A Prophet in His Hometown
Jesus comes out of the wilderness to face a different sort of opposition. And yet, Luke's arrangement of material (beginning Jesus' ministry with the confrontation with the devil in the wilderness) seems to be communicating that all opposition to Jesus is also of the same sort. Satan stands in opposition to God's Kingdom, and all those who oppose Jesus throw their lot in with him. Including Jesus' friends, family, and neighbours from his own hometown. Even though everyone is amazed by the wisdom and graciousness of Jesus' teaching, they choose to reject him because of their familiarity (Isn't this just Joseph's son?). And when Jesus confronts them directly, their opposition and rejection only intensify. Once his message hits too close to home, they become enraged, form a mob, drive him out of town, and attempt to throw him off a cliff.
Sadly, this reception of Jesus and his Kingdom is far too often true of us. We are happy to observe and speak well about and even praise Jesus. Hypothetically, Jesus and his Kingdom have our full support. Until the message becomes personal. Until Jesus steps on our toes. Until the Kingdom of God clashes with us. Then we become enraged. We justify and defend and wonder, "How dare he?!" We storm off to find a new church. We reject orthodoxy altogether and cobble together a version of Jesus who clashes with the things we don't like and endorses (or at least tolerates) the things we do. But that's not really Jesus. If we make that move, we are no longer loving, praising, and following Jesus. We have thrown him off a cliff and thrown our lot in with the devil.
The clash of the kingdoms is upon us. That means it will frequently clash with you. What will you do when it does?