Luke 4:22-30

Luke 4:22-30 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed — only Naaman the Syrian.” All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Jesus' acceptance in his hometown of Nazareth went from amazement to hatred in a few short words. Jesus spoke the truth to them when He said their attitude was unbelief, for they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” Their thinking was that Jesus could do no more than the rest of them because He originated from Joseph's loins. But Jesus did not claim He originated from Joseph's loins, but from God himself. The Nazarenes' unbelief curtailed the work of the Lord in their midst. Unbelief in any of us inhibits God's work in our lives. Jesus said Elijah had to leave the land of Israel, a land of unbelief and disobedience, and go to Zarephath to find a person of enduring faith. The widow of Zarephath was "commanded" by God to feed Elijah; however, realistically, she had no food to feed him, just a little flour and oil for her son and herself. This meager amount of food was just enough for their last meal--they definitely lacked enough to feed God's prophet.

Obedience to God's voice by feeding Elijah would bring starvation and death to them sooner, BUT THE WIDOW BELIEVED IN GOD AND WAS OBEDIENT TO HIM REGARDLESS OF THE CONSEQUENCES, EVEN DEATH. Jesus said there were many in Israel (the chosen) with leprosy in the time of Elijah, but they were all passed by because of unbelief. Elijah was sent to a widow in Zarephath, a foreign town, who would be obedient to God's words regardless of the outcome. This story is told by Jesus to reveal what believing in God is all about. The widow did not know there would be any miraculous outcome because of her obedience, her faith. But God rewarded her faithfulness by providing a continuous, supernatural, supply of oil and flour for her household. She was rewarded immensely for her faithfulness to the voice of God.

How many of us live in the land of unbelief, in a barren land? How many of us say that we will believe in Jesus if we see some wonderful miracle happen in our lives? How many of us are willing to believe regardless of the consequences, the outcome? Many of us are like the Nazarenes: we put God to the test. In essence, we say to Jesus, Physician, heal yourself or show us some miracle, and then we will believe, then we will place our trust and faith completely in you. Often, many of us beg Jesus to smooth out our lives, so we might believe He is really with us, that He cares for us. We sometimes complain to him about the difficulties of believing in him when we seem to have so many treacherous mountains and dark valleys in our lives. But Elijah came to a widow who believed and was obedient regardless of her circumstances and future consequences. Her kind of faith is that which heals the broken hearted, touches the sick in body, and brings salvation to us.

Faith is believing God and obeying his voice regardless of circumstances, whether we are healed or not, whether our lives become smoother or not. Faith believes in the reality that God is and that He is a good God who will never leave us nor forsake us. Now, Elijah brought life to this widow and her son. After his visit, they were able to exist on the supernatural provisions of the Lord until they died. Jesus always brings eternal life to us after his visit to our hearts. Christians should not be people who test God by saying heal me and then I'll believe; deliver me and then I will serve you. No, Christians are people who say to God, I will follow where you lead me, for I have put my trust in you; I will believe whether or not you make my circumstances better, for you are my GOD. This is salvation faith; everything else is the Nazarenes' unbelief. FOR SURE, GOD IS IN THE MIDST OF US AND HE IS GOOD; HE IS GOOD ALL THE TIME.