NOTES for Mat 13:54-58
The situation in which a prophet is rejected in his native place is, as we can see, typical: even Jesus Himself found Himself in it during His earthly ministry. And the reasons for it are described quite transparently in the Gospel story: in the native place of a servant of God, paradoxically, people know him too well to recognize in him a servant of God.
Of course, if Jesus had been officially recognized, the attitude toward Him in His native place would have been different. As usually happens in such cases, they would have been proud of Him and considered Him a local celebrity. But the whole point is that they had to see in Jesus a Man of God for themselves, without hints or instructions "from above." There would have been no social benefit for Jesus' hometown and the territories around it from such recognition.
In such a situation, other factors come into play, factors connected no longer with public opinion but with the features of fallen human nature. Fallen humanity is generally very reluctant to acknowledge another as better than oneself, especially when such acknowledgment brings no benefit. And the issue here is not only that this acknowledgment entails certain practical consequences, for example privileges of one kind or another due to the better person. In the case of Jesus in particular, there was nothing of the kind. The issue is the psychological and spiritual discomfort that such acknowledgment produces for fallen humanity. For then one has to acknowledge that in the world there is an alternative to the way of life so familiar to fallen human nature. And although the alternative seems to be "not of this world," here before their eyes is the One who has become its living embodiment. What can one say then? Only refuse to take Him seriously.
And how does one refuse? The easiest way is to wave it away, fail to notice the obvious, and not believe. Then memory and reason come to the rescue: what kind of prophet is He, let alone Messiah? We know Him well, from childhood. He is no Messiah and no prophet, and we know all His relatives too. He is one of us through and through, so what kind of Messiah could He be? It is laughable even to say it... And underneath all this one hears: come on, He is not different at all; He is the same as we are. Let Him tell others about the Kingdom, show others miracles, present Himself to others as a prophet or as the Messiah, but He will not fool us. We know Him inside and out.
And the most frightening thing in such a position is not even that those who stand on it are not ready to see the Messiah in the Messiah. The most frightening thing in it is that they will never see the Kingdom either, for it too is different. Not of this world.