many miracles there in His hometown like Matthew did (Matthew 13:58Matthew 13:58 commentary), Mark simply states the bare fact that He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.
Interestingly, Mark says that Jesus could do no miracle. This infers that Jesus was unable to do any miracles in Nazareth because there was no faith in Nazareth. This highlights how greatly God values our faith.
To be clear: God does not need our faith to do anything. God can do whatever He wants with or without our belief in Him. But God is pleased by our faith (Hebrews 11:6Hebrews 11:6 commentary). And God often chooses to work on people’s behalf through their faith in Him.
Jesus only quietly did a few miracles when He was in His hometown for a few believing individuals, such as laying His hands on a few sick people and healing them.
If Luke’s account (Luke 4:16-30Luke 4:16-30 commentary) is a description of the same moment, then these healings likely took place before Jesus taught in Nazareth’s synagogue rather than after He taught. This is because Luke’s account describes how the people became filled with rage as they heard what He was saying to them (Luke 4:28Luke 4:28 commentary) and they took Jesus to the edge of a cliff in order to throw Him down from it and kill Him (Luke 4:29Luke 4:29 commentary), “But passing through their midst, He went on His way” (Luke 4:30Luke 4:30 commentary). The people tried to execute Jesus when He spoke to them in the synagogue, and it appears that He left His hometown right away.
As His hometown considered Jesus, they went from wonder to unbelief to offense to “rage” (Luke 4:28Luke 4:28 commentary).
It was both tragic and ironic that those who had the greatest opportunity to believe in Jesus were among those who believed in Him the least. Sadly, the incredulity of Jesus’s hometown caused Him to wonder at their unbelief.
Their unbelief and rejection of Him was likely incredibly painful and humiliating to Him. But the pain and humiliation He endured in Nazareth was only a foretaste of what He would soon suffer.