“”I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed — only Naaman the Syrian.”” (Luke 4:24-27NIV)
Who said these words? It was our Lord Jesus Christ. To whom did He say them? It was to the people of His hometown. And why did He say such words to them? He said them because the people did not value Him and His ministry the way they should have.
Now why did the people of Jesus’ hometown not value Him the way people did in other places that He had been? It was because they thought that they knew Him well. And they did know Him well. They knew His earthly parents and His earthly brothers and sisters. They also knew His house. And they knew His trade. (Cf. Matt 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-5)
But that was all that they knew about Him, things that concerned His life in the natural realm. They did not know the spiritual man in Him. They did not know Him as the Son of God that was sent to save mankind. They did not know Him as their Messiah and King. And they did not know Him as a man of God.
Therefore, He could not do many mighty works among them, as He had done in all the other places He had gone. And this, as gospel writers note, shocked Him. Their unbelief surprised Him. You can see, then, that even God cannot operate well in an atmosphere of unbelief. He cannot operate well in an atmosphere of bitterness, jealousy, evil suspicions or resentment. So, if we permit any of these things in our lives, homes, workplaces or churches, even if Jesus were to physically come down from heaven and minister to us, He may not be able to help, save or lift us.
In any case, because of the attitude of the people of His hometown to Him, Jesus drew their attention to a very bitter truth, which is that servants of God don’t always get the kind of respect and honour they deserve among those closest to them in the flesh. Therefore, it is often outsiders that enjoy them and their grace of God upon their lives the more.
Now the Lord goes on to give us examples from the Scripture to back this reality up. First, He said even though there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time and when there was famine in the land, God did not send him to any of them. Instead, He sent him to a widow outside the land. And it was that widow that enjoyed the grace of his ministry during that period in order to survive the famine. (Cf. 1Kings 17)
Second, the Lord said even though there were many with leprosy in the land of Israel in Elisha’s time (a mention is even made of four of them in connection to the famine in Samaria), not one of them received their healing and cleansing through the ministry of Elisha. But when Naaman, a foreigner, travelled all the way down from his country to meet this man of God, he received his healing and cleansing, having humbled himself. (Cf. 2Kings 5&7)
What point, then, is the Lord making by saying these things? It is that the fact that we possess something or that something is readily available to us does not mean that we will enjoy its full benefits. If we do not place the right value on it, its benefits and blessings may just elude us. But if others, who do not have the kind of right or access that we have to that thing, will place the right value on it, they may just be the ones enjoying the benefits and blessings that should have been ours as well or ours in the first place.
So, don’t ever mistake possession for enjoyment. No, don’t misrepresent association for satisfaction. If you do not place the right value on the people and things God has placed in your life, you will not be able to enjoy well the blessings and benefits on your relationship with them. Yet, right before your eyes, others who value these people and things well may begin to draw all kinds of enjoyment from them in ways beyond your expectation. So, get rid of whatever is preventing you from placing the right value on the gifts of God in your life. Doing so will serve you well.
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