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The Desire of Ages
Satan. About them were whole villages where there was not a moan
of sickness in any house; for He had passed through them, and healed
all their sick. The mercy revealed in every act of His life testified to
His divine anointing.
Again as they listened to His words the Nazarenes were moved
by the Divine Spirit. But even now they would not admit that this
Man, who had been brought up among them, was other or greater than
themselves. Still there rankled the bitter memory that while He had
claimed for Himself to be the Promised One, He had really denied
them a place with Israel; for He had shown them to be less worthy
of God’s favor than a heathen man and woman. Hence though they
questioned, “Whence hath this Man this wisdom, and these mighty
works?” they would not receive Him as the Christ of God. Because
of their unbelief, the Saviour could not work many miracles among
them. Only a few hearts were open to His blessing, and reluctantly He
departed, never to return.
Unbelief, having once been cherished, continued to control the
men of Nazareth. So it controlled the Sanhedrin and the nation. With
priests and people, the first rejection of the demonstration of the Holy
Spirit’s power was the beginning of the end. In order to prove that
their first resistance was right, they continued ever after to cavil at the
words of Christ. Their rejection of the Spirit culminated in the cross of
Calvary, in the destruction of their city, in the scattering of the nation
to the winds of heaven.
Oh, how Christ longed to open to Israel the precious treasures of
the truth! But such was their spiritual blindness that it was impossible
to reveal to them the truths relating to His kingdom. They clung to
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their creed and their useless ceremonies when the truth of Heaven
awaited their acceptance. They spent their money for chaff and husks,
when the bread of life was within their reach. Why did they not go
to the word of God, and search diligently to know whether they were
in error? The Old Testament Scriptures stated plainly every detail of
Christ’s ministry, and again and again He quoted from the prophets,
and declared, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” If they
had honestly searched the Scriptures, bringing their theories to the test
of God’s word, Jesus need not have wept over their impenitence. He
need not have declared, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”
Luke 13:35
. They might have been acquainted with the evidence of His