Hometown rejection In the sixth chapter of the
Gospel of Mark there is an account of a visit by Jesus to his hometown together with his followers. On the
Sabbath, he enters a
synagogue and begins to teach. The account says that many who heard him were "astounded", and offended, and they asked him "is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary?" It adds that he could do no "deeds of power there" except to heal a few sick people. 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." (Mark 6:1-6) As ancient biographies could display flexibility when reporting events, the account in the
Gospel of Matthew differs by having those in the synagogue describe Jesus as the "son of the carpenter" and stating that he could not do many deeds of power (rather than none). (Matthew 13:54-58) The
Gospel of Luke moves this story to the beginning of Jesus' preaching in Galilee; ancient writing involved chronological displacement, with even reliable biographers like
Plutarch displaying them. According to
Lutheran commentator
Mark Allan Powell, this was done in order to introduce what follows it. In this version, Jesus is described as performing a
public reading of scripture; he claims to be the fulfillment of a
prophecy at . (Luke 4:16-30) In Matthew and Mark the crowd is also described as referring to
Jesus as being the brother of
James,
Simon,
Joseph, and
Judas (in Mark they also mention, but do not name, Jesus's sisters) in a manner suggesting that the crowd regards them as just ordinary people, and criticising Jesus' quite different behaviour. Luke adds that Jesus recounted stories about how, during the time of
Elijah, only a
Sidonian woman was saved, and how, during the time of
Elisha, though there were many lepers in Israel, only a
Syrian was cleansed. This, according to Luke, caused the people to attack Jesus and chase him to the top of a hill in order to try to throw Jesus off, though Jesus slips away. Some scholars conclude that the
historical accuracy of Luke's version is questionable, in this particular case citing that there is no cliff face in Nazareth. There are, however, several sharp precipices in close vicinity. One in particular, Mount Precipice, is often marked as the place in folk tradition. The negative view of Jesus' family may be related to the conflict between
Paul the Apostle and
Jewish Christians. Critical biographer
A. N. Wilson suggests that the negative relationship between Jesus and his family was placed in the Gospels (especially in the Gospel of Mark, for example, , ) to dissuade early Christians from following the Jesus cult that was administered by Jesus' family: "... it would not be surprising if other parts of the church, particularly the Gentiles, liked telling stories about Jesus as a man who had no sympathy or support from his family." Jeffrey Bütz is more succinct: "... by the time Mark was writing in the late 60s, the Gentile churches outside of Israel were beginning to resent the authority wielded by Jerusalem where James and the apostles were leaders, thus providing the motive for Mark's antifamily stance ..." (p. 44). Other prominent scholars agree (e.g., Crosson, 1973; Mack, 1988; Painter, 1999).
Rejection of the cornerstone , and speak of Jesus as the
cornerstone which the builders (or "husbandmen") rejected. discusses this rejection of Jesus. This references similar wording in :
The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, and Decapolis According to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the Galilean cities of
Chorazin,
Bethsaida,
Capernaum, and the
Decapolis did not
repent in response to Jesus's teaching, so Jesus declared that the wicked cities of
Tyre,
Sidon,
Sodom and Gomorrah would have repented; it will be more bearable for the latter cities on the Judgement Day, and Capernaum, in particular, will sink down to
Hades (, ).
Not welcomed in a Samaritan village According to , when Jesus entered a
Samaritan village, he was not welcomed, because he was going on to Jerusalem. (There was enmity between the Jews and their
temple in Jerusalem and Samaritans and their temple on
Mount Gerizim). Jesus' disciples James and his brother John wanted to call down fire from
heaven on the village but Jesus reprimanded them and they continued on to another village.
Many disciples leave records "many
disciples" leaving Jesus after he said that those who eat
his body and drink
his blood will remain in him and have
eternal life (). In Jesus asks the
Twelve Apostles if they also want to leave, but
Peter responds that they have become believers. ==Rejection as the Jewish messiah==