Outline:

Jesus is rejected by His hometown (1-6)
Jesus sends out the Twelve (7-13)

Verses 1-6 Discussion Questions

Where was Jesus’ hometown?

What did Jesus do there?

How did people react to Him? What did they recognize about Jesus in verse 2?

So then why did they not accept Him?

What is the main idea of verse 4? Why do you think this is true?

Why couldn’t Jesus do miracles there? Did He lose His power?

How did Jesus react to their rejection?

Cross-References

Matthew 2:23- Jesus grew up in Nazareth.

Matthew 13:55 – Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?

Verse by Verse Commentary

Jesus’ hometown was in Nazareth. This is where he was raised and grew up after his family returned from Egypt to escape Herod. His disciples went with him so this was a ministry trip and not just a quiet trip back to see His family. He had been preaching the gospel throughout the region and here we see that He doesn’t ignore His own hometown and relatives. Certainly He knew it wouldn’t be easy preaching there and that He wouldn’t be received well, but did it anyway.

On the Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue and taught. Many people gathered there to listen to Him. Their initial reaction was astonishment. They realized that Jesus had extraordinary wisdom. They knew that He had also done amazing miracles. Intellectually they could agree that Jesus’ teachings were full of wisdom and that He Himself was very powerful.

And yet despite their intellectual agreement and initial favorable conclusion, as a group they ended up rejecting Christ. The reason given in verse three is that they knew Jesus. His family was known to them. He had grown up there. Joseph was a carpenter and therefore Jesus by extension was also a carpenter in their minds. It is unclear why exactly this turned them off. Any ideas? Here are a few possibilities:

Their pride kept them from believing in and following Him. Jesus could not be a great prophet or even the Messiah since they knew Him. He didn’t come out of heaven. He grew up right in front of them and now He had grown too big for His own shoes. If He knew His place, He would stop all of these illusions of grandeur and go back to His family, His town, and His job where He belonged.

Their jealousy kept them from believing in and following Him. Jesus had grown popular and famous and had a large following. He had “escaped” the rural town. They wished they could have left it and made another life for themselves, but they couldn’t.

Their guilt kept them from believing and following Him. The Pharisees and leaders rejected Jesus partially for this reason. These people too perhaps were unwilling to admit that Jesus’ teachings were true and they needed to repent. Why should their own neighbor accuse them?

Perhaps it was a combination of all of the above.

Jesus said that a prophet is not without honor except in His hometown. While others may respect and accept the prophet’s teachings, many times His own family members wouldn’t. There does sometimes seem to be a “How dare you teach me? Who do you think are?” attitude towards a family member who preaches the gospel with the rest of his family.

Application: Jesus was not well received by His family. His own relatives and kinsmen rejected Him. They didn’t appreciate all of the good He was doing for others, but instead scorned Him. The same is likely true of us today if we are a believer in a non-believing family. Do any of you face this type of situation? Do not be surprised if your family doesn’t listen to you when you share with them. Rather you can expect that it is likely. In fact, they may even scorn you or mock you.

But don’t get discouraged. Many of Jesus’ family actually eventually believed in Him including James and Judas. Your family’s positive or negative response doesn’t absolve you from responsibility towards taking the message to them. Keep doing what you should do and praying that one day they will believe like much of Jesus’ family did.

Jesus could do no miracle there – This is not because Jesus was limited in power. Rather it seems that He made a conscious choice to heal only people who exercised faith in Him. In Nazareth, there were few people who had this faith and therefore He did few miracles there.
He wondered at their unbelief. It was amazing to Jesus that those people who had seen such signs and miracles still refused to accept Him. It defied all logic and common sense. This goes to show just how depraved and hardened man’s heart is.

Verses 7-13 Discussion Questions

What did Jesus have the disciples do in this passage? Is this at the end of their 3 year training period? Why did He wait to send them out until they knew more?

Why do you think He sent them out in pairs? What were the benefits of this method? How can we follow this principle today?

What instructions did He give them?

Why did He tell them NOT to take these things (verse 8-9)? How can we apply this principle today?

What should they do? From parallel passage in Luke 10 whose house should they stay in?

What about if the town didn’t listen to them?

Bible Study See Luke 10:1-12 and Mark 6:7-13:

Before studying these texts, clarify that it is recorded that Jesus sent out his disciples at least two or three different times and each time they were given essentially the same strategy. Matthew 10:5. Luke 9:1, Luke 10:1 What implications might this method Jesus used have for us, in our efforts to accomplish the Great Commission?

Group Assignment: In small groups study Luke 10:1-12 and make three lists:

a. List the characteristics of a worthy person of peace, with verse references.

b. List the tasks given to the ones Jesus commissioned, with verse references.

c. List what Jesus told the disciples NOT to do.

If the participants miss anything from the lists, ask questions about specific verses so they discover more complete information.

Discuss why Jesus may have given these prohibitions.

Report back to large group and write lists on whiteboard. Afterwards discuss the following questions:

What can you learn from this passage about sharing the gospel and discipling?

How is the method in these verses different from what maybe we do?

What do we need to watch out for in verse 3?

Why are these prohibitions in verse 4?

What is a man of peace?

How is finding this person important in evangelism?

What might he/she look like today?

Why do not move from house to house?

Is the outsider supporting materially/financially the insider? Who is supporting who? How is this important? How could this be applied to missions?

Cross-References

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 – Two is better than one.

Luke 10:1-12 – Luke account of Jesus sending out disciples.

Matthew 10:5-18 – Matthew’s account of the commissioning of the twelve.