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138
From Heaven With Love
God, to deliver them. In eternity we shall know that messengers
from God attended our steps from day to day.
Not without one more call to repentance could Jesus give up
His hearers in the synagogue. Toward the close of His ministry in
Galilee, He again visited the home of His childhood. The fame of
His preaching and miracles had filled the land. None in Nazareth
could now deny that He possessed more than human power. About
them were whole villages in which He had healed all the sick.
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, brought up among them, was greater than themselves. Still
there rankled the bitter memory that while He had claimed to be the
Promised One, He had really denied them a place with Israel; for
He had shown them less worthy of God’s favor than a heathen man
and woman. Though they questioned, “Whence hath this Man this
wisdom, and these mighty works?” (
Matthew 13:54
), they would
not receive Him as the Christ of God. Because of their unbelief, the
Saviour could not work many miracles among them, and reluctantly
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He departed, never to return.
Unbelief, having once been cherished, continued to control the
men of Nazareth, the Sanhedrin, and the nation. Their rejection of
the Holy Spirit culminated in the cross of Calvary, in the destruction
of their city, in the scattering of the nation.
Christ longed to open to Israel the precious treasures of truth!
But they clung to their creed and useless ceremonies. They spent
their money for chaff and husks, when the bread of life was within
their reach. Again and again Christ 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 declared, “Behold, your
house is left unto you desolate.”
Luke 13:35
. The calamity that laid
their proud city in ruins might have been averted.
But the lessons of Christ demanded repentance. If they accepted
His teachings, their practices must be changed, and their cherished
hopes relinquished. They must go contrary to the opinions of the
great thinkers and teachers of the time.
The Jewish leaders were filled with spiritual pride. They loved
the highest seats in the synagogue. They were gratified with the