Angered by the Facts?

by David Gibson

If they could have had their way, Jesus would have been lying broken and dead at the foot of the cliff. But since it wasn’t His time to die, and it wasn’t the way He was to lay down His life, God protected Him from their murderous intent.

What made them so angry? It’s what He said in His hometown synagogue.

What so upset them was Jesus’ citing two instances from their own Scriptures where God passed over the Jews in favor of Gentiles (I Kings 17:8-24; 2 Kings 5:1-15). What He said was undeniable, biblical truth, but it was more than Jesus’ listeners could take. So they tried to throw Him off the cliff (Luke 4:16-30).

But Jesus had simply presented them with the facts. As someone said, “Facts are stubborn things.” But “stubborn” can also describe people who reject the truth.

Our culture has reached the point where anyone who dares to speak the truth, even in love, about biblical teaching on male and female or morality or Jesus as the only way to God, may be accused of hate speech and may lose their friends, their job, or worse.

John the Baptist dared to speak the truth and was beheaded for it (Matthew 14:1-12). The apostles dared to speak the truth and were jailed and beaten (Acts 4-5). Stephen spoke the truth and was stoned (Acts 7). Paul dared to speak the truth and was shouted down by the maddened mob who would have killed him if they could (Acts 22).

Because these faithful men presented unwelcome facts, they were met with violent rejection.
This is tough stuff! But let’s take heart from Jesus’ words, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).