When we think about Jesus and who he was and why he came we likely think about the love and compassion of God. Jesus came to us as an expression of the Lord’s incredible love for us. Jesus came to save us. And yet there are so many people who did not want to accept what Jesus brought.
Beginning in Luke 4:16 we have the story of Jesus in his local synagogue. He is handed a scroll, the book of the prophet Isaiah, and he reads about God anointing someone to proclaim good news, to heal, to set people free. And then Jesus announces that he has fulfilled this prophecy. Jesus is the one who is anointed by God to do all these good things.
Such news really pleased the crowd. They were glad to hear the good news. But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He talks about other stories from the Old Testament scriptures that show that Jesus will have his ministry go beyond the people of Israel. And this upset the crowd.
What did the people do with Jesus? What did Jesus do?
As is so often the case, we can shake our heads in disbelief at the reaction the people gave to Jesus. But we at times overlook the fact that we can do the same thing.
We can feel tremendous comfort and satisfaction in knowing that we are loved by God and that Christ came as our Savior. We can find comfort and peace as we gather to worship with other believers just like us.
But when we are confronted with the idea that God’s love extends beyond us, that God also loves other people – people we may not care for, people we may truly dislike – we can get upset. It can get worse when we learn that we are expected as Christians to go out to these people we don’t like and offer them God’s love, or we should welcome them into our presence.
As with the story in Luke, God’s love moves ahead no matter how we react. Jesus walked away from the crowd and went on with his ministry. We may be upset or uncomfortable with the work and ministry of our church, but we must remember that God’s ministry, God’s kingdom, God’s love is beyond our understanding and control.
We must trust that God loves us and accept and even rejoice in the fact that this love is great enough to encompass all people.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What can help you remember how powerful God’s love can be?