Yeshua returned into Kephar-Nahum after his speaking about standards of righteousness by the Sea of Chinnereth. By now his fame had spread even among the Roman troops, for when he returned, he was approached by some of the elders of the Jews, asking that he come and heal the servant of a Roman officer, a centurion, so called because he was set over ten squads of ten men each. This seems surprising in the light of the hostility of the religious leaders in his previous stay in Kephar-Nahum; Matthew tells us that it was the centurion himself who came to Yeshua. But whether or no, Yeshua agrees to come to the centurion's house.

But before Yeshua arrived, the centurion sent friends to him, pleading unworthiness to have Yeshua enter his house. He tells Yeshua, "Speak the word only, and my servant will be healed. For I am a soldier, having men under me, and being under authority myself; and I understand the use of power." Yeshua is astonished at these words, and turns to his followers and says, "Such faith this is! I have not found such faith anywhere among the Jews!" And we are told that when the centurion's friends returned to the house, they found the servant healed.

It is not my intent to rationalize or explain the healings attributed to Yeshua; there is at least one occasion when Yeshua was not able to heal the persons who came to him. This story became exaggerated with time, so that John tells us that it was the son of a nobleman, rather than the servant of a centurion, and omits the expression of faith in Yeshua, and reports that the cure was effected as soon as Yeshua pronounced the words, "Thy son liveth." But the Jews did not have a class of nobility; did John mean a member of the royal family? or one of the chief priests and elders? John's version is clearly a later, more embroidered report.

And it is a little surprising that Yeshua should describe this faith as greater than any he had yet found, since we have repeatedly been told that he was followed by great multitudes. Mark has told us that "all the city was gathered at the door"; "they said to him, all are seeking you"; "they came at him from every quarter". Luke and Matthew have told us that he healed all who came to him. Possibly Yeshua said only, "This is as great faith as I have ever found, even among the Jews!" The exaggeration came later, when the worship of Yeshua had spread among the Gentile world.

Luke tells us that following this Yeshua went on a tour of Galilee, visiting cities and villages, accompanied by the twelve disciples, and many women, including Mary Magdalene. Luke tells us, and Mark echoes it later, that Yeshua had cast out seven devils from Mary Magdalene, but there is no report of this exorcism anywhere in the gospels.

Yeshua is reported to made a visit to the town of Nain, which lies about twelve miles to the west of the Sea of Chinnereth. While he was there he revived the son of a widow who thought he was dead. This became exaggerated with time, so that Luke tells us that the man was really dead, and the story is told in almost the same words as the same miracle attributed to Elisha, the successor of Elijah. But we note that the people acclaim Yeshua, saying, A great prophet has arisen among us. Thus we see that, whatever later ages and later followers came to believe, the people who saw Yeshua considered him to be a prophet, and not a god.

On one occasion Yeshua visited his home town. Luke tells us that it was the first episode in his career, but that certainly is a mistake, because even in that report Yeshua refers to his earlier activities:

Mark and Matthew tell the story in almost the same words. Yeshua came into his own country, and entered into the synagogue, as he had done in Kephar-Nahum, and began to teach there. His hometown folks were astonished, and asked,

And we are told that it was on this occasion and in his hometown that "he could do there no mighty work", and further that he was astonished in his turn at their unbelief. Matthew modifies this statement to make it appear that he did at least some mighty works there, based on Mark's proviso that Yeshua did lay his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them. So we can see in Yeshua's own explanation that it was a person's faith which healed him and his lack of faith which kept him from being healed.

Luke's version of the visit is more vivid, and gives us more content as to what his teaching was that both amazed them at his wisdom and angered them at him. He begins by reading from the book of Isaiah, chapter 61:

But Luke also tells us, as do Mark and Matthew, that they scoff at him, Who do you think you are? Aren't you just the son of Yosef, the son of the carpenter? and that Yeshua replies, No prophet is acceptable in his own country. Luke tells us further that Yeshua compared himself to Elijah and to Elisha, the great prophet who succeeded Elijah; Elijah had helped a widow in Sidon, where he had fled from the Israelites; Elisha had cured a Syrian named Naaman of leprosy, even though there were many lepers in his own country. Then the townsfolk were filled with wrath indeed, and tried to push him over a cliff; but he passed through them and went away from there. And Mark ends the story: He went round about the villages teaching.

So despite the fact that it must have been embarrassing that Yeshua was rejected by his hometown, it was remembered as an important event in his ministry, and his epigram that a prophet is without honor in his own country is one of the only two sayings of Yeshua which can be found in all four gospels.