Wed.’s Devo - Rejected at Home

Read Luke 4:23-30 Jesus has just proclaimed to his home town that he is anointed by God to preach , heal, and deliver and they are trying to decide how someone who grew up among them could do all these miracles. Jesus perceived their thoughts and knew they would want him to perform the things he did in Capernaum to prove himself He needed their faith but they were filled with unbelief. He told them instead that “no prophet is accepted in his own country.” To illustrate what he was saying he tells two stories about Gentiles who God chose to heal. Of all the stories in the Bible he could have chosen, these would offend them the most. What he was saying was there were many Jewish widows in the days of Elijah who were dying during the famine yet God chose to sustain a Gentile from the city of Sidon. Elisha healed an unrighteous Syrian who had leprosy when there were many leperous Jewish people. Jesus had healed many people in other cities who stood for the Gentiles and didn’t heal those in his own town which stood for the Jews in his story. How dare God to choose Gentiles over Jews and the people of Capernaum over them. When he told these stories the people in the synagogue were furious at Jesus and had him kicked out of the city. They took him to a cliff and were going to push him off but he just walked through the crowd untouched and walked away. I don’t know what stands out the most to me in this passage whether it is that self-righteousness will steal your miracle, or that when you walk with God and do his will there is no enemy or plan that can harm you. Both are good to think about. Lord, we don’t want to be like the people in the synagogue who have the son of God walk into their midst, speak truth and totally reject it. We want to able to accept you in whatever form you take and welcome whatever you chose to do.