God’s Instruction Reveals His Heart
We pick up the story of Scripture with the prophet Elijah declaring a drought over the land. At first, the Lord provided food and water for Elijah at the Wadi Cherith. Then, when the wadi dried up, God sent the prophet to live with a widow—but not any widow, rather one in Zarephath. Don’t miss it: this widow was not an Israelite.
Everything God does is for a reason. God would provide for the prophet through this widow, but He would also provide for the widow and her son through the prophet. Don’t you love how God works? This two-way provision is critical for understanding what is going on in this passage, beyond the surface level of three people staying alive. God chose this widow to bless her and her son through her kindness to Elijah. There were many widows among the Israelites, but God chose a Gentile instead. Why? Because it is consistent with His heart and plans for all people to be blessed through the Israelites, namely a single Israelite who would be born in a manger hundreds of years after this account.
That Israelite, Jesus, even referenced this account as He taught in the tabernacle in Nazareth (Luke 4:25-26). Up to that point, the crowd gathered praised Jesus and were amazed by Him (v. 22). But then, from a human perspective, Jesus jumped the shark. He mentioned this account of God working in and through a Gentile right before another, Elisha and Naaman. At this, the crowd did a 180. Everyone was enraged to the point of wanting to kill him. Why? Because Jesus had the audacity to point out that God loves Gentiles.
Jesus didn’t make a mistake that day. Again, from a human perspective it looks like He lost the crowd. Had He only not mentioned these accounts, He would have been fine. But read this passage carefully: Jesus did not need to mention these accounts. He chose to. Because He knew that the people’s hearts were sick—diseased with nationalism and racism. And they needed to be confronted by the truth of God’s love and plan to redeem all peoples to Himself.
Our Righteous Living Reveals Our Hearts
We are not exempt from the allure of Israel’s sins. We too can harden our hearts to other people for a litany of reasons including ethnicity, socio-economic differences, and nationality. And Jesus is just as bold, perhaps even more so, with us. We cannot excuse Israel’s sin, but we also have to recognize that they did not have as full of a picture of redemptive history. We do. And with that privilege comes increased responsibility.
Take a minute and read Matthew 25:31-46. Notice the startling message of Christ: salvation depends on how we treat others. No where in this section does He draw our attention to faith or grace. Rather, what we read sounds like it would have come from the Pharisees—what we do is what provides salvation.
So, is Jesus a terrible theologian? Do we have the gospel all wrong? Of course not to both of those questions. What we see here is faith in Him assumed. Jesus spoke of faith in Him on many occasions—we cannot read passages in isolation. Here, He focuses on the fruit of salvation—evidence that we are saved. Notice that this passage comes on the heels of the parable of the talents—which teaches our need to do something with what we are given.
That “something” is, of course, the gospel. With that lead in, this account of the sheep and the goats makes sense. If our lives look no different, at least over time, because of the gospel, then we likely have not experienced the gospel. Loving people—and caring for them in practical ways—is a hallmark of the gospel having changed our hearts. When rightly understood and applied, the gospel compels us not only to go across the street to share Christ with others, but also to go across the proverbial railroad tracks. Any limit to where we will go—to whom we will love—reveals we have yet to absorb the fulness of the gospel.
This is why Jesus phrases this passage so strongly. He wants there to be no mistake. There can be no such thing as a redeemed person who fails to love others. Sheep will act like sheep because they are sheep. Goats will act like goats because they are goats. Followers of Christ will act like Christ because Christ is in them. Followers of the world will act like the world because the world is int them.
Preschool Tip: For preschoolers, you may want to focus on the general principle—of our call to love all people and perhaps some ways we can show love.
Kids Tip: For kids, consider pressing in a little more into how our culture wants us to divide people and how easy it is for us to not view and treat others equally. Be sensitive here, but these are important, extremely practical issues. If you do feel led to press into the various “isms” that we experience and that may be within us, you might want to let parents know ahead of time. It’s a good rule of thumb to keep them in the loop as it is, but especially when we cover anything that might be sensitive.
-From Brian Dembowczyk at TGP website
#JesusJams for today!
CLICK HERE for this weeks story summary
Christ Connection: God miraculously provided through Elijah to give food to the widow and life to the widow’s son. Many years later, God miraculously provided through His own Son, Jesus. Jesus is greater than Elijah. In Jesus, God provides salvation and life to everyone who trusts in Him.
If you have a bible at your house, turn to 1 Kings 17. If you don't have one, that's okay! CLICK HERE.
OPTION 1: Play dough knead Provide each kid with a lump of play dough. Keep a lump for yourself and demonstrate with it how to knead dough by pressing it out and folding it onto itself to press it out again. Ask the kids to knead their dough and then shape it into a loaf.
Remind Kids • Kneading bread dough is an important step if you want your bread to be chewy and hold its shape well. However, if you knead dough too much, it can make the bread tough and difficult to eat. Today we will learn about a time when God provided bread to a woman and her son when they were going hungry because of a drought. How do you think God might provide bread to people?
OPTION 2: Gathering Sticks
Lead children outside to an area with trees. Use a walking rope if available. Encourage children to gather short sticks. If gathering sticks outside is not an option, spread stick-like items such as colored pencils, plastic straws, or craft sticks around the room for preschoolers to gather. Remind Kids • When Elijah first met the widow, she was gathering sticks. She was going to build a fire and use the last little bit of flour and oil she had to bake some bread for her and her son. God took care of the widow and her son. God sent Elijah to give them food and to bring life to her son. Many years later, God sent His own Son, Jesus, into the world. Jesus is greater than Elijah. He came to free us from sin and give us life forever.
OPTION 3: Paint Bread
Post an allergy alert. Pour 1⁄4 cup of milk in each bowl. Add five drops of food color to each bowl and stir with a plastic spoon. Give each preschooler a slice of bread on a foam plate. Invite children to dip a new, clean paintbrush in the milk paint and paint their slice of bread. When preschoolers finish painting, help them toast their bread in a toaster. Consider offering butter for preschoolers to butter their painted toast. SAY • How many gods are there? There is one true God. God took care of Elijah. He sent ravens to give him bread and meat. God also took care of the widow and her son by giving them flour and oil to make more bread. Today, God takes care of us. God gave us what we need most when He sent Jesus to save us from sin. Jesus frees us from sin and gives us life forever.