Possession and Rejection - The Gospels

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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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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

(00:23):
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,

(00:50):
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

(01:12):
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

(01:38):
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.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
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

(02:22):
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

(02:44):
revival inspired by the Gospels.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
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 Ji 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,

(03:12):
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 maladies 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

(03:33):
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.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Word of Jesus's presence spread like wildfire. Stories of his
teaching had brought many to his side. Rumors of his
whips in the temple 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

(04:13):
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 Messiah. Jesus was walking
the streets of Cana and Galilee, where he had turned
water into wine. Jesus navigated the marketplace with his followers,

(04:35):
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.

(04:58):
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

(05:18):
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

(05:39):
and his entire household believed in Jesus. Jesus dwelled 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 and Copernium.
Hundreds of people piled into the room to hear from Jesus.
All were silent as he spoke his words with the

(06:00):
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.

(06:22):
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.

(06:47):
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. 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

(07:10):
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.
Be silent and come out of him. As he said this,
the man's twitching body began to find control again. His

(07:32):
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

(07:53):
made his way back to Nazareth, his hometown. He walked
the city streets, greeting loved ones and disa and 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

(08:15):
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

(08:37):
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,
Today this word has been fulfilled. As Jesus spoke these words,
people began to mumble and complain. Jesus had just claimed

(08:58):
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 heartbroken over his old friends. Truly

(09:21):
a prophet is not welcomed in his hometown, 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

(09:44):
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.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
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

(10:23):
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

(10:44):
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

(11:06):
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

(11:27):
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.

(11:48):
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 own 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

(12:09):
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, demon's spirit spoke through
the man, asking Jesus why he was there. You see
Satan and his armies. They know Jesus and they are terrified.

(12:30):
Just as Jesus had faced down Satan in the wilderness,
he walked to this man and commanded 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

(12:51):
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

(13:11):
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

(13:34):
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

(13:54):
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

(14:17):
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

(14:39):
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 to encourage

(15:00):
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 he the right to be
called the children of God. Lord, we thank you for
this promise that we can become your children, that because

(15:23):
of what you have done for us in living and
dying 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.
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(15:44):
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(16:05):
God bless you