What does Mark 6:2 mean?
Jesus begins His public teaching ministry in the synagogue in Capernaum (Mark 1:21). Once the people discover He can provide miraculous healing, the synagogue quickly becomes too small, and He has to move into the open (Mark 3:7; 4:1). In Nazareth, Jesus is able to preach in the synagogue again. There, instead of the religious Pharisees and the political Herodians (Mark 3:1–6), He faces a new roadblock: the familial townspeople. These people know Him, and they are shocked by what seems to them a sudden change.Questions regarding Jesus' teaching are evolving. The Capernaum synagogue starts by probing the nature of Jesus' miracles and teaching (Mark 1:27). The Pharisees ask why Jesus is able to do such things (Mark 2:7). The disciples begin to understand that Jesus is someone different, but they can't identify who He could be (Mark 4:41). The people of Jesus' home town think they know exactly who He is but can't understand how He could have received such power. To their credit, they don't immediately assume Jesus was possessed by Beelzebub (Mark 3:22).
In keeping with Mark's tendency to value action over speech, He doesn't record what Jesus is teaching. However, Luke does (Luke 4:18–27). Jesus claims the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1–2, asserting He is filled with the Holy Spirit and can bless and rescue the poor, captives, blind, and oppressed. This is a sacred description that Jews believe will identify the Jewish Messiah. Jesus is saying that He is the Messiah they have been waiting for. The people of Nazareth can't accept it. To a modern audience, this would be like a seemingly-ordinary childhood friend coming home years later and insisting he's the richest and smartest man alive.
Mark 6:1–6 somewhat fulfills the wishes of Jesus' family that He come home (Mark 3:21). Unfortunately, this homecoming does not go well. The Nazarenes' welcome is closer to that of Jesus' family's than to the mobs that flock to be healed in the rest of Galilee. The Nazarenes recognize the truth of Jesus' preaching, but reject Him, especially after He claims to be the long-awaited Messiah. Jesus can do few miracles there, because their lack of faith conflicts with His intent to provide miracles only for the faithful. Jesus' hometown population is so irate with Him that they try to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:29). These events are also found in Matthew 13:53–58. Luke 4:16–30 records an extended version.
Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth, but the people there are faithless and skeptical. As a result, Jesus performs no more than a few minor miracles. He then assigns His twelve apostles to travel in pairs, preaching repentance and healing various conditions. Mark then takes a brief detour to explain the death of John the Baptist, beheaded after Herod Antipas is tricked by his wife. The focus then returns to Jesus, explaining His miraculous feeding of thousands of people, walking on water, and healing people in Gennesaret.