Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. (Mark 6:1–3, NIV 1984).
My Musings – “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:46, NIV 1984). Apparently even the “good” people” of Nazareth didn’t think so. At least not if He was just “the carpenter.” Yet there He was, teaching in their synagogue, displaying wisdom and performing miracles.
They knew His mother, his half-brothers and half-sisters. He had likely done some carpentry work for many of them. They may have been amazed at His teaching, but He was just a carpenter, after all. Who wants to hear what a carpenter has to say? “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3, NIV 1984). So, “they took offense at him.“
My Advice – But He was more than a carpenter. We must listen to Him. “[He has] the words of eternal life. We [must] believe and know that [He is] the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68–69, NIV 1984). Did anything ever good come out of Nazareth? Just “the Holy One of God!” The Savior of mankind. We must either “believe and know” or “hide our faces.” There is no third option.
The Brew Is A Musing 