Possession and Rejection - The Gospels

Published Sep 5, 2024, 9:30 AM

In this Bible Story, the ministry of Jesus begins to take on form. Jesus preached with authority, healed with compassion, and cast out demons with power. His fame begins to grow rapidly. This story is inspired by Matthew 4:13-17, Matthew 13:54-58, Luke 4:14-32, John 4:43-54. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is Luke 4:21 from the King James Version.

Episode 180: As Jesus was walking the streets of Cana and Galilee, an official from Capernaum came running to Jesus begging Him to heal his son. Jesus, showing both compassion and tact, tells the man his son will live. And it was so. Jesus stayed in Galilee for a while longer, then made His way to the synagogue in Capernaum. While there a man, possessed by a demon, began to make a scene, but Jesus cast the demon out and set the man free using only His words. After a few weeks of healing and teaching, Jesus came back to His hometown of Nazareth where He was met with a less-than-warm welcome.

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Let us pray, and he began to say to them this day, is this scripture fulfilled in your ears? Luke for twenty one. Dear Lord, thank you that as you build my life, I will not be driven by reputation, but will be driven by purpose. I thank you that as my life begins to take form and the ministry that you called me to live take shape, I praise you that I will be able to preach with authority. I'll be able to heal the broken hearted with compassion. Then I'll be able to cast out evil mindsets and spirits with power and authority. If you did it, Jesus, I know that I can do it because the same power that flowed through you is flowing through me. I will only do what I see you doing. I will only speak what you tell me to speak. I declare that your spirit is upon me. I declare that your authority is on me. Therefore, I will stand in the power of your Holy Spirit and remember who you've called me to be, even when others don't believe it. I know who I am in the Lord. Then nothing will change that I am called and I am chosen in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for making prayer a priority in your day. To learn more about the Bible, stay tuned for today's story, brought to you by Bible in a Year dot com.

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Slash prey, possession and rejection.

In our last story, Jesus revealed himself to be the Messiah towards an outcast. She had spent most of her life ridiculed and rejected, but in Jesus she found hope. This woman was the adulteress from Samaria. When she discovered Jesus was the Messiah, she ran to go and tell everyone she knew. Now we see the beginnings of Jesus's ministry. He heals a man's son with just a word. He releases a man from demon possession with a command, and he ignites a crowd of friends against him. With his preaching, Jesus's words are beginning to heal, set free, and divide. It is the beginning of a revival inspired by the Gospels.

Hello, this is Pastor Jack Graham with another episode of the Bible in a Year podcast. In our Last Time Together, in our Story of Jesus, we learned how Jesus showed himself as Messiah to a Samaritan woman, a very lost woman, but his words made faith come alive in her heart and changed her forever. She received living water, and as a result, she brought many others to meet Jesus and they also believed in him. Today we'll hear as Jesus begins to travel about healing different people in different ways. From healing physical malay leads to casting out demons. Jesus is showing the world that he has the power of God because he is God, his deeds, that his words bring many to himself. Yet for others, the wonders and the words of Jesus in sight, anger, hatred, and rejection far from being universally accepted. Jesus will be opposed by many. So let's listen now to today's word.

