Jesus returns to His hometown: the place where He should have been most enthusiastically received, and He is most resoundingly rejected.

True service to Christ must be characterized by total dependence upon Him, and in His chosen means of meeting the needs of His servants.

Herod stands as an illustration of the shallow heart, which receives the Word, but is ultimately unchanged by the Word.

A sinful vow--the keeping of which would require one to sin--must be broken.

God describes His affection for His people in terms that are radical and fierce.

God will test His people by giving impossible commands and then watching to see to where they look to keep those commands.

The Great I Am comes to His people declaring His power over creation and His care for His children.

God will--at times--hide His face from the believer. It is these trying times that God is actually nearest.

In the recognition of their desperate need for Jesus, and their belief that Jesus would heal their sick, Gennesaret serves as a metaphor for saving faith.