Lk 4:24-30
24[Jesus] said [to all in the synagogue at Nazareth], “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. 25Indeed,
I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when
the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine
spread over the entire land. 26It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27Again,
there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. 29They
rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. 30But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
Reflection:
A WIDOW IN ZAREPHATH.
God does not play favorites. Out of goodness and love, God freely
distributes gifts and blessings according to our needs. No one has any
exclusive rights to God’s gifts. We do not own God; we cannot
monopolize God.
The Jews have a different perception
about God’s goodness. They want God only for themselves. All the rest
of humanity should be excluded from God’s benevolence.
Jesus reminds the Jews of the prophet
Elijah who was sent during a famine to minister to the needs of a
Gentile widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. He recalls the cure
performed by the prophet Elisha for an enemy, Naaman the Syrian. Jesus
clarifies that God heals not because of race but because of mercy and
compassion. God wills the good of all, Jews and Gentiles alike.
This teaching angers the Jews in the synagogue in Nazareth; they drive Jesus out of town, wanting to kill him.
Do you see God as Father of all?
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