Luke 4:16-31

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.

31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath,

A few days back we considered John’s account of this scenario of Jesus reading and teaching God’s truth in His hometown.  As Luke further records this event does not end well.  Can you imagine in obedience to God and having great love for others to hear obedient teaching, the sharing of God’s truths, and the end result being your audience desiring to potentially kill you?  On top of this those who desire to inflict harm are people whom are familiar to you.

The reality is that God’s truths are controversial in this world.  This is because sin has so infected the minds and hearts of men and women.

I want to be brief today but challenge you to take time to consider an important question.  Is it more loving to be gracefully truthful with someone when it could be controversial or avoid confrontation for the sake of peace?  

Jesus obviously did not hold back from the truths of God to His audience and I believe His actions are acted upon from the most loving and purest of motives.  What does Jesus’ actions teach you and I and the circumstance we find ourselves in today?