Matthew 13:53-58 - Rejected At Nazareth

⁵³ And it happened, when Jesus had finished [giving] these parables, He went away from that place.

⁵⁴ And when He came to His home town [i.e., Nazareth], Jesus taught people in their synagogues to their amazement. They said, "Where did this man get [such] wisdom and [the ability to perform] these supernatural deeds? ⁵⁵ Is not he the carpenter's [i.e., Joseph's] son? [And] is not his mother named Mary, and his brothers [named] James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ And are not his sisters all [here] with us? Where then did he get all these things [i.e., wisdom, knowledge, miracles, etc]?" ⁵⁷ And they were led to doubt His true identity. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet does not go without being honored, except in His own home town and among His own family members." ⁵⁸ So, He did not perform very many supernatural deeds in that place because of the people's lack of faith.

¹ Then Jesus went out from there and came to His home town [i.e., Nazareth] and His disciples went with Him. ² And when the Sabbath day came, He began teaching in the synagogue and many who heard Him were amazed, and asked [such questions as], "Where did this man get these things [i.e., knowledge, miracles, etc.]?" and "What kind of wisdom has been given to him?" and "What do these supernatural powers he performs mean? ³ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters living here among us?" And they were led to doubt His true identity.

⁴ Then Jesus said to them, "A prophet does not go without receiving honor, except in his own home town, and among his own relatives, and among his own family members." ⁵ And He could not perform any supernatural deed there [i.e., because of their lack of faith in Him], except He placed hands on a few sick people [i.e., accompanied by prayer ?] and healed them. ⁶ [But] He marveled at the people's lack of faith. So, He traveled and taught throughout the [surrounding] villages.

¹⁶ Jesus then went to Nazareth where He had been brought up. He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day, according to His custom, and stood up to read [the Scriptures]. ¹⁷ The book [i.e., actually a scroll] of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He opened the book and found the passage where it was written [Isa. 61:1f],

¹⁸ "The Holy Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me [i.e., specially chose me] to preach good news to poor people. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to those who are captives [i.e., to sin]; recovery of sight to the [spiritually as well as physically] blind; to set free those who are oppressed [i.e., by Satan] and ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's acceptance [i.e., the time when people would become His obedient followers]."

²⁰ Then He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were focused on Him. ²¹ He began speaking to them [saying], "Today this [passage of] Scripture has been fulfilled as you listened to it."

²² So, everyone spoke well of Him and marvelled at the gracious words coming from His mouth. They said, "Is he not Joseph's son?"

²³ And He replied to them, "No doubt you will tell me this proverb, 'Doctor, heal yourself,' and 'Perform [the miracles] here in your own home town also that we heard you did in Capernaum.'"

²⁴ And He said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his own home town. ²⁵ But it is true when I tell you, [while] there were many widows [living] in Israel during the time of Elijah, when it did not rain for three and a half years, causing a great famine over the entire land, ²⁶ Elijah was not sent to any of them, except to a widow in Zarephath [i.e., a Gentile town] in the region of Sidon. ²⁷ And [while] there were many people with infectious skin diseases [living] in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet, none of them was healed except Naaman, the Syrian [who was also a Gentile]."

²⁸ Then everyone in the synagogue became extremely angry when they heard these things. ²⁹ They rose up and threw Jesus out of the city, leading Him to the top of the hill on which the city was built, in order to throw Him down [from a cliff]. ³⁰ But He [just] walked right through them and went on His way.