Thanks to Giuseppe for resurrecting this:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10974
Yes, this all makes much more sense. Instead of Jesus wandering around to random places and then briefly showing up at his home in "Nazareth", the whole first half of the story is actually based out of his home in Capernaum.
Matthew tells us explicitly that Jesus resettled from Nazareth to Capernaum.
Matthew 4:12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.
But as we've said, it appears that Matthew has this wrong, because Matthew tells us that Jesus left Nazareth after the baptism and then went to Capernaum. This is also what canonical Mark implies currently, but the story makes more sense if Jesus was already living in Capernaum, then got baptized, then returned home where people noticed that he had changed.
But is the passage in Mark 6 talking about Capernaum?
6:1 Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. 2 When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. 4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” 5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He wondered at their unbelief.
And He was going around the villages teaching.
If this is Capernaum, why are people astonished, as he had already been doing this type of stuff there for a while now?
Compare to Mark 2:
2:1 When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. 5 And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” 12 And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
And in Mark 3 we read:
20 And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. 21 When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” 22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” 23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! 27 But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.
28 “Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31 Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” 33 Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Mark 2 & 3 indicate that Jesus and his family live in Capernaum. In Mark 6 it is implied that he is in the place where his family lives, though the wording could be interpreted differently. But if he had already been active in Capernaum for some time now, why would the people be surprised by his activities?
But in Mark 9 we read (NASB):
33 They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?”
But here we have:
Καὶ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ γενόμενος
In Mark 6 this is translated:
and in his own household. / καὶ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ
So in Mark 9:33 are they in the house of Jesus or just some random house? He leaves from the house in Mark 9 here to go to Judea. It makes logical sense that he was leaving from his own house. Either the house in Mark 9 is a random house of an unknown person or it is the house of Jesus (from which it would make sense to stock up and get provisions before traveling to Jerusalem). If the place in Mark 2, 3 and 9 is "the house of Jesus", then it would seem to indicate that the place in Mark 6 is also the "house of Jesus", which would be in Capernaum.
So that Jesus is living in Capernaum seems to be beyond question. The issue is whether the place described in Mark 6 as his "hometown" is also Capernaum. The case seems quite strong that Mark 1:9, "Jesus came
from Nazareth in Galilee ", is a later modification to a narrative that did not originally indicate he came "from Nazareth". Without Mark 1:9 there would be no reason at all to think that the "hometown" of Jesus in Mark 6 would be any other place than Capernaum. Aside from Mark 1:9 there is nothing in the narrative to indicate that Jesus or his family was ever from any other place.