Matthew 13:53

The residents of the small village called Nazareth knew one another very well. No family fault or virtue went unnoticed. The family born and raised by Joseph and Mary was no exception. It was a family like all the others  – nothing of note. They found it difficult, some even impossible, to even imagine that the oldest child in that family was actually God in the flesh, God incarnate, we say.

Evidently Jesus was not set on convincing them of that fact because we have no record of him healing or raising the dead there!  The people of Nazareth got word from outside of how marvelous was Jesus’ wisdom and power. To them that was inconceivable.  “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” He is a “nobody” with no claims to divinity, they surely thought.

So, instead of standing in amazement, “They took offence at him.” I find it difficult to see why they were offended. Maybe because he did not flout his power and wisdom there in familiar Nazareth.  I am not sure. But these fine people of Nazareth were not unlike many of us today, we find it dreadfully hard to believe that the Creator, redeeming God, can also be a human being. The incarnation baffles the mind still.