22 And aU bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said. Is not this Joseph's son ?
23 And he said unto them, Ye wiU surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself : whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
24 And he said, Yerily I sa^ unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Ellas, when tke heaven was shut up three vears and six months, when
Seat famine was throughout aU the ad;
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120 XXPOSnORT THOCOniB.
26 But mito none of them was Eliaa ' of the city, and led him unto th(i hnm Bent, save unto Sarenta, a city of Si- of the hill whereon their city was don, unto a woman that was a widow, built, that they mi^ht cast him down
27 And many lepers were in Israel headlong, in the time of £liseus the prophet ; | 30 But he passing through the
and none of them was cleansed, saring Naaman the Syrian.
28 And all fhey in the s^agogne, when they heard these thmgs, were filled with wrath,
29 And rose up, and thrust him out
midst of them went his way,
31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
32 And they were astonished at his doctrine : for his word was with power.
Thbee great lessons stand out on the face of this pas- sage. Each deserves the close attention of all who desire spiritual wisdom.
We learn for one thing, how apt men are to despise the highest privileges, when they are familiar with them. We see it in the conduct of the men of Nazareth when they had heard the Lord Jesus preach. They could find no fault in His sermon. They could point to no inconsis- tency in His past life and conversation. But because the Preacher had dwelt among them thirty years, and His face, and voice, and appearance were familiar to them, they would not receive His doctrine. They said to one another, '' Is not this Joseph's son P " Is it possible that one so well-known as this man can be the Christ P — ^And they drew from our Lord's lips the solemn saying, " No prophet is accepted in his own country."
We shall do well to remember this lesson in the mat- ter of ordinances and means of grace. We are always in danger of imdervaluing them, when we have them in abundance. We are apt to think lightly of the privilege of an open Bible, a preached Gospel, and the liberty of meeting together for public worship. We grow up in the midst of these things, and axe accustomed to have them without trouble. And the consequence is that we
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