“There were many widows in Israel … Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath…. And there were many in Israel with leprosy … yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
Luke 4:25-27
Jesus stirred people up; sometimes infuriated them. But His task was to preach the truth. He reminded the Synagogue crowd of two times God favored non-Israelites, implying their archenemies were as worthy of His mercy as they were. He insisted that God loves all people, not just them. But the Jews didn’t want mercy for others, so Jesus challenged their exclusiveness and pride. And that truth hurt.
He holds us accountable, too. Have you ever doubted someone’s testimony, thinking “God would never save them?” Ever said of someone, “They got what they deserved,” or referred to them as a “lost cause”? Ever been upset when another received miraculous healing while you did not?
“It is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’ What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on man’ desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (Romans 9:13-16). The truth is amazing. But sometimes it hurts.
He holds us accountable, too. Have you ever doubted someone’s testimony, thinking “God would never save them?” Ever said of someone, “They got what they deserved,” or referred to them as a “lost cause”? Ever been upset when another received miraculous healing while you did not?
“It is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’ What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on man’ desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (Romans 9:13-16). The truth is amazing. But sometimes it hurts.
Scripture Focus
Luke 4:14-28
Insight
Give thanks today for “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23, NKJ).
Bible In A Year
- Genesis 33-34
- Psalm 17
- Matthew 25