“But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”
Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home — the proverb about prophetic honor is not a consolation but an observation and an implicit diagnosis: familiarity produces contempt, and the people who knew Jesus as a child cannot see the prophet for the neighbor. The threefold location of dishonor (hometown, relatives, home) is comprehensive — it is not merely the general public of Nazareth that rejects Jesus but specifically those who knew him best. The irony is profound: the closest proximity to Jesus in human terms produces the least recognition of his significance.
Church Fathers on Mark 6:4
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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