People who serve us in shops or get us tickets for transport or leisure activities, they can somehow disappear off our radar as human beings. We only really notice them when they are inefficient or all too human in their responses, perhaps a little like ourselves. Then we may ignore those who are closest to us in the household.
Jesus has just been consolidating the early days of His mission with miracles of healing, the casting out of unclean spirits, the healing of the woman with the hemorrhage and the raising of the daughter of Jairus. In each case the faith of the recipient has been highlighted. Now He returns to His own town of Nazareth. The reason for the people’s disbelief is quite simple. They know who He is. They have known Him from His childhood, and they know all the members of His family. This knowledge creates a prejudice within them that cannot accept that Jesus may have an extraordinary message or extraordinary powers.
It is so important not to ignore each other or pass each other by. Perhaps, too, we need to look in the mirror more carefully, at least time to time, to remind ourselves of our own humanity and that Christ is present in us too.