entire trust in God and seek his will! I declare to you that God's
Kingdom is not far in the future; God has brought it to your door!"

He paused and looked from person to person. "Who would have thought
Joseph's son would turn out so well?" whispered one of the elders to a
neighbor.

"He does speak with ease," replied his friend, a grudging note in his
voice.

"If we could see him do a miracle, we should know for sure whether he is
all he claims," said the elder.

From the very first, Jesus had known that the people of Nazareth would
find it hard to believe in him. Looking at the elders, he said: "No
doubt you are ready to say to me, 'Do for us here in your own home town
the things you have been doing in Capernaum.' But prophets are never
accepted by the people of their own country. There were many Jewish
widows who needed Elijah's help when the great famine came over all
Israel, but God did not send him to any of them--they would not believe
in him. He sent him to a widow in Sidon, a gentile!

"Elisha could have found many Jewish lepers who needed to be healed, but
not one of them was made clean. They would not believe in him! Rather,
he healed Naaman, a Syrian and a gentile!"

A deathly silence settled over the synagogue. They were not as good as
gentiles! Gentiles, who were unclean outsiders! A carpenter's son
telling them that God would pass them by for gentiles! The men began to
murmur angrily. Jesus' voice rang out: "How can I do great deeds among
you when you do not really believe God at all?"

Open anger swept through the synagogue. "How dare he talk like this to
us?" demanded one man, leaping to his feet. All over the room men began
to crowd toward the front where Jesus stood.

"Let us have order here!" The minister could hardly make his voice
heard. A group of men rushed toward Jesus, who did not even step back.
"Over the cliff with him!" shouted someone. In a moment they were
shoving and hustling Jesus toward the door, yelling, "Over the cliff
with him!"

Carrying Jesus with them, the crowd moved swiftly toward a place outside
the town where the hill dropped straight down. Then a peculiar thing
happened. The men seemed suddenly to realize what they were doing. This
was Mary's son! The son of Joseph, the carpenter who for many years had
made yokes for their oxen.

Wrath seemed to melt away. The men let go of Jesus' robe. They seemed
almost afraid of him. None laid a hand on him as he walked throug