Hello my friends,
How are you ? Today I wanted to talk to you about a chapter in Jesus' life that made me think about many things in life. Maybe it happened to you too.
But back to our subject.
Once upon a time in the Jordanian region, there was a man called John who called people to be baptized to change their life and receive forgiveness for their sin.
His mother, Elisabeth, was the cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Thus Jesus himself did not depart from this rule and came to be baptized. So while he was praying. The Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove.
A voice sounds: "You are my beloved son in whom I have put all my joy"
After that, he was brought into the desert to be tempted and filled with the Spirit of God, the FIRST thing he did was return to galilee. He went logically to Nazareth, the city where he had grown up. He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and got up for read the Bible. He was presented with a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. And Boom! It came down to this passage:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
He rolled the book, returned it to the servant, and sat down. Each eye was focused on him, waiting for his answer.
"Even today," he began, "for you who hear it, this prophecy of Scripture has become reality."
None of his listeners remained without feelings by the message of grace that he presented to them and they were amazed. So many said among themselves.
“_Is not this the son of Joseph? Where do all these things come from? What wisdom has he been given and how are such miracles through these hands? Is not this the carpenter's son? The son of Mary? The brother of Jacques, Joses, Jude and Simon? Are not his sisters among us? And Jesus was for them an obstacle to faith.
Deemed and dejected, he says a word that sounds like a prophecy.
"It is only in his fatherland, in his fatherhood and in his family that it's REFUSED to honor a prophet."
Despite of all the power of the Holy Spirit that he had, Son of the creator of the sky, the Earth and the Universe that he was. He could not accomplish ANY miracle, except for a few patients to whom he laid hands and healed.
Very surprised by their incredulity, he said to illustrate the situation: "There were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah, when for years and a half, there was no rain and a great famine has raged in the land, and Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow who lived at Sarepta, out of Israel, and in the land of Sidon. There were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elijah and yet none of them was healed. Except The Syrian Naaman. A perfect stranger.
Hearing these words, all those who were in the synagogue exploded with rage! They got up and dragged Jesus out of the city, to the top of the mountain where it was built, to rush him into the void. He manages to save his life by passing through the crowd. Second case
He went to Capernaum, another town in Galilee. There he taught (more regularly? it's unspecified) in the Sabbath days. His listeners were deeply impressed by his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man in the grip of a demonic and evil spirit and he shouted in a loud voice:
"_Aaaaaaah, what do you want from us Jesus of Nazareth? have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the holy one sent by God."
But in a severe tone, Jesus ordered him out of this man, the demon threw him on the ground in the midst of the helpers and left him, without hurting him.
Stupor in the assembly, they said to each other. "What's this? He gives orders to evil spirits! with authority and power! and in addition they go out!" WOUAAAH!
And they spread his fame throughout the neighborhood. He was brought to all those who had patients with various diseases. He laid his hands on each of them and healed them. Demons came out of them shouting that he was the son of God.
But Jesus sought to silence them. The crowds began to fetch him to the desert to keep him among them. But he reminded them that he also had to preach the good news to the other city, because that's why God sent him.
This story makes me think about the obstacles that we encounter when we have a dream. After working on our projects, being put aside to get ready, we are logically tempted to talk about it around us, to our family, colleagues or friends looking for sales, promotion or just encouragement. And unfortunately, people do not seem to share our enthusiasm and worse, to be hostile.
Around us, we see the faces tense, the smiles become rare and the encouragement, they force us to find a "real work" and they review our chaotic past to predict what will happen in the future. Everyone around you seems to be incredulous and despite all the talent you may have, some seem intent on not seeing you moving forward.
Many give up, others continue to persevere and survive in this precarious environment.
Imagine if Jesus, discouraged by the hostile welcome that his village gave him, would have stopped his ministry, I probably would not have known him.
Sometimes when the situation arises, it's better to run away or stay quiet (when you cannot escape.) Because words discourage, attitudes can hurt our confidence in ourselves and even break our destiny.
For this, we must expand the space of our tent, and see beyond what reality gives us. Because we are tempted to believe if nobody around us believes in us, the whole world also does not believe in us.
Act ! Before they kill faith in your heart.
It took Jesus a few hours of walking in the neighboring city to change his destiny and his image completely.
Where his village despised him, he was celebrated in Capernaum.
Where his talents have served no purpose, whole crowds sought healing from him.
Where his family and his past have been an obstacle to faith, he has not been judged.
Where the local clergy of Nazareth saw in him only the carpenter's son, In Caphernaum saw in him the son of God.
The book of proverb says: When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them. (proverb 16: 7)
Even the demons submitted to him to recognize his sovereignty.
You who going through this situation, do not lose hope.
Do not let those around you be an obstacle to your flight. What you have to do, hurry to do it and like those demons, those who wanted to pull you down, will change their thoughts about you.
But, When you have succeed, be careful to not take this victory as your support and rest on it. Jesus forbade the demons to say that he was The son of God. (In order not to get glory from this title, in my opinion) So after his triumph at Capernaum, he went to retire in the desert for more discretion and take a step back, I think.
Anyway he had in mind his next mission, because ahead, there was better that awaited him.
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