And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”
57. A prophet is not devoid of honor. I have explained this statement at considerable length, where it occurs in the Gospel of John, Our Author’s Preface to his Commentary on John’s Gospel is dated 1st January 1553; while the Preface to the Harmony is dated 1st August 1555. This accounts for the former being always referred to as an earlier work. — Ed.
We have here Christ in his own country. He went about doing good, yet left not any place till he had finished his testimony there at that time. His own countrymen had rejected him once, yet he came to them again. Note, Christ does not take refusers at their first word, but repeats his offers to those who have often repulsed them.
Commenting on Matthew 13:53-58
Verse 57. They were offended in him. That is, they took offence at his humble birth; and at the indigent circumstances of his family. They were too proud to be taught by one who, in family connexions, they took to be their equal or inferior. Men always look with envy on those of their own rank who advance pretensions to uncommon wisdom or superior power.