The congregation welcomed Jesus back to His home synagogue (Luke 4:16-19).  They admired His eloquence and graciousness (Luke 4:20-22); but, by the end of the service, they hated Him so much that they wanted to kill Him!  What a bizarre ending to Jesus' first sermon in His hometown of Nazareth.  What had He done to precipitate such a violent response?  The order of events is significant.  First, He read from Isaiah's prophecy, and then He said Isaiah was speaking about Him.  Then He reminded His towns-folk that God blessed people with faith, and that if there were none in Israel, God would bless Gentiles (Luke 4:24-27).

That last idea infuriated them.  They may have been able to accept Jesus was the Messiah (particularly if they could claim some credit that He was their 'local-boy-come-good').  But they would not forgive the insult that some Gentiles had more faith than Israelites - or that God would disregard their piety and favour people who did not know the Law of Moses, let alone try to obey it.  What was their problem?  

They were proud, arrogant and righteous in their own eyes.  They had faith in their own ability to please God through religious observance, even though none of them could perfectly keep the Law (Luke 11:52).  But they had no confidence in God's mercy to Gentile sinners – even though they knew that Rahab, the Gentile prostitute, had been saved because she trusted God’s Word (Joshua 2:1-14).  They were angry with the thought that God would bless Gentiles, even though God promised Abraham that He would bring blessing to the Gentiles through his descendants.  They might have said something like, ‘Who does He think He is?’  The answer is that He knew He was God the Son with all power and authority (Matthew 28:18).  The moment the synagogue congregation picked up that thought, they rushed at Him, pursuing Jesus out of the town and up the nearby hill.  But instead of them throwing Him off the cliff, His divine authority made a protected way through the crowd and back to safety.

Whenever people are angry at Jesus today, it is for the same proud reasons. They do not want to accept His authority. They are greatly insulted when they are told that unless they repent and trust in the mercy of Jesus, they will be lost (John 3:18).  Violence is an extreme reaction.  Paradoxically, the persecution of Christians proves how some people are terrified of the power of Jesus – when they want to remove His people.  But Jesus still knows how to guard His own reputation and is not put off by opposition.  So, if you trust Him, expect that some of those who hear your witness will react strongly (John 16:33).  But some will hear and be saved.  Most people who resist the gospel do not have genuine intellectual reasons for disbelief.  They merely use such arguments to defend their unbelief, pride and arrogance.  So be gentle with them.  And be clear about the truth too; Jesus was!