Reading: Luke 4:17–27.
“And
there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet
Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found
the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the
Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach
the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the
Lord.” And He closed the book, and He gave it
again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of
all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on
Him. And He began to say unto them, “This day
is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” And
all bare Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words
which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said,
“Is not This Joseph’s son?” And He
said unto them, “Ye will surely say unto Me this
proverb, ‘Physician, heal Thyself:’ whatsoever
we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Thy
country.” And He said, “Verily I say unto
you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But
I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the
days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years
and six months, when great famine was throughout all the
land; but unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto
Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a
widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of
Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving
Naaman the Syrian.”
In
Luke 4 we see how the Lord is on the side of the
prophets. He is the Son of God, but concerning the rights
of God He is the Prophet, as was Moses. He came to
Nazareth. He was given the book of the prophet
Isaiah. Everything that the prophet says finds a
sudden living embodiment, but: “No prophet is
acceptable in his own country” (v.24). He
used the Word in regard to Himself. What separates
Him however from the other prophets is the special
message of grace.
Grace
is the way in which God gains recognition for His
rights. What a wonderful proclamation of grace!—
“He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor: He
hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the
Lord” (verses18,19; RSV).
That
is the grace of God. It is the grace of God in Jesus
Christ. This is how He introduces Himself to the
people. He brings God close to them on the ground of
grace. He Himself and His presence are the grace of
God. “The grace of God hath appeared to all
men” (Titus 2:11).
But
now grace has to be demonstrated. He has announced
it, but those to whom grace has been offered, have to
know what it means. He refers to Elijah and the
widow, who was maintained with her son, and to Elisha and
the cleansing of Naaman. What is grace? Israel
thought that it had a right to God’s
blessing. They did not recognize that it was a
question of grace. As long as we think we have
legitimate claims, we are not on the ground of
grace. In other passages we have pointed out how
proud Israel was of its special election. That was enough
for its downfall. Pride made it blind to the fact of
its own need. Because Israel thought it had a
legitimate claim to God’s grace, it did not deem it
necessary to ask for it.
How
different with Naaman and the widow. They know their
poverty. They know their need. They also
recognize the rights of God and accept through grace that
which is not to be had in any other way.
Is
it not so? We also know quite well that real
devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ is not compatible with
the assertion of any demand. Grace is for those who
are in need of grace. In Nazareth the people were
‘religious’. Therefore the examples the Lord
uses must make clear what is lacking in them. With
Naaman and the widow God went beyond the borders of
Israel. Was He repeating this strategy? Would
He go to the Gentiles because Israel did not need
Him? This is what He wants to show them. He
wants to open their eyes to their need; to show them that
they need grace. But they did not understand
Him. They became filled with rage. They stood
up and pushed Him out of town. Had it been in their
power, they would have killed Him. The Lord however
knew their hearts. The Lord knew that they would not
recognize grace. But He offered it to them. He
offers it to everybody. He sees to it that grace is
accepted as grace, as that which we cannot earn through
anything, which is not to be had in any other way than by
taking possession of it as grace.
“And
He arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s
house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken
with a great fever; and they besought Him for
her. And He stood over her, and rebuked the fever;
and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered
unto them. Now when the sun was setting, all they
that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto
Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them, and
healed them. And devils also came out of many,
crying out, and saying, “Thou art Christ the Son of
God.” And He rebuking them suffered them not to
speak: for they knew that He was Christ” (Luke
4:38-41).
“And
when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with
divers diseases brought them unto Him; and He laid His
hands on every one of them, and healed them.” These
were those who had recognized the need for help and for
grace’s sake desired it. Demons were also
driven out. That was grace in its triumph.
So
we have four things standing closely together:
Grace proclaimed.
Grace demonstrated.
Grace rejected.
Grace triumphing.
Although
the demons testified that He was the Son of God, the
people, however, recognized Him as God’s messenger
of grace and accepted Him. Thus God came to His
rightful position.
How
clear grace is made to us in the case of the widow!—
Flour and oil, that do not run out during three and a
half years become a picture of Himself. “I
am the bread of life, which come down from heaven, to
give life and to save the people from spiritual famine”
(John 6). He does this in the power of the Holy
Spirit. Does this not speak to our hearts? We are
only saved from spiritual poverty through Christ giving
Himself to us. We have no means to save ourselves
from spiritual poverty. If we are left to ourselves,
we must die as the widow would have died. But Christ
in His grace has sought us out. He has become our
life. Should we not give God His place, after having
recognized our need for His grace!
And
how about Naaman? He too was outside of Israel. And
he was leprous. Of what use was his exterior
position to him? Leprosy was consuming his
life. But the grace of God is for this very leper
who is outside of Israel. For him there was
help. Christ wants to show us this. He wants to
demonstrate that the Son of Man came to seek and save
that which is lost. The grace of God in Christ Jesus
is for sinners. They will thank Him and give Him the
place He deserves, because of the greatness of His grace.
Israel
failed to recognize its need to be freed from sin.
Therefore the grace of God meant nothing to them. Those,
however, that stood outside of Israel recognized
it. God will always have His place where His grace
is recognized most and where it is accepted gratefully.
The
measure in which we recognize His grace will also be the
measure in which we surrender to Him.
Wherever
there is an incomplete picture of the grace of God, there
is also an incomplete testimony. The more we live in
His grace, the more we will also testify for Him and be
effective.
This
is a very simple message. It is the simple message
of the grace of God. But what in truth is more
suitable to give God His place in our hearts than grace!
The
Lord keep us from the self-satisfied position of Israel
and make us hungry for grace, that it may accomplish its
full purpose in us.