13:54 Jesus' hometown was Nazareth (Luke 4:16). The local synagogue attenders wondered where Jesus obtained His authority. The wisdom in His teaching and the power in His miracles demonstrated remarkable authority, but where did He get it? Did it come from God or elsewhere (12:24)?
13:55-57a The words of Jesus' critics reveal wounded pride. They did not like His having wisdom and power superior to theirs since they had the same background. Their questions reveal denial of His Messiahship. By referring to Joseph as "the carpenter"and to Jesus as his son, they were implying that Jesus should have followed in His father's footsteps. The definite article before "carpenter"suggests that there may have been only one carpenter in Nazareth. Carpenters did all types of work with wood.
In one sense these questions were legitimate. However the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus' claim to being a prophet (v. 57b). They "took offense"at Him in the sense that His claim caused them to stumble. It was their reaction to His claim, however, not the claim itself, that stumbled them.
"(Incidentally, their questions render impossible the fanciful miracles ascribed to Jesus' childhood by the apocryphal gospels.)"577
We must be careful not to confuse Jesus' half-brothers--James, Simon, and Judas--with the disciples who had the same names. There is no evidence that Jesus' half-brothers believed on Him until after His resurrection. His brother James became the leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 11).
13:57b-58 Usually a person enjoys a better reception a home than anywhere else, except if he has attained an exalted position, in which case the opposite is often true. Jesus could not do many miracles there because to do so was contrary to His mission. He did miracles to create and to strengthen faith in Himself. When settled unbelief reigned, there was no point in doing miracles.
The point of this section is to show that even those who knew Jesus best refused to believe on Him.
"Jesus led a perfect life and still had family members and friends who struggled to believe. Sometimes those most difficult to reach are those who know us best."578
