Is this man not the carpenter’s son? Where did he get such wisdom and the ability to perform mighty deeds? And they took offense at him. Jesus’ itinerant ministry was making him traverse towns and villages as he sought to proclaim the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. As part of the proclamation he was making, Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry, and raised the dead. These were deeds that couldn’t be performed by just any person and as such rightly led to the general public acclaiming Jesus as a prophet of God. In today’s Gospel passage, we see Jesus ‘coming home’ to Nazareth to share the good news with his kin. If the reception that he had been accorded “out there” had made him look forward to returning home (perhaps thinking that he would get even an enthusiastic reception), he must have been heavily disappointed. For as the Gospel accounts report, it seems Jesus’ teaching did not elicit the desired response from his own people. They took offence at him and his teaching.
It is one thing that the people of Nazareth refused to believe in Jesus as a prophet on account of familiarity. They knew him as well as his family background. In their eyes, there was no way he could be a prophet. They watched him grow up. He was one of their own. It is a reaction that can be said to be excusable. But why did they take offense at him? What is it that Jesus did that was so abominable that drove his own kin to take offense at him? It was without any doubt that Jesus was a prophet. The mighty signs that Jesus was working could only be done by someone who was
godly. I highly doubt that it was on account of the mighty works Jesus was doing that he was rejected. We all love being passive recipients of goodies even if they are given by someone we are not highly fond of, and this community was no exception.
As a prophet, Jesus was the spokesperson and mouthpiece of God. His primary responsibility was that of reminding the people about their identity. Unfortunately, as a prophet, Jesus’ mere presence was also a reminder to his community of where they had gone wrong. I suppose herein lies the basis for their disdain and rejection of him to an extent of taking offense at him. Jesus must have come back to his village and challenged the people to be active recipients of God's revelation. He must have reminded them of their falling short of what God expected of them. No one likes to be corrected.