“And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?”
When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. Where did this man get these things? they asked. What's this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? — the amazement is the same as Capernaum (Mark 1:22) but what follows is entirely different. The questions are not open inquiry but resistant puzzlement: they know the answer they expect (the village carpenter), and the reality of Jesus' teaching and miracles does not fit their expectation. The three questions (where did he get these things, what is this wisdom, what are these miracles) are the questions of people whose category system is breaking down but who will not revise the category system.
Church Fathers on Mark 6:2
After the miracles which have been related, the Lord returns into His own country, not that He was ignorant that they would despise Him, but that they might have no reason to say, If Thou hadst come, we had believed Thee.
He means by His country, Nazareth, in which He was brought up. But how great the blindness of the Nazarenes! they despise Him, Who by His words and deeds they might know to be the Christ, solely on account of His kindred.
Matthew indeed says that He was called the son of a carpenter; nor are we to wonder, since both might have been said, for they believed Him to be a carpenter, because He was the son of a carpenter.
Read all 8 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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