Word of Jesus's presence spread like wildfire. Stories of his teaching had brought many to his side. Rumors of his whips in the temples created speculation and intrigue. Yet Jesus was not a man driven by reputation. He had a purpose to fulfill the will of the Father. Each act was deliberate. He did nothing on a whim or out of laziness. People began to notice that Jesus walked with a different type of authority than just some other teacher. They were beginning to believe the words proclaimed by John the Baptist. Perhaps this was the massa. Jesus was walking the streets of Cana and Galilee, where he had turned water into wine. Jesus navigated the marketplace with his followers, looking for food to cook for dinner. As Jesus was enjoying the marketplace, he heard a desperate voice cry out from a distance, Jesus, please help me. Jesus looked and saw an official from Copernium running towards him. He was clearly a wealthy man, judging by his robes. However, he did not walk or speak like a man of power. Instead, he desperately ran towards Jesus and fell at his feet. Panting, the man gasped for words. Jesus, my son is sick, towards the point of death. I am out of options. Are you able to heal him? Jesus looked at the man and noticed that many people were observing them. They were waiting for some sort of miraculous sign or spectacle. Jesus would not give it to them. He touched the man's shoulder and helped him to his feet. Go, your son will live, Jesus said, with a smile. The man wiped away some of his tears. Although he had no physical proof yet that what Jesus said was true, he believed him and left to be with his son. As he was on his way, his servants found him and brought a report that his son had been healed. So he and his entire household believed in Jesus. Jesus dwelt in Galilee for a while. There he would meet with people that were ill and preach in the synagogues. When the Sabbath had come, Jesus was preaching in the synagogue in Capernium. Hundreds of people piled into the room to hear from Jesus.

All were silent.

As he spoke His words flowed with the strength and grace of the Jordan River. People marveled at his teaching. Many teachers of the day relied on eloquent speech or jarring rhetoric, but not Jesus. His words possessed authority. Every sentence presented new and fresh truths. Yet not all in attendance were enjoying his servant. There was a man in the back of the room, shaking where he stood. His eyes glared at Jesus, and he rammed his fist against the wall. As Jesus was speaking, a deep laughter echoed from the back of the synagogue. Everyone's heads turned as the man walked towards the front. His eyes were bloodshot and his entire body twitched and shook as he marched. His laugh was disturbing and sent chills down the spines of the disciples. Ha He yelled as he pointed towards Jesus. Why have you come to us? Jesus of Nazareth? The man spat, his neck flexed backwards, and his face turned red. Jesus knew who this man was, Rather, he knew who possessed him. Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One, the Son of God, you are be silent, Jesus rebuked. He stepped down from the front of the stage and made his way towards the demon possessed man. The man writhed as he saw Jesus approaching, still seeping with disturbing laughter. The man fell on his back, and Jesus knelt down and touched his chest. He silent had come out of him. As he said this, The man's twitching body began to find control again, his mind cleared, like fog being broken up by the sun. The demon and left, and the man was saved from further torment. The entire room was silent. They had seen many people possessed by demons, However they had never seen someone possess so much.

Authority over them.

After a few weeks of healing, preaching, and relieving people of demons, Jesus made his way back to Nazareth, his hometown. He walked the city streets, greeting loved ones and distant relatives. Jesus's fame had grown in Judea, but in Nazareth he was just Jesus the carpenter. As was Jesus's habit, He went into the local synagogues to preach. Many of his friends and family were in attendance and watched Jesus open up the scroll of Isaiah. Jesus read the words of the prophet. The spirit of the Lord is with me because he has chosen and anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bring liberty to the captives and cite to the blind. He has sent me to bring liberty to all those who are oppressed. Jesus paused for a moment and looked out at the crowd. He gave the scroll back to the attendant. Everyone's gaze was fixed on Jesus. The silence was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

Today, Jesus began to day.

This word has been fulfilled. As Jesus spoke these words, people began to mumble and complain. Jesus had just claimed to be the promised Messiah prophesied by Isaiah. Some of them scoffed at him and began to leave the synagogue. Isn't this Joseph's son the carpenter? They asked, we heard you did some elaborate healings in Galilee. Why don't you do some of those here, then we will believe you. Jesus sighed. He was heart broken over his old friends. Truly, a prophet is not welcomed in his home town, Jesus said, when the prophets proclaimed repentance before the time of captivity, they were rejected and killed. When the people heard him say these things, they were furious. They mobbed towards Jesus and drove him out of the town towards the ledge of a hill. They were ready to throw him off of the hill for blasphemy. They could not stand the idea of one of their own being so righteous. As the mob lunged toward him, Jesus slipped through the crowd and escaped like a thief in the night.

