The words of Jesus have become a proverb in our time - 'A prophet is without honour in his own place'. Jesus arrives in his hometown with his disciples. His reputation had already preceded him and the people had heard what he had done in other parts of Galilee. When he preached to them in the synagogue their first reaction was one of amazement. They felt proud that one of their own could speak so well. On the other hand, they wondered where his wisdom came from or his power to perform such wonderful healing. After all, in their eyes, he was just a 'carpenter', just one of the townspeople, just one of themselves. He had grown up among them and they knew all his family. As a result, Jesus could not do any healing among them; they were totally without faith. It was an example of 'familiarity breeds contempt'. How often that happens to us! How difficult it is for us to recognise the presence of Jesus or to hear him speaking to us through people we see every day, who live in our house, work in our office.