As Jesus and his disciples moved from town to town, they came to Nazareth, where Jesus had grown up (Mark 6:1). As he began to teach in the synagogue, the people of the village expressed strong emotion: “What is this wisdom that has been given to him?” they asked (6:2).

We need to read their words out loud to “hear” the meaning, because it’s only when we hear the voice tones that we know the attitude behind people’s words. Suppose the people of Nazareth were quite thoughtful, deeply pondering the wisdom of Jesus? You’d be able to hear that in their voice tones. Or what if they were joyfully exulting in the wisdom he had spoken, glad of the difference it would make in their lives? You would hear that in the sound of the words. On the other hand, maybe they were sarcastic, indicating by their tone of voice that even though they said the word ‘wisdom,’ they didn’t think there was any wisdom there at all. (Say “Yeah. That’ll work” enthusiastically. Now say it sarcastically. Same words, big difference.)

It’s always good practice to read the text out loud, several times, trying out different tones of voice, to see which one best fits the text. As it turns out, in this case we find out from the context that sarcasm was indeed what was in their voices, and in their hearts: “they took offense at him” (6:3), with an attitude of “unbelief” (6:6).

Jesus recognized that when you are far from home, they can honor you as a prophet; but when you’re with the people you grew up with, they remember you as an awkward teenager and want to keep you from being uppity. And they think of it as their job to remind you to keep your humble place (6:4). But there’s a serious downside to that: in their unbelief, people can miss the visitation of the divine. Indeed, they can have hearts so hard it will amaze even Jesus (6:6).

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We are so much like the people of Nazareth, Lord Jesus: cavalier and glib as we assume we can judge the adequacy of your wisdom and your deeds. And we have had so much more opportunity to see your grace in action: does that make our unbelief even more astonishing than theirs?