Matthew 13:54
And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
The verse refers to Nazareth, the home of His childhood and youth, where Jesus taught in His own city and country in the synagogue. The occasion was on the Sabbath during the early part of His Galilean ministry, after He read the Messiah prophecy and explained it with clearness and strength of reason. Those who heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and mighty works and asked where He had obtained them.
They questioned Him because they knew Him only as the carpenter's son of humble family, with His family among them and known since childhood, and knew He had never attended school. His learning did not come from formal schooling but from Scripture, synagogue worship, the temple festivals, nature, and communion with God. His lessons were sometimes new and strange to the hearers, and His teaching and manner of work provide principles of true education that remain essential for Christian ministry.
Their question came from curiosity stirred by the praise of others for miracles done in the region round about and in Capernaum, and from jealousy that He had done no miracle in His own city but left the afflicted and sick in Nazareth unhealed, and from pride as those peculiarly favored of heaven. They knew He had done good and healed people oppressed by Satan, and His mercy and miracles were evidence testifying to His divine anointing and to God's power in Him.
Yet their amazement did not lead them to receive Him as the Christ and Messiah, because pride and prejudice kept them from accepting that the man they had known since childhood was greater than they were, and they resented His teaching that they were less worthy of God's favor than people among the heathen. He discerned their thoughts and answered that no prophet is accepted in his own country, applying to them the cases of the heathen widow of Sarepta in the days of Elijah and Naaman the Syrian in the time of Elisha as passed over and favored above Israel, and His teaching about the prophets and Himself offered them salvation. They turned to rage and hatred and persisted in rejecting Him, and their unbelief kept most of them from receiving His blessing and limited the miracles He could work there.