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Jesus spoke and people listened.
He taught “in the power of the Spirit” and “everyone praised Him” (Luke 4:14-15). Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah, and everyone’s eyes “were fastened on Him.” He declared that He was the fulfillment of the prophecies about the Messiah, and “all spoke well of Him” and were “amazed at the gracious words that came from His lips” (vv. 18-22).
(Check out all of these Scriptures here.)
So how is it that in just a few verses, this same crowd of admirers is now furious with Him and ready to throw Him off a cliff?
The people liked it when the words of Scripture suited them and seemed to be pointing to blessings that were coming their way. But when Jesus continued to quote Scripture in reply to their request to do something that thrilled them, they became furious.
God’s Word is unwavering in presenting the righteous standard to which all people are held, while the prevailing culture is always looking for a way to bend those standards to something more palatable and comfortable.
When culture gets a hold of it, morality always decays. As a result, those who cling to the the biblical standard become the problem and must be thrown off the cliff.
Jesus never compromised on truth. This is because He was “led by the Spirit” and walked “in the power of the Spirit”—the One Whom He would later call the Spirit of Truth (Luke 4:1, 14; John 16:13).
Jesus didn’t come to speak comforting words to comfortable people, but truthful words to desperate people.
Speaking comfort to people with morals far removed from the standard of Scripture is to condone them right into hell.
If Jesus was so reliant on the indwelling power and counsel of the Holy Spirit to live righteously as morality decayed around Him, what would make us think we could get by with anything less?! We need to allow the Spirit of Truth to search us for any areas where we may have compromised with culture, so that we can repent and return to the unwavering biblical standard.
This is the only way we can shine brightly for Jesus in a culture with disintegrating morality.
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Craig T. Owens 