Mark 6:2

2 On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in the meeting place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. "We had no idea he was this good!" they said. "How did he get so wise all of a sudden, get such ability?"

Mark 6:2 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 6:2

And when the sabbath day was come
For it seems that it was on a weekday, or on one of the common days of the week, that he entered into the city, where he remained without making himself known, till the sabbath day came: and then

he began to teach in the synagogue;
that is, at Nazareth; where he expounded the law and the prophets, and preached the Gospel:

and many hearing [him] were astonished.
The Vulgate Latin adds, "at his doctrine"; and so it is read in Beza's most ancient copy:

saying, from whence hath this man these things?
This skill of explaining Scripture, this doctrine which he teaches, and these miracles he is said to work? This question they the rather put, because they had known him from the beginning: he had lived long among them, and they knew he had not learnt of men, and therefore wondered how he came by such things as these:

and what wisdom is this which is given to him, that even such mighty
works are wrought by his hands?
which were but the other day employed in servile work, and mechanical operations.

Mark 6:2 In-Context

1 He left there and returned to his hometown. His disciples came along.
2 On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in the meeting place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. "We had no idea he was this good!" they said. "How did he get so wise all of a sudden, get such ability?"
3 But in the next breath they were cutting him down: "He's just a carpenter - Mary's boy. We've known him since he was a kid. We know his brothers, James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and his sisters. Who does he think he is?" They tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they never got any further.
4 Jesus told them, "A prophet has little honor in his hometown, among his relatives, on the streets he played in as a child."
5 Jesus wasn't able to do much of anything there - he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them, that's all.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.