This last act was a sign that He intended to take upon Himself the office of interpreter, and _the eyes of all were fastened upon Him_ (Lk. iv. 20). _This day_, He began to say, _is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears_, and proceeded to pour forth the long-hidden treasures of wisdom and grace. The first effect upon His audience was one of signal approval. They all marvelled at the _gracious words which proceeded out of His lips_ (Lk. iv. 22). But other and very different feelings soon arose in their minds. They began to recall the fact of His lowly origin (Lk. iv. 22), and when the Holy One went on to intimate that no prophet was accepted in his own country, that, as was illustrated, even in Old Testament times, by the cases of the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian, the mercies of God were not restricted to the Jews only (Lk. iv. 24–28), they were wrought up to such a pitch of fury, that they not only arose and thrust the Speaker out of their synagogue, but leading Him to _the brow of the hill on which their city was built_[281], would have cast Him down headlong, had He not, probably by an exercise of Divine power, escaped from their hands, and disappeared (Lk. iv. 30). Thus rejected at Nazareth as He had been at Jerusalem, the Saviour turned His steps towards the busy neighbourhood of the lake of Gennesaret, and took up His abode at Capernaum[282] (Mtt. iv. 13; Lk. iv. 31), whence He could easily communicate, as well by land as by lake, with many important towns, and in the event of any threatened persecution retire into a more secure region[283]. Illustration: THE SHORES OF THE SEA OF GALILEE London and New York: Macmillan & Co. _Maclear’s New Test.ᵗ History_ _Stanford’s Geog.ˡ Estab.ᵗ_ The recent cure of the son of the officer in Herod’s court was not forgotten at Capernaum, and _many pressing_ upon the Saviour _to hear the word of God_ (Lk. v. 1), it became clear that an opportunity was now afforded for an active and systematic ministry among a people _sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death_ (Mtt. iv. 16). The first act, therefore, of the Redeemer was permanently to attach to His Person, and invest with the authority of teachers, four of the number afterwards known as the “twelve Apostles.” As He walked by the lake, He saw Simon and Andrew employed in fishing, and the sons of Zebedee[284], James and John, in a vessel mending their nets (Mk. i. 16, 19; Mtt. iv. 18, 21; Lk. v. 2–6). They had already known Him for above a year, and now He would formally call them to leave their earthly occupations, and become _fishers of men_[285].