SUMMARY
Jesus’s hometown of Nazareth fails to accept the wondrous deeds that he has done.
ANALYSIS
As has happened on multiple occasions already in Mark’s narrative, Jesus’ teaching in a synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of worship. Jesus often taught in synagogues where he sometimes ran afoul of Jewish leaders. In the book of Acts, Paul and others attend synagogues and teach in them. More leads to conflict. Previous conflicts have been demonic (1:21-28) or with other Jewish teachers (3:1-6). In this case, Jesus receives a rude welcome from the people that he grew up with. Rather than accepting that his teaching and miracles come from God, the people of Nazareth belittle Jesus’ occupation and his family. For the third time in a row, Mark highlights the importance of faith. The woman with the hemorrhage was healed on account of her faith (5:34), Jesus commanded Jairus to have faith in him (5:36), and here Jesus is astounded by the lack of faith shown by the people of Nazareth (6:6).
