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J esus had returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. When the course of events have a story to tell, when things happen in such a way that we wonder if there is something deeper behind them, when occurrences take place that can only be explained by an event larger than the occurrence itself, one concludes that the power of the Spirit is present. Jesus, of all men only, did not seek such power. It came to him as a natural consequence of who he was — and is. It is a spontaneous power that seems at its own whim to be evident or not. One may call upon it and it will not fetch back. One may be utterly ignorant of it, and be overwhelmed by it. A capricious thing for men, but for Jesus an ordinary spectacle, a common, routine attendance. Hence, his fame spread. News about him measured through the whole countryside. Repeatedly he was invited to teach in their synagogues, and wherever he did, he was applauded. Jesus used the power of the Spirit as one uses a tool. With common men, the reverse is true.
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