Reflections from the January 31 Gospel
Luke 4:21-30
“When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury.” Why were these folks furious? Because they didn’t like what Jesus told them. Jesus was implying that his fellow Nazarenes in the synagogue were blind to who he really was. They didn’t like being told that they were wrong. But Jesus told them anyway. He knew that these people needed to hear the truth, even if it mean that he would be unpopular. It can be tempting to confuse Jesus’ kindness and goodness with passivity, mistakenly imagining him as a person who would never ruffle any feathers because he was so concerned about being “nice.” This one-sided image of Jesus can lead us to excuse our own passivity about the falsehood and evil that surrounds us. We can justify our silence or inaction by convincing ourselves that we shouldn’t upset anyone. But the fact is that Jesus upset people on a regular basis. That wasn’t his goal, of course, but he was willing to deal with resistance for the sake of truth and justice. And we should be willing to do the same.
Questions of the Week
Luke 4:21-30: What do you think led to Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth?
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19: Why do you think people fight against the message of the prophets?
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13: Do you agree with Paul’s assertion that of the three virtues—faith, hope, and love—the greatest is love? Why or why not?