Page 15 - Demo

Jesus faced each challenge and temptation without yielding stating %u201cit is written.%u201d The devil then left for a more opportune time.Jesus left the area where He was tempted and %u201creturned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: %u2018The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.%u2019 %u2018Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, %u2018Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.%u2019 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. %u2018Isn't this Joseph's son?%u2019 they asked. %u2026 (He continued speaking to them and) all the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.%u201d (Luke 4:14-22, 29-30).After a short conversation with the Samaritan woman who came to draw water at Jacob%u2019s well, the woman said to Jesus %u201cI know that Messiah%u201d (called Christ) %u201cis coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.\At the appropriate time, Jesus would begin proving to all that He was God who had come to earth to live among men becoming the perfect sacrifice for man's sins. He did this by the perfect life He lived, and the miracles He performed openly before great crowds. Jesus did not receive any formal training in rabbinical schools. However, people recognized that he spoke with authority, not like other religious leaders; the rabbis, priests, Pharisees, and Scribes. To these %u201clearned men%u201d Jesus was very pointed in His remarks calling them hypocrites, and blind guides as their hearts, minds, and attitudes, were so prideful, arrogant, haughty, jealous, and willing to stop at nothing to maintain their place in society. They even attributed His many miracles to the Devil rather than giving glory to God.Once He stopped a funeral procession to bring back to life an only child of a widow. He healed people who had been blind or crippled all their lives, which everyone in the town knew. Lastly, he went to a cemetery, opened the grave, and brought back to life a body that was already decaying. All these statements and miracles proved to the honest and sincere people that Jesus was the Son of God. They believed.