Our lesson for today may be quite disturbing to some of us. It takes place in Capernaum. It was the Sabbath and Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. The people who heard him “were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.” Suddenly, however, there was an unexpected disturbance. A man began to cry out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are the Holy One of God!” I imagine the other worshipers were quite upset by this man’s outburst. You don’t expect someone in church to suddenly attack the guest preacher. It can happen. But it’s rare.

There’s a rather humorous story about a seminary professor who was lecturing one day when a hand went up from one of his students. A large pa…