"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. . . .
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,"To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. . . .
"And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
"And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?"
"And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
"And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country." (Luke 4:16, 18-19, 21-24.)
The New Testament records instances in which Jesus was rejected in "his own country," Galilee's Nazareth and Capernaum.
In Sermons Not Spoken, Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Council of the Twelve noted that Jesus' neighbors "were truly impressed. Yet they asked, `Is this not Joseph's son?' "
Elder Maxwell continued: "Mark's writings, too, indicate how impressed His own people were as Jesus spoke to them in their own country. They marveled at His wisdom and His works. No doubt they had heard of His miracles. (See Mark 6:1-6.) Matthew says they were astonished at His "wisdom and these mighty works." (See Matt. 13:53-58.)
"Yet all of this was discounted or dismissed by some because in their view, after all, `Jesus was Joseph the carpenter's son.' . . .
"In His sermon in one synagogue, Jesus boldly declared His Lordship. He was rejected, and some of the people even tried to throw Him off the brow of a hill. And this after His miraculous feeding of the five thousand, word of which cannot have escaped the attention of those present.
"Jesus' preachment in Capernaum was rejected because the son of Joseph, the carpenter, declared Himself to be the bread of life, sent down from heaven. (See John 6:35, 38.) Out of these episodes of rejection came Jesus' lamentation that `a prophet is not without honour save in his own country, and in his own house.' (Matt. 13:57.) Familiarity got in the way of their recognizing Jesus' divinity.
"Instead of truly assessing Him, they used labels - `the carpenter's son' - to classify Him. Past proximity caused townsfolk and kinsmen alike to regard Him with indifference."
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