“The Spirit of
the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for
the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”
(Luke 4:19).
There
is a time span between Jesus’ return from the wilderness (Luke 4:13) and His
return to Nazareth – possibly one year.
Verses
(Luke 4:14, 15) function as an overview of His ministry so far.
Jesus
comes to Nazareth – the town where He grew up (Luke 2:51, 52). This time, a man
in His thirties, Jesus was already well known and His coming may have caused a
stir.
In
Nazareth Jesus visited the synagogue – a meeting place – a local place of worship
and religious instruction. Luke tells us that it was Jesus’ custom to visit
local synagogues wherever He went (Luke 4:16).
Reading
Luke’s account we are allowed to take a peek at what went on in a synagogue
during a worship service (more or less).
Jesus
stood up to read the Scripture of the day. The attendant brought the scroll of
Isaiah and Jesus found the relevant passage to be read.
After
reading He handed the scroll back to the attendant, who placed it together with
the other scrolls. Then Jesus sat down.
“…The eyes
of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him”,
(Luke 4:20) eagerly waiting for the sermon. He began by saying, “…Today this scripture is fulfilled in
your hearing” (Luke 4:21).
“What
was the fulfilled Scripture in their hearing, that day?” It was this, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he
has anointed me…” (v.18).
They
were blessed to witness the fulfilment of God’s Word – the embodiment of God’s
Word…but they failed to see it all and rejected Him.
To
hear the Word…to witness its fulfilment and miss the opportunity to believe it
and receive it – what a tragedy!
For
you, the year of the Lord’s favour is still on…believe the good news!