Jesus returned to his own country, and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, He began teaching in the synagogue, and most of those who heard him were astonished. They commented, «How did this come to him? What kind of wisdom has been given to him that he also performs such miracles? Who is He but the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here among us?». So they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, «Prophets are despised only in their own country, among their relatives and in their own family». And he could work no miracles there, but only healed a few sick people by laying his hands on them. Jesus himself was astounded at their unbelief.
Source: http://evangeli.net/gospel/
Analysis
Today's passage is an uplifting passage for us who feels unappreciated and hated for our work, even when we never harmed anyone and our work is actually beneficial for people around us. While Jesus is mostly accepted, this is one part where He is despised. Jesus was at His hometown at that time, and taught in the synagogue. The people who heard it was astonished and confused, as they knew who Jesus was, that He was only a carpenter, son of Mary, brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon and His sisters are with Him as well. They then became upset and rejected Jesus, and Jesus claimed that prophets are only despised in their own country, among relatives and in the family. He couldn't even work miracles there, only healing some few sickly people. And Jesus was astounded by their disbelief.
While the specific reason towards why Jesus was rejected is not known, I can deduce several possible reasons. First, the people there knew Jesus since birth, and the materialist impression of His early life made people look down on Jesus. They felt that Jesus was only a fraud as He's only a carpenter and couldn't possibly have done whatever it is that He did. This shows the dangers of materialism, it blinds you. Another possible reason is that the people there was jealous that Jesus was so much better. And thus they used His early life as a simple man to attack Him and thus His teachings and so on. Well, they clearly have no idea what is an ad hominem fallacy.
What's interesting is that Jesus couldn't work any miracles. Why is that? You see, remember the times where Jesus healed people and He said that it was their faith that saved them, and not Jesus Himself? This is exactly the same, but the opposite situation happens. The reason why Jesus is unable to perform miracles is because no one there believed that Jesus can do anything, their lack of faith rendered Jesus unable to do anything for them. As they had shut their hearts and energy flow since the beginning. In the last part, it was written that Jesus was astounded at their disbelief. This is further evidence of Jesus' humanity, how Jesus still has a heart that wishes to be appreciated and to be loved. I believe this event was a large blow to Jesus' heart, being rejected by His own blood. Regardless, I believe that is all I have to say, have a nice day and see you tomorrow.
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