Verse 57. "And they were offended in him." - They took offense at him, eskandalizonto en autw, making the meanness of his family the reason why they would not receive him as a prophet, though they were astonished at his wisdom, and at his miracles, Matthew xiii. 54. So their pride and their envy were the causes of their destruction.
"A prophet is not without honour" - This seems to have been a proverbial mode of speech, generally true, but not without some exceptions. The apparent meanness of our Lord was one pretense why they rejected him; and yet, God manifested in the flesh, humbling himself to the condition of a servant, and to the death of the cross, is the only foundation for the salvation of a lost world. Perhaps our Lord means, by prophet, in this place, himself alone, as if he had said, My ministry is more generally reputed, and my doctrine better received, in any other part of the land than in my own country, among my own relatives; because, knowing the obscurity of my birth, they can scarcely suppose that I have these things from heaven.
Verse 58. "And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief" - dunameiv, miracles. So the word is used, Matthew vii. 22; xi. 20; Acts xix. 11; 1 Cor. xii. 28; Gal. iii. 5; Heb. ii. 4. The Septuagint translates la twalpn niphleoth el, the miraculous works of God, by dunamin kuriou.
Unbelief and contempt drive Christ out of the heart, as they did out of his own country. Faith seems to put the almighty power of God into the hands of men; whereas unbelief appears, to tie up even the hands of the Almighty. A man, generally speaking, can do but little good among his relatives, because it is difficult for them to look with the eyes of faith upon one whom they have been accustomed to behold with the eyes of the flesh.-QUESNEL. See the notes at the beginning of this chapter.