I AM HERE. Jesus.

The discussion you had with the doctor  concerning my sermon in the synagogue of Nazareth was a very important one in that I claimed I was the Messiah before the entire congregation. And, of course, such a claim created a sensation, as is described in the New Testament. My sermon was based on the 61st Chapter of Isaiah, and was prophetic in that it dealt with the release of the captives from captivity, as had occurred to the Hebrew people, and was therefore acclaimed by the Hebrews of my time as a great prophecy that had already taken place.

Usually, commentaries based on this text were historical in nature, and were conceived with the purpose of extolling the Goodness of Jehovah towards His chosen people. And among those who had a more spiritual discernment, the meaning of the delivery of the captives was construed to be a turning away from sin on the part of the evildoers, slaves to sin. This was good as far as it went, but, of course, the meaning was restricted to the purification of the soul, and not the transformation of the soul and the elimination of evil from the soul through the work of the Divine Love.

Now, when I recited the passage from Isaiah, I did not recite merely the lines recorded in the New Testament, but I proceeded to read the entire chapter, as was the custom. And the main passage in that chapter was, "My soul exulteth because it is invested with the salvation of the Lord." And, by that, I meant that my soul rejoiced because it had been endowed with immortality, which is the real meaning of salvation, and that this immortality of my soul was the result of its having received a sufficiency of the Divine Love, which was now available through the Loving-Kindness of the Heavenly Father. And this was the meaning of the declaration I made to the listeners in the synagogue, "Today is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." And it was thus that I proclaimed myself the Messiah in the possession of a soul conscious of its immortality. And I also proclaimed the glad tidings that this immortality, which was mine, could now be obtained by whosoever should seek it through earnest prayer to the Father for His Divine Love.

When I recited the passage on the delivery of the captives, I meant freedom from sin, not through adherence to the Mosaic law alone, which was the case before my coming, but through the efficacy of the Divine Love of the Father, which so reacts upon and transforms the soul that it loses its desire for sinful thoughts and deeds. And when I read, "The Spirit of Jehovah is upon me and has anointed me to proclaim the glad tidings," I meant that the Father had appointed me to preach the rebestowal of the Divine Love, which had been made a reality in my own soul, and that, having been anointed the Christ through the Love Principle working in my soul, I was to preach the rebestowal of the Father's Love to all mankind, and teach the Way to at-onement with the Father through the Divine Love. Thus, I had come as the Messiah to proclaim immortality for all mankind through prayer for the Father's Love, and that sin and sickness could now be eliminated through His Great Gift.

Thus, you see that I did proclaim myself to be the Messiah, long expected by the Hebrew people, and that therefore any statement which indicates that Peter divined my identity through heavenly Grace is not true, and was simply inserted to strengthen and to give authority to the church's claim that I had bestowed primacy upon him as my successor.

It is true that I was unable to perform any miracles of note at this time because of the peculiar situation I was in, having lived for twenty years or so in Nazareth. The people who had known me for so long were now suddenly asked to believe I was the Messiah. This was very difficult for them to do, for it was not a question of asking strangers to accept me, or my teachings and healing, but to have people change their minds about me after they had been formed for twenty years. Since I had never healed in my native town before my public ministry, the people were skeptical that I could suddenly perform what I had not done for the past twenty years. It was this strong current of incredulity that prevented me from exercising my healing powers, for the recipient must also have faith in the healing gift.

I will stop now, with my love and blessings, and sign myself,

Your brother and friend,

JESUS.