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John 6:42
ESV They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
NIV They said, 'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?'
NASB And they were saying, 'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?'
CSB They were saying, "Isn't this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'? "
NLT They said, 'Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?'
KJV And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?

What does John 6:42 mean?

Jesus' boyhood home of Nazareth was probably just to the southwest of the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum was a fishing town situated along the northwest edge of Galilee. At that time, these were relatively small towns, and all Jewish men were obligated to attend certain festivals in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:16). This meant Jesus was completely unknown to the people of the region prior to the start of His ministry. This familiarity, as it turns out, was yet another roadblock to the people's faith.

When Jesus began to contradict the people's traditional attitudes, they demanded a miracle from Jesus to prove Himself (John 6:30). This, of course, was mere hours after Jesus had just performed a very public miracle, so such a request was fundamentally dishonest. The people had already seen more than enough (Matthew 12:39). Here, as Jesus continues to offend with His teaching, people begin to dismiss Him as just another common man.

Claiming to have "come down from heaven" confused those who misunderstood His meaning. Some Rabbinic traditions held that the Messiah would virtually appear out of nowhere (John 7:27–28), so the idea that a thirty-year-old peasant from a small village could be the Promised One seemed absurd.
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