John is the gospel of glory. It speaks of the glory of the Father (John 7:18, 9:24, 11:4, 11:40, 12:28, 12:43, 13:32: 17:1). It tells the glory of the Son (John 1:14, 2:11, 5:41, 8:54, 12:41, 13:32, 17:1, 17:5, 17:22, 17:24). It tells of the glory imparted to believers in God through Christ (John 5:44, 12:43, 17:22).

The word glory is nearly archaic. In biblical usage it speaks of a weighty magnificence, greatness, splendor, dignity. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, one of the great defining documents …

It’s not clear what the people of Nazareth thought of Jesus as he was growing up, but when he came back to deliver a message in the synagogue, he came back with one reputation, and when he left, it was with quite a different one. Rarely has anyone fallen so far in favor so quickly. They almost killed him. Why?

The account is found in Luke 4:14-30. He had been teaching in other cities, being “glorified by all.” He had performed healings in the considerably …