And he said, "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, 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. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, 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." When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They 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. But he passed through the midst of them and went away. (Lk 4:24-30)
Situations are same everywhere and for everyone. Whether you are in Israel, the Promised Land given by God to the chosen people, or in Sidon, the pagan world, the famine spreads. There is no land that is protected from natural calamities. Whether you are an Israelite, the descendant of Abraham and Jacob, or Naaman, a pagan from Syria, the disease attacks. No one is so special as to be protected from the diseases of the world. All are equal and every place is the same.
Prophets are sent by God or chosen by God as the Bible presents. The arrival of the prophets and the activities of the prophets are special. The place where the prophets do their work or the people to who they minister are special and they are spoken by God. Here Sidon and Naaman become important because the activity and presence of the prophets.
Prophets reveal God’s presence and they do the ministry of God. Jesus has come into the world to do prophetic ministry in fact more than the prophetic ministry. People who see him as a prophet see in him the role played by the prophet and the in turn treat him so. Prophet is not accepted by his own people but he is successful in a foreign land among strangers.
