it's a scripture that is very well known (at least among witnesses) , relatively well known. it is clearly manipulative, and the irony being that i've seen an elder use it for his own manipulative purposes as well....in a similar circumstance that Jesus used it in. when you look at it again, you may not have seen it this way, but you will now.
i am not trying to put jesus on trial here, simply trying to point out something that is very obvious, and yet most people probably never stepped back and realized what he was actually doing here.
it is mark 6. they are stumbling over jesus (spiritually stumbling), so did he say a prayer for their hearts to be opened? or did he realize that they were obstinate and go to the next place, neither. he used a clear manipulation tactic.
they had pretty much decided that they weren't into what he was up to, and after voicing this he then spoke regarding the prophet not being honored in his hometown, and this apparently allayed them to some extent. just picture that though, i'm getting the feeling you aren't into my preaching, so i'll tell you that a prophet isn't honored in his hometown? oh ok, yea you're right, you're good to go, go ahead.
and then it clearly even states that he "wondered" about them.....none of this sounds very spiritual to me.