In this passage, Jesus points back to the stories of Naaman and the widow as examples of the heart of His ministry. Both were outsiders, foreigners who would have seemed unlikely to belong in the kingdom of God. Yet this is the good news of the gospel: Jesus came for those who know they are in need of grace. None of us enter the kingdom because of our own righteousness or works, for we all fall short of the glory of God. We are welcomed in only through the grace of God and the blood of Christ.

Scripture: Luke 4:16–30