He went away from there and came to His hometown, and His disciples followed Him. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things?” they said. “What is this wisdom given to Him, and how are these miracles performed by His hands? Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t His sisters here with us?” So they were offended by Him.

Then Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.” So He was not able to do any miracles there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He was amazed at their unbelief. (Mark 6:1-6)

The people who we think we know best, that we are closest to, are the ones that we are most likely to underestimate. It is all too easy to miss the wonder that is a neighbor, friend, or family member. When a teenaged son or daughter first takes the wheel of the family car, most parents struggle to adjust to their new abilities. Instead, our minds are filled with memories of skinned knees, of diaper changes at three in the morning, of tiny hands gripping our finger and of their tears as they toddled off to kindergarten. It is hard to recognize them as budding adults. When they grown up and become a fighter pilot, it doesn’t seem possible.

Meanwhile, children accept the words of strangers that they previously rejected from the mouths of their own parents. They believe teachers rather than the ones who feed them every day and see to it that they have a roof over their heads.

So Jesus pointed out the obvious to the people of his hometown, Nazareth. A famous person isn’t famous at all when he’s at home. He’s just dad. Or mom. Or that kid down the street. No reason to shake his hand or get his autograph. In Nazareth, Jesus was just the son of the carpenter. Everyone knew his family. Who did he think he was?

Rather than seeing his miracles, rather than seeing he was the Messiah, they only saw the person they thought they already knew. They didn’t care about what he was doing, they only cared about where he had come from.

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