Lk 4:24-30
24[Jesus] said [to all in the synagogue at Nazareth], “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. 25Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. 26It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. 29They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. 30But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away. In the midst of the rage and fury of the crowd, Jesus calmly walks through them as if nothing has happened and goes his way. How does he do that? He walks above the situation. He does not react to the Nazarenes’ anger. He is not swept away by the crowd. He has truth on his side.
When we stand by the truth, when we seek and speak the truth, we can be above any acclaim or condemnation. There is no need to defend truth; it will stand on its own and defend or speak for itself. So when we have truth in our hearts, we can pass through any crowd and pass any test.
Widows. In ancient Israelite society, there was no independent woman; she was dependent upon either her father or her husband. A widow could not inherit from her husband, and would have to depend on her eldest son. She wore clothing to designate her widowhood. Israelite law protected widows by prohibiting injustice against them. They shared in sacrificial festivals and were permitted to glean in the fields. The early Christians made the care of widows a major concern.