Luke chapter 4 describes Jesus’ experience in the wilderness and then tells of how he preached in his hometown, where he met with violent rejection. The crowd was ready to throw him over a cliff, “but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.” (Luke 4:30, NLT). Jesus “went on his way.” The passage uses these words to mean that he continued on to Capernaum, but I think there is a deeper meaning in this passage as well. After such a violent rejection in his hometown of Nazareth, how could Jesus continue his ministry without giving up in fear or discouragement? What enabled him to go “on his way”, and what is that way? 

Jesus’ experience in the wilderness surely prepared him to face such trying circumstances. It also would have confirmed his conviction that his ministry was from his heavenly Father, and that his Father would enable him to fulfill these tasks, however demanding. If this were not so, he could not have continued his ministry after almost being killed. Without a deep and abiding faith in God, Jesus certainly would have acquiesced to the authorities rather than face the suffering he endured at the end of his earthly life. The way of Jesus, then, is the way of enduring faith and trust in God, which provides the courage and conviction to follow where God leads, no matter how daunting that may be. Jesus—the Way, the Truth, and the Life—empowers us to go on our way as we follow God’s call. May our times of prayer and self-examination help us to follow the Way of Christ so that we, too, can fulfill the tasks God calls us to pursue.

- Stephanie Stover