In the Book of Luke, Jesus was preaching at the town of Nazareth, where he was brought up. He read a passage from a scroll written by the prophet Isaiah, saying “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me, to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4:18-19) The crowd was initially in awe of what Jesus has said, basking in the glory of God's grace that He has sent someone to set them free from their sins. But all they wanted was actually signs and miracles, which Jesus has performed again and again outside of his hometown. Shortly after, they realise that Jesus (a person whom they have watched him grow up and stay in the carpenter's shop) was saying that they are poor, captives, blind, and oppressed. Jesus was telling them that they are spiritually bankrupt, and they are so sinful that they can't do anything about their sins. And they needed a saviour to get them out of this state. What Jesus has said was offensive to them. Their pride was making them furious. They have rejected God's grace, that was available through Jesus.
Jesus then draws up two examples from the Old Testament. First, he spoke about Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-16). During that time, there was a great famine. God sent Elijah out to a faraway non-Jew region to a widow. Elijah asked the widow for bread, but the widow only had a handful of flour and some oil to spare. Elijah gave her a promise from the LORD, telling her that ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.' The widow was in a desperate state and realise her need, and she trusted God. Indeed, God kept His promise. From here, we see that God's grace is extended to all, regardless of who we are.
Next, Jesus spoke of Elisha and Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-14). Naaman, a non-Jew, was a leper. One day, he went the land of Israel because he heard that the lord is with a prophet, and he could heal Naaman of his leprosy. When Naaman reached Israel, he was expecting some signs from God. But what he received was Elisha telling him to wash himself in the Jordan river seven times. He was furious. His servants, being wiser than him, and told him to do as the prophet Elisha has said. Putting aside his pride, he went down to the Jordan and did as told, and he became clean. Again, we see that God's grace is for all. And it is necessary for us to put aside our pride.
Do we recognise our spiritual bankruptcy and see that we need urgent treatment that is only available through our gracious God? We need to let go of our pride in order to be rescued. The problem does not lie with Jesus or the bible. We are the problem. As Christians, a lot of times we want to take control of our lives and overlook what Jesus has done. The best way to love, I think, is not to keep the gospel to ourselves. But to keep praying and trying to reach out to more people so that they hear of God's grace and recognise their spiritual bankruptcy. Christians, look at yourself. It is not about what you do ultimately, but put your trust and hope in Christ and what he has done. Nothing is more important than that.
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