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Here comes Jesus! Here comes Jesus Christ! Here come Jesus Christ, the Son of God and He walks onto the world's stage never again ever to leave it.

We are in Luke Chapter 4 and verse 14. Do take time to read it carefully and prayerfully. Our title question is massive and troubles many. Jesus taught and Jesus continued to teach over these next three years. News about Jesus Christ soon spread. Word got around, and seemed to get around fast. As His custom was, on the Sabbath, Jesus Christ was present in His local synagogue. Jesus was present in what we could call His local church. We know the church at that time was full of faults and hypocrisy. It was powerless. Jesus did not use that as an excuse. Jesus was going to be with all the others. He was setting the example - worshipping. Do I have to go to Church to be a Christian? No! But if you are a disciple of Jesus, you will be with all the others when they gather for worship and fellowship. Settle that one today. Will I go? Won't I go? Then, we can face the issues which are really important. Some people battle with this for years. It can be like trying to push a wheelbarrow that has no wheel! What can happen? Friends arrive or family comes, and some decide to use that as an excuse. Invite them. They need to see your testimony and witness. If you were going to a wedding or a funeral or to a party, or to golf, bowls, bridge, or football, you probably would still go. But when it comes to praise and worship, or the Prayer Meeting, then I will absent myself! I will use it as an excuse - not a reason. Jesus stands up to read and contribute. Participate in a real and meaningful way, when you attend praise and worship and Prayer Meetings. I assume you do attend. Participate and contribute. Jesus read from Isaiah Chapter 61. He knows His way around the scroll, and He explains how this refers to me! He has come to the bruised and battered and broken and sore. Jesus has come to those who are heavy laden and hurting - to release - to set free - to deliver. Jesus Christ has been anointed vertically to minister horizontally. That is the pattern. What a reaction there is. Some were very pleased. Others were not so pleased. "I kent ees faither!" is the kind of remark one would hear in Scotland. I know his father. Who does he think he is? They thought Joseph was Jesus' father. In verse 28 we read of how furious some people were and all Jesus did was read the lesson. In verses 25 to 27, Jesus becomes quite controversial. What I am telling you is true. In the days of Elijah there were many widows, and there was a severe famine. We read of this in I Kings Chapter 17. God did not send His servant to minister to all the needs of all the poor, but to one poor widow, in the region of Sidon. Sidon was not in the land of Israel, and the thought that the Jewish Messiah might minister to people who were not Jews was outrageous. There were many lepers but only Naaman the Syrian was cleansed. We read of this in II Kings Chapter 5. Jesus knew the Old Testament, and He quotes it with authority. Verses 28,29. They hustled Jesus Christ outside to a place of execution. Jesus life and ministry is threatened already. He had only read the lesson and made a few comments. Conflict arose. God the Father knew that it was not yet time for Jesus to die. Jesus has three years of work to do - preaching - teaching - training men. Jesus quietly slips away - unhurt - unharmed. He does not seek to defend himself. Jesus does not argue. He is not sore about what happened. Rejected in Nazareth, Jesus adopts Capernaum as His home town. Melting words had not melted many hearts. There was a clash - an explosion - as light and darkness met. The Gospel of Jesus Christ can make a man glad or mad. The Gospel of Jesus Christ can give rise to faith or make a man furious. These basic fundamental realities we need to learn early on - as soon as is possible.

"Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life" from Tom Kelley

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