Rejection of Jesus
Amazed at the community's lack of belief in him, Jesus observes that "Prophets are not without honour, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house."
[1] (Matthew 13:54-58) The Gospel of Luke moves this story to the beginning of Jesus' preaching in Galilee; according to Lutheran commentator Mark Allan Powell, this was done in order to introduce what follows it.
[2] In this version, Jesus is described as performing a public reading of scripture; he claims to be the fulfillment of a prophecy at Isaiah 61:1–2.
Some scholars conclude that the historical accuracy of Luke's version is questionable[broken anchor], in this particular case citing that there is no cliff face in Nazareth.
[4] The negative view of Jesus' family may be related to the conflict between Paul the Apostle and Jewish Christians.
In John 6:67–71 Jesus asks the Twelve Apostles if they also want to leave, but Peter responds that they have become believers.
Judaism also considers the worship of any person a form of idolatry,[11][12] and rejects the claim that Jesus was divine.
[23] On the Christian side, the accounts of Jewish rejection of Jesus are prominently featured in the New Testament, especially the Gospel of John.
According to Jeremy Cohen, [e]ven before the Gospels appeared, the apostle Paul (or, more probably, one of his disciples) portrayed the Jews as Christ's killers[24] ...
"[27] Saint Remigius: "He taught in their synagogues where great numbers were met, because it was for the salvation of the multitude that He came from heaven upon earth.
And they ought to have given Him more abundant honour, because, that coming of such parents, He spake after such manner; clearly showing that it came not of human industry, but of divine grace.
"[27] Hilary of Poitiers: "And this was the carpenter's son who subdues iron by means of fire, who tries the virtue of this world in the judgment, and forms the rude mass to every work of human need; the figure of our bodies, for example, to the divers ministrations of the limbs, and all the actions of life eternal.
Amid all the wonderful works which He did, they were moved with the contemplation of His Body, and hence they ask, Whence hath this man these things?
"[27] Jerome: "This error of the Jews is our salvation, and the condemnation of the heretics, for they perceived Jesus Christ to be man so far as to think Him the son of a carpenter.
"[27] Chrysostom: "Observe Christ's mercifulness; He is evil spoken of, yet He answers with mildness; Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and in his own house.
"[27] Jerome: "For it is almost natural for citizens to be jealous towards one another; for they do not look to the present works of the man, but remember the frailties of his childhood; as if they themselves had not passed through the very same stages of age to their maturity.
"[27] Hilary of Poitiers: "Further, He makes this answer, that a Prophet is without honour in his own country, because it was in Judæa that He was to be condemned to the sentence of the cross; and forasmuch as the power of God is for the faithful alone, He here abstained from works of divine power because of their unbelief; whence it follows, And he did not there many mighty works because of their unbelief.
