“ Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.”

There seems to be another problem with opposition from Jesus’ hometown family and friends. That is prejudice. People were not only tied to the past and possibly filled with jealousy instead of excitement and encouragement, but He was a carpenter’s son. They knew that Mary’s sons and daughters were not from the class that rabbis came from. You might remember “Fiddler on the Roof” which gives us a good background to the flavor of Jewish life. The daughters were talking about positions that are important when looking for a husband. One daughter has her eye the Rabbi’s son, for it was common that her sons could become rabbis. It was common that the son takes over the trade of his father.

If you were a fisherman, or carpenter, or farmer, or rabbi or priest, it was common for your son to follow in that same occupation. However, Jesus was not a rabbi. He was a carpenter. Where did he get all that learning? They would not accept Him for He was only a working class, trying to be middle or upper class. People were scandalized that a working man would speak in the power as He had done; and claimed that the Kingdom of God had come with His person and presence. It was no wonder they opposed and resisted Him. They were prejudiced in their thinking concerning status and for anyone that discriminates according to status is prejudicial. It makes no difference what a person is. Jesus proved that.

Yes, He was born of the Spirit of God, but let us not forget that lowly social position that Mary held. Honorable to be sure, but not wealthy. Joseph, whom God also chose, was a humble lower class man. Jesus was showing that families and economic positions from which we come make little significance to God. He was a man of the people and that was important.           

People looking for the Messiah again were looking for a ruler, a rich man, a politically influentional individual, not a carpenter. For if Jesus was just a good man and nothing more, He could not do any miracle there, only a few were healed. I am still surprised how much prejudice goes around by putting people in categories. Too many people think that a man can do no good because he is black or Indian, or from the wrong side of town or his mother was a prostitute. You don’t want to be associated with that kind of person, or he is of a different nationality or religion than we are or she can’t hold that position for she is a woman - only a man can do that.           

God’s spirit knows no class, sex, or color distinction. In Christ we are one, neither Greek or Gentile, neither male or female, neither slave or free.           

The people from Nazareth despised Jesus because He was a working man. To us, that is His glory, because it meant that God, when He came to earth, claimed no exemptions. He took upon Himself this common life. ( Heb 2:9-18)           

It seems we have progressed in society from prejudices due to class and racial differences. Yet it would do us well to re-exam our hearts. Otherwise, we may miss what God has for our lives and for our church. Even here, in our hometown I wonder how God’s work is hindered because of various prejudices.