As we begin today's story of Jesus, our lord's name is becoming well known in the region. He's traveling throughout Galilee and was well received. Many trusted him and followed him and believed on him. They gathered in large multitudes to hear him and to see the signs and the wonders the miracles. These were gracious and beautiful displays of his power and of his presence and compassion. And while the heart of Jesus was intent on healing. He is much more than a miracle worker. So as he's walking one day, an official approached him begging for his son, who was at home sick, to be healed. Rather than go with him, as the man asked, Jesus simply told him to go back to his home to find his son healed. There was no public miracle. He just said, the child is well. It was just a word. But then again, it wasn't just a word. It was the word of God, the word of Jesus, and his words have power to heal everything imaginable. The official, we are told, took Jesus at his word, that is, he believed and trusted in the word of the Lord Jesus. My prayer is that many people today would do just that, That people would take the Lord at his word and believe in him and trust him, because the greatest miracle of all is not a miracle of physical healing, but the spiritual healing that only Jesus can give. What we really need to do is to take God at his word today and to trust him always. This is what this noble man did, and his faith allowed his son to be healed while he was still walking home. The man and his entire household believed in the Lord. That day they trusted in Jesus. Salvation came to that household through faith in God's grace through Jesus Christ. Next we hear how Jesus was preaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. People crowded in to hang on his every word. Jesus could compel and captivate a crowd like no one else. The wisdom and the truth of his words were irresistible to those who heard. And yet as he spoke, a voice arose from the back of the room and a deranged cackle. This was not a man in his right mind, and Jesus knew it. The demonic presence demons spirit spoke through the man, asking Jesus why he was there. Satan and his armies they know Jesus and they are terrified. Just as Jesus had faced down Satan in the wilderness, he walked to this man and commended the demon to stop speaking and leave. For all their evil power, demonic forces are no equal to Jesus. And all who were there saw the man released from the spirit that had tormented him. And in Mark one twenty seven and twenty eight we read this, the people were all amazed that they ask each other, what is this a new teaching? And with authority, he even gives orders to impure spirits, and they obey him. News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee. So many were finding faith in salvation and healing and deliverance because of Jesus. But not everyone believed, and as we heard in today's reading, in his own town of Nazareth, people rejected him. He was in the synagogue one Sabbath and the scroll was handed to him, and he read from the prophet Isaiah that said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. This was a prophecy regarding the Messiah. And all who heard this would know this very well. And so when Jesus said to them today this scripture, this promise has been fulfilled, they understood exactly what he was saying. Jesus was claiming to be the very Messiah for whom they waited for so long. They were skeptical. They even scoffed. Some became angry, not believing Jesus, and this rejection deeply saddened the Lord, but he was not surprised. He knew that he would be rejected by his own And as he went to leave, the crowd began to get angrier and angrier, and they decided they needed to kill this man they considered mad, throwing him from a cliff. Jesus simply walked through the crowd, and he left behind his hometown and those who rejected him. In John chapter one, verse twelve, the Bible says, he came into his own, but his own received him not but as many as received him Jesus to them gave you the power to become the sons of God. Rejection would begin to mark the life of Jesus, and ultimately it would lead to his crucifixion. They tried to cancel him, but he came to die and to be rejected of men, so that he might be received by you and me. I want to encourage you today. Never reject Jesus. Don't turn away from Jesus, but trust in Jesus. By turning from your sin and receiving him as your savior and Lord. As many as received him to them gave you the right to be called the children of God. Lord, we thank you for this promise that we can become your children, that because of what you have done for us in and die and rising again, that we can have eternal life. May we receive this promise now and forever in your name, we pray Amen. Thank you for listening to Today's Bible in a year. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download thepray dot com app and make Bible study and prayer the priority of your life. And if you appreciate this podcast, please share it with someone else. I also want to encourage you to go to Jack Graham dot org. That's Jack Graham dot org for we have resources that are free and available for you so that you may know Christ and grow in him. God bless you

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