From Zarephath to Nazareth: God's Inclusive Grace

But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. (Luke 4:25, 26 NKJV)

In the dramatic opening of his public ministry, Jesus invoked the compelling story of the widow of Zarephath (Luke 4:24-25, 1 Kings 17). This wasn’t just a historical account; it was a deliberate challenge to the spiritual blindness and unbelief of the Jews in Nazareth. Before this encounter, Jesus had been led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be “tempted by the devil.” (Luke 4:1,2). This moment followed Jesus’s 40-day wilderness temptation, a spiritual battle orchestrated by the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1-2), mirroring Elijah’s prophetic confrontations with King Ahab. Just as Elijah’s pronouncements disrupted the status quo, Jesus’s words marked a pivotal shift in his ministry.

After declaring himself to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy regarding the Messiah, Jesus confronted the nationalist pride of his listeners. His reference to the widow of Zarephath drew a connection between the ministry of Elijah and that of Jesus. Just as Elijah was sent to a Gentile widow in Zarephath, Jesus asserted that his mission would transcend the geographical and ethnic boundaries of Israel. Elijah, a type of Jesus Christ, was sent to Zarephath to demonstrate God’s power over the physical and spiritual poverty of the widow. 

Elijah’s journey to Zarephath was not a coincidence; it was a deliberate act of grace. God sent him there to bring hope and salvation to the hopeless widow. Elijah assured her that she would have flour and oil to sustain her during the famine. Although the widow experienced this miraculous provision, she also faced the tragic loss of her son. Through both the miraculous supply of flour and oil and the subsequent resurrection of her son, the widow gained a profound understanding of God’s grace, which extends beyond ethnic and religious boundaries.

Jesus uses this incident to highlight a crucial aspect of his ministry: the inclusion of the Gentiles. Jesus countered the Jews’ objection to his ministry in Galilee by pointing out that Elijah had been sent to minister to the widow of Zarephath–a Gentile.  By drawing this parallel between Elijah’s mission and his own, Jesus challenged the Jewish expectation that the Messiah had come solely to deliver the Jews. He declared that, like Elijah, he was sent to those beyond Israel, indicating that his broader mission included bringing salvation to the Gentiles. 

The gospel is inherently a message of God's inclusive grace. Jesus emphasized this by stating that there were many widows in Israel during the time of famine, yet Elijah was sent specifically to a Gentile widow in Zarephath. Her initial act of obedience in providing for Elijah, despite her poverty, demonstrated a heart prepared to receive God’s blessing. The resurrection of her son led her to acknowledge that Elijah’s God was the one true God. Jesus’s message was revolutionary, illustrating the all-encompassing nature of God’s redemptive plan. The hostile reaction of the Nazarenes revealed their deep-seated resistance to this radical concept. 

As followers of Christ, we must guard against limiting God's grace and providential care to any particular group. Through Abraham, God extended his blessings to the whole world. Jesus’s provocative statements in Nazareth, like Elijah's rejected message to the Jewish king, paved the way for the gospel to spread beyond Israel's borders. Jesus is the Saviour of the world, and he invites us to partner with him, breaking down cultural and geographical barriers and sharing the gospel with people in every culture whose hearts are prepared to receive its message.