This coming Sunday is the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time. While many of Mark’s readers are interested in this passage because of its reference to Jesus’ “brothers and sisters” (v. 3), Mark’s own interest lay elsewhere. Mark passes on the account of the hometown folks’ rejection of Jesus for a special reason: to provide an important transition and surprising contrasts at this point of his drama.

The rhetorical question, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?” deserves careful attention both to the text and its meaning. At least in modern America, small towns generally celebrate the success of their native sons and daughters and we would naturally hear the question as one of praise. But in the Marcan world, the comments of the crowd are generally seen as derogatory. What might be the thought behind such a reaction?

• Did they wonder if Jesus was ‘crazy smart,’ and then decide that he was just crazy? Earlier in Mark 3:21, Jesus’ own family had come to get him because they thought he had “gone out of his mind.”
• In Mark 6:2, the people asked, “Where did this man get all this?” Did they decide, like the scribes had in 3:22, that he got it all from a demonic source? This echoes an earlier, similar synagogue scene in 1:21-27 where the question about Jesus’ authority was first raised.
• Or is this a very human reaction, because people think they know who Jesus is, they end up asking disdainfully, “Who does he think he is?” Is he not a common worker with his hands even as the rest of us are?

The identity of Jesus is a consistent issue in Mark. In the gospel, we hear the opinions of rulers, religious authorities, crowds, disciples, and family members. Witherington [193] points out the simple sentence, “Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary…” is asking could a child of undistinguished or dubious origins be able to interpret the Torah like this? For the author of Mark, the important question keeps coming around to “who do you — the reader — say that Jesus is?” And if you do honor Jesus as a prophet (or more than a prophet), who does that make you? Does it mean new allegiances that supersede traditional country and family values? As you answer those questions, Mark is leading you into a confession of faith.

The additional phrase “the son of Mary” is probably disparaging. It was contrary to Jewish usage to describe a man as the son of his mother, even when she was a widow, except in insulting terms. People were normally referred to as the son of their father, e.g., Simon Bar Jonah (Mt 16:16). Juel (Mark, 90) writes after discussing some variant readings: “The copyists (and Matthew) recognized the implied insult in speaking of Jesus as Mary’s son: it is an intimation that he was illegitimate (a claim presumed in later Jewish legends and mentioned in the Fourth Gospel [John 9:29])”. Rumors to the effect that Jesus was illegitimate appear to have circulated in his own lifetime and may lie behind this reference as well. The rhetorical question of the people indicates that they know Jesus only in a superficial way. They find no reason to believe that he possesses the anointing of God.

Jesus responded with an aphorism to which there are numerous parallels in Jewish and Greek literature. The comparison of his experience to that of the prophets who were dishonored among their own people is ironic. It anticipates his ultimate rejection by Israel and at the same time recalls 3:20–21, 31–35 when Jesus’ family and kinsmen expressed the opinion that he was insane and attempted to halt his activities forcibly.

Domenico Ghirlandaio | Calling the Apostles | 1481 | Sistine Chapel, Vatican | PD-US