Jesus in the Fatherland

According to Davies and Allison, Matthew organizes the incident at Nazareth as a chiasm:

A. Jesus comes to his patris and teaches in the synagogue

B. People are amazed

C. Where did he get these powers? Don’t we know his family?

B’. People are scandalized

A’. Jesus speaks about His patris and doesn’t do miracles

This little narrative shows the movement from amazement to scandal that has characterized Israel ’s reaction to Jesus. Nazareth is a microcosm of Jesus’ “fatherland.”