# 80 Keep On Keepin' On

Joh 4:43 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.

 44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.

 46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

Eugene Peterson puts it this way in “The Message,” “After the two days, He left for Galilee. Now Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up, so when He arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him, but only because they were impressed with what He had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who He was or what He was up to.”

To the people of Galilee Jesus was, “ the carpenters son, the son of Mary, the brother of James, Joses, Simon, and Judas And His sisters, are they not all with us.” (Mt 13:55,56) His homecoming here was more like the return of a local boy who has gone out and made a name for himself.

Jesus had done that with all the signs and miracles He had performed and now that He was home, the people wanted Him to bring His dog and pony show to them! It’s like a successful athlete returning home. People want the athlete to tell of all their exploits on the field. They want him to put on some clinics, sign some autographs and so on, they don’t want to hear a lecture on sin and salvation.  Hey Reggie White! Hey Tim Tebow! Just stick to football, we don’t want to hear any of your intolerant Jesus talk!

And if you don’t give them what they want, be ready to be lambasted or worse! The people demonstrated this truth at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in His hometown of Nazareth. Reading from the Book of Isaiah at the local church service, He announced that He was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, to which the people replied, “Is this not Joseph’s son? And Jesus said, “Assuredly I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, but this great prophet was sent to provide for a widow in another country. There were also many lepers in Israel, yet none of them were cleansed by Elijah except Naaman the Syrian.”

After Jesus spoke these things, the people were so upset at Him for comparing them to their hard-hearted fathers, that they rose up, thrust Jesus outside the city, and would’ve thrown this cheeky “son of the carpenter, hometown boy,” right off the cliff!. He escaped miraculously by “passing through their midst.” Read about it in Luke 4:1-30!

It’s risky business being a prophet. A prophet is not respected in his hometown! But risky or not, Jesus went anyway. And going, He kept proclaiming the Word of God!  And as we shall see, just as in the case of the Samaritan woman, He had a divine appointment to keep. This time with a nobleman from Capernaum.

The lesson for us is to keep on proclaiming God’s Word wherever we may be, because God’s Word does not go out and return void, it will accomplish what He wants it to. Even in rejection by the masses, or family and friends, there are still some ready to receive, and oh the lengths God will go through to reach just one!