FOR GRACE TO BE GRACIOUS

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And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. but he said to them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose."
Luke 4:20‭-‬22‭, ‬25‭-‬28‭, ‬43 ESV

¶Surprisingly, it was not Jesus's claims to be the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies of Isaiah that infuriated the synagogue. They happily received Him as messiah, until He included the Phoenician widow and the Syrian general. It was not Jesus as messiah that was a stumbling block to Jesus's Jewish neighbors. It was the idea that they had to share Him with other people who were different. But for God's grace to be truly gracious, it has to be available to everyone regardless of position or pedigree.

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