Mark 6:3

Mark 6:3, in plain English

'Isn't this just the carpenter? Mary's son? We know his brothers and sisters!' They couldn't see past the familiar face to the extraordinary person standing in front of them.

Why it's here

They reduced him to what they already knew: his job, his family, his background. When we think we already have someone figured out, we close ourselves off to what God might be doing through them.

Who's speaking

The people of Nazareth voice their objections and offense at Jesus.

Where it sits in the story

They knew the carpenter. They knew his mom and siblings. And that's exactly what blinded them. Sometimes the biggest obstacle to seeing God at work is thinking you already have all the information.

The scholarly reading

The designation 'the carpenter' (ho tekton) and listing of family members is an attempt to reduce Jesus to his social origins. Calling him 'son of Mary' rather than 'son of Joseph' may imply questions about his legitimacy or simply reflect Joseph's absence (likely deceased).

Language and setting

Tekton denoted a craftsman working in wood and stone. Naming siblings — James, Joses, Judas, Simon, and sisters — emphasizes ordinariness. 'They took offense' (eskandalizonto) indicates a faith-stumbling reaction.

Voice

The Nazareth congregation expresses their objections based on Jesus' known family background.

Significance

The hometown crowd catalogues Jesus' ordinary credentials — his trade, his mother, his brothers and sisters — and stumbles over them. They cannot see past the carpenter to the Christ.

1Jesus went on from there and came to His hometown, accompanied by His disciples.

2When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these ideas?” they asked. “What is this wisdom He has been given? And how can He perform such miracles?

3Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him.

4Then Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household is a prophet without honor.”

5So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them.

Read all of Mark 6 — His hometown dismisses him, a king beheads his cousin, and the crowds won't stop coming. Jesus feeds five thousand anyway.