Jesus rejected at Nazareth

St Matthew Chapter XIII : Verses 55-58

Contents

• Matt. xiii. 55-58.  Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate).
• Notes on the text.

Matt. xiii. 55-58

Is not this the carpenter's son?  J-J Tissot.
Brooklyn Museum.

54 And coming into his own country, he taught them in their synagogues, so that they wondered and said: How came this man by this wisdom and miracles?
Et veniens in patriam suam, docebat eos in synagogis eorum, ita ut mirarentur, et dicerent : Unde huic sapientia hæc, et virtutes?

55 Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude:
Nonne hic est fabri filius? nonne mater ejus dicitur Maria, et fratres ejus, Jacobus, et Joseph, et Simon, et Judas?

56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence therefore hath he all these things?
et sorores ejus, nonne omnes apud nos sunt? unde ergo huic omnia ista?

57 And they were scandalized in his regard. But Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
Et scandalizabantur in eo. Jesus autem dixit eis : Non est propheta sine honore, nisi in patria sua, et in domo sua.

58 And he wrought not many miracles there, because of their unbelief.
Et non fecit ibi virtutes multas propter incredulitatem illorum.

Notes

    Note. — All the Synoptists record that Christ visited Nazareth during His public life. Of these accounts it is generally accepted that the first and second gospels refer to the same event, while St Luke (iv. 14-30) relates a later visit. The Annotations given below are based on this hypothesis. 

    54. his own country. To Nazareth, where He was brought up. (See St Luke ii. 51.)

    he taught. Lit. “ was teaching ” ; the imperfect tense in the Greek denotes a continuous action (ἐδίδασκεν).

    synagogues. The Greek has the singular. Nazareth, being an obscure hamlet, would not have several synagogues.

    How came this man, etc. Unable to deny the wisdom and miracles of Jesus, the unbelieving Nazarenes cunningly question the origin of His power, in order to justify their own incredulity. They knew that Jesus not been highly educated, but that He had worked among them as a carpenter. The word in the original often denotes contempt, “τούτῳ,” i.e. this fellow.

    wisdom and miracles. Not only knowledge to teach and to convince, but also power to confirm His teaching by miracles. St Mark has, mighty works as are wrought,— i.e. those of which they had heard, not those donw on this occasion.

OCR not available. Text reproduced from source document.

    58. he wrought not many miracles.St mark also notes the fact : he could not do any miracles there, only that he cured a few that were sick, laying his hands upon them (vi. 5). Man’s incredulity circumscribed God’s power in a certain sense ; J esus always exacted faith as a condition for being healed.

    The fact that he wondered because of their unbelief shews how truly human our Lord was. As man. He could “ wonder,” though as God, He foresaw their incredulity. Jesus also “ marvelled,’’ but with pleasure, at the faith of the centurion. Which Jesus hearing, marvelled : and turning about to the multitude that followed him, he said; Amen 1 say to you, I have not found so great faith, not even in Israel (St Luke vii. 9). Their want of faith did not entirely deprive the Nazarenes of our Lord’s ministrations, since St Mark adds, he went through the villages round about teaching.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.