What Happens When Grace Isn't Enough?

1.26.25 Luke 4:16–30 (EHV)

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, 19 and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. 20 He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

22 They all spoke well of him and were impressed by the words of grace that came from his mouth. And they kept saying, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” 23 He told them, “Certainly you will quote this proverb to me, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ Do here in your hometown everything we heard you did in Capernaum.” 24 And he said, “Amen I tell you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 But truly I tell you: There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months, while a great famine came over all the land. 26 Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in Sidon. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 All those who were in the synagogue were filled with rage when they heard these things. 29 They got up and drove him out of the town. They led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the middle of them and went on his way.

Dear Friends in Christ,

How do you handle criticism? Does it make you angry or defensive? Or do you welcome it? I once was told, “I feel that the message at Trinity is focused on law, sin, and judgment. I feel it is lacking in God’s love and forgiveness. I understand the importance of recognizing the law; however, that message is overshadowing the truth of God’s love and salvation through the sacrifice of Christ.” Honestly, that surprised me and made me a bit defensive and a little miffed. I looked through my sermons to try and see if that was really true. The last thing an evangelical preacher wants is for people to somehow NOT clearly get the gospel message of Christ crucified. After all, that was Paul’s rallying cry, “We preach Christ crucified.”

Jesus wasn’t accused of being too law oriented in today’s text. In His very first sermon recorded in Luke, He focuses on how HE is the fulfillment of Isaiah 61. Jesus personified this throughout His ministry. Think of how He gently healed the blind man by putting mud on his eyes. Think of how he drew the line in the sand and kept the mob from stoning an adulterous woman. His whole ministry was the personification of grace and mercy. This was in contrast to what the prophets of the Old Testament seemed to preach when they were trying to get the Israelites to repent. It would have definitely conflicted with the teachings of the Pharisees who loved to make rules. Verse 22 sounds very complimentary. They all spoke well of him and were impressed by the words of grace that came from his mouth.

Isn’t that exactly what you would want too? Words of grace? But there’s also a part of us that likes the rules, at least when we can keep them. A part of us bristles at the idea of “free grace and mercy for all,” especially when we see it being offered to people who have gone off the deep end of sin. When we examine our own lives, we’d rather not need so much grace. It’s easier just to brush sin off with a quippy, “Nobody’s perfect.” If you’re not THAT BAD of a sinner, then grace isn’t so amazing to you. Maybe the Supper really doesn’t mean that much to you because after all, you get it every week. No big deal receiving the body and blood of God Almighty for the forgiveness of your sins. Maybe you prefer an ok grace or a mediocre grace, a “that’s nice” kind of grace. Anything but amazing. But these people didn’t seem to be like that. They were amazed initially. So what happened?