Mark 6:1 Now Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did he get these ideas? And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these miracles that are done through his hands? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And so they took offense at him. 4Then Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own house.” 5 He was not able to do a miracle there, except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed because of their unbelief. Then he went around among the villages and taught. NET
Chapter 6 opens with Jesus going home to Nazareth. The folks back home have likely been keeping up with Jesus and His newfound fame since when He returns, they have Him read Scripture in the synagogue. He then begins to teach. Hearing this, they start wondering where Jesus gets this wisdom (and are offended). After all, they know his family who are just ordinary people. The word translated as “offense” refers to a stumbling block – something you trip over, something that makes you indignant. Instead of realizing who He is, things go sideways as we see suspicion rather than reverence.
A large point of difference between Catholics and Protestants is Mary, mother of Jesus. As a young man, Augustine had an inner compulsion to sexual activity. Later, he bound up original sin with sex which creates a problem. If original sin is passed down from generation to generation and Jesus is the Son of God then Mary needs to be cleaned up. For Catholics, this starts with the Immaculate Conception where Mary is the only human born without sin since Adam and Eve. Unlike them, she is believed to have remained sinless throughout her life. Mary becomes regarded as exceptional in her holiness, her insight and the special powers that she possesses. Prayers of intercession are directed to her and she is considered by many Catholics to be Co-Redemptrix and the Queen of Heaven.
In these verses, Catholics view the brothers and sisters as cousins since they believe Mary remained a perpetual virgin throughout her lifetime. Alternatively, Joseph is thought of as a widower and these people are the half brothers and half sisters of Jesus. The evidence cited for this is that on the cross, Jesus gave Mary to John. (There are rival traditions of what happens later with some saying that John stayed in Jerusalem until Mary dies before going to Ephesus with others saying that Mary goes to Ephesus with John).
As Protestants, we don’t see sex as any more tainted than other human actions so we don’t have a problem with Joseph and Mary having sex after Jesus is born nor from them having additional children. If James is the second son of Mary and Joseph, he would typically be the one to take over the care of the mother except in this case, neither James nor the other brothers are believers (see John 7:5). They are also rather antagonistic toward Jesus. We see earlier in Mark that Christ appears to have downplayed his kinfolk by defining His family as those who do the will of God (Mark 3:35). Long story short, it seems unlikely that He would entrust Mary to unbelievers. This changes after the Resurrection as James ends up as a leader of the Jerusalem church and author of an epistle contained in the New Testament.
2Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions that we taught you, whether by speech or by letter. NET
This particular text indicates that everything may not be written down. Our Bible is written but what about the traditions? Not to worry as both the Catholics and the Orthodox would tell you that they have managed to retain those traditions. Traditions can be problematic as not only can new ones be created but those already in place can become muddled and/or modified over time. For example, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the doctrine of Immaculate Conception in 1854 and Pope Pius XII proclaimed the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven in 1950.
Regarding the assumption, Epiphanius writes in the 4th century “The holy virgin may have died and been buried…..Or she may have been put to death—as the Scripture says, “And a sword shall pierce her soul”…. Or she may have remained alive, for God is not incapable of doing whatever he wills. No one knows her end. But we must not honor the saints to excess; we must honor their Master”. In the late 4th century, Pope Gelasius (affirmed a few decades later by Pope Hormisdas) condemned as heretical the apocryphal writing Liber qui apellatur Transitus, id est Assumptio Sanctae Mariae, Apocryphus that is a source of the idea of Mary being assumed into Heaven without dying. (see William Webster, “The Assumption of Mary”). So it appears that the early church did not believe in the assumption but then later on, it did and as a result, the tradition changed. As Protestants we accept tradition, but we will always reject any “tradition” that conflicts with the Biblical witness. As you might imagine, the internet is full of discussion of the differences between Protestants and Catholics should you want to explore the topic in greater detail. Also of interest is the Catholic list of the Ten Commandments as it is slightly different.
Verse 4 is not a Biblical quote but seems to be more in the nature of popular wisdom that prophets aren’t typically received well. We see this in Stephen’s sermon before the Council (just before he is stoned to death) where he calls them stiff necked persecutors and killers of prophets.
We are in a section of mighty works stories to prove Jesus as the Son of God but in Nazareth, it appears that God is powerless. This seems to go against Mark’s writing. So is Jesus incapable because His powers have somehow vanished? Did He refuse to act? Or is it simply because no one asked Him. Earlier, Jesus has been embraced by people who are in distress and/or are outcasts. Here, the people in Nazareth appear comfortable so they can question and debate Jesus.
Matthew’s account of this incident tells us that Jesus did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Several commentators have pointed out that the depth of their unbelief makes it pointless for Jesus to continue and try and demonstrate who He is since it will have no effect on them. From Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible: “here they are given as a reason why he did no more mighty works among them: and which Mark says he could not do, not for want of power, or as if their unbelief was too mighty for him to overcome; but he would not, because he judged them unworthy, and that it was not fit and convenient to perform any more, since they were offended with what was done;” There was nothing left to do but pack up (maybe shake a little dust off the sandals) and move on to other villages. It’s easy to imagine Jesus shaking His head marveling at their unbelief as He leaves town.