Read the entire passage here.

Early in His ministry, Jesus returns to His hometown to teach the people He was raised with, and after a few choice words in their direction, they wanted to kill Him.

This is a story of offense, and how we respond to it. Either in the Spirit or in the flesh.

First, we have the people of Nazareth who attended the synagogue on that day. The young boy they knew returns as the Messiah they couldn’t quite recognize, and even after He reads a passage of prophecy, and tells them that He is the fulfillment of that prophecy, they still want proof.

Jesus then rebukes them. No prophet, He tells them, is accepted in his hometown. God once sent Elijah to a widow in Sidon and cleansed Naaman the Syrian, passing over the many widows and lepers in Israel.

For this, they wanted to kill Him. A fleshly response to offense if ever there was one. Not because of the supposed blasphemy of claiming He was the Messiah, but because this Messiah, one of their own, chose not to perform mighty works for them, and then told them God had blessed outsiders instead.

And then we have Jesus. Ever operating in the Spirit.

To fully appreciate His response, you have to imagine this scene: He is being harassed by a mob of angry people. People He knows. People He’s worshipped with, prayed with, broken bread with.

Verse 29 says they “drove him out of the town.” This was angry mob, choosing violence, and Jesus allows Himself to be swept up in their mass hysteria, taking all of their insults and hostility along the way.

They walk Him to the edge of a cliff intending to push Him off it — and Luke doesn’t record a single word from Him. No telling off. No “how dare you?!” Nothing.

He simply passes through the middle of them and goes on His way.

As in every other aspect of our lives, Jesus is the model for dealing with offense. The offense others take, and the offense we’re tempted to take ourselves.

What good is offense, really, other than to upset our peace and tear people apart? And yet we feel justified in offense. All. the. time.

Jesus would’ve been justified in taking some offense to His neighbors trying to kill Him, but He doesn’t. He isn’t offended by their words, their slander, the expressions on their faces, nor the impulses of their hearts.

He understands people. As John puts it, “he himself knew what was in man” (John 2:25). Fickle, impatient, self-centered. Always taking things personal.

We should understand people as well — because we’re one of them.

So this week, let us take inventory of offense. Pay special attention to all of the times it arises in your heart, and how you respond. Ask yourself the question: am I allowing my flesh to push me to the edge, or am I allowing the Spirit to help me walk through it?

We’ll be praying against the spirit of offense tomorrow morning during Power Prayer Weekly Kickoff. If you need the discernment and grace to resist offense at work, at home, or anywhere else, please join us at 6am ET on YouTube.