Devotionals

Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

Just prior to this event, Jesus had been tempted in the wilderness. Having defeated Satan’s attempts, the first thing Jesus did was to return to Galilee and begin to teach. We do not know if Jesus was invited to do so by the leaders of the synagogues but either way, Jesus, being filled with the power of Spirit, taught with that same Spirit and His words so resonated with his listeners that they praised Him. Have you ever felt the power of the Spirit? Has the Spirit ever prompted you to speak/teach/share God’s Word with others without fear? What would it take for you to follow the prompting of the Spirit to speak God’s Word of truth?

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,

Now Jesus was in His hometown, the very place where initially He will be praised and then ridiculed (Mark 6:4). Remember - this was still Roman occupied territory. The Jews that lived under this occupation were yearning for the Messiah to come as a conquering hero to vanquish the Romans. Jesus would have known all of this, but it did not stop Him from stepping up to read in the synagogue, not unlike what a Rabbi would do. And following this bold step, He will take another with a bold announcement (announcement in tomorrow’s reading). Sometimes we find it much easier to speak boldly to those whom we do not know than to speak to our own family and friends. But speaking the truth of the Gospel message is what we are called to do even when doing so may make us feel fearful or uncomfortable. When you face this, remember these words: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deut. 31:6)

and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to set free those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Wait what? Jesus was reading from the prophet Isaiah (61:1-2a) and will go on to claim that He, Jesus, will fulfill these words. This was a bold announcement!! I believe this was/is Jesus’ personal mission statement. Jesus came not to conquer the Roman occupiers, but to focus on the poor, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed and in doing so, declare  “the year of the Lord’s favor.” Imagine the reaction to those listening to these words - words they may have heard many times before but not in the way Jesus interprets them. As I think about this mission statement of Jesus, I wonder what would be my mission statement? What about your mission statement? Perhaps it is time for all of us to declare our mission in the world with respect to our faith and belief in Christ.

20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Imagine the reaction! The boldness of this man, Jesus, to proclaim that He was the fulfillment of that prophetic scripture. Further on in this passage, it states that the people were amazed and expected Jesus to then perform the miracles they had heard so much about. But did they truly understand what Jesus was declaring? Was He going to eliminate poverty and free all those oppressed? Or could it be that Jesus was speaking of spiritual poverty, a type of poverty that holds you captive. I believe that those listeners were unlikely to truly understand the mission of Jesus as it did not match their expectation of the fulfillment of scripture. What are our expectations of Jesus? As believers, what are we called to do and to emulate?

The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
    making wise the simple;

This Psalm is often paired with the reading from Luke because they both speak about God’s revelation to humanity. In this Psalm, it is God’s Word that is the revelation. In Luke, it is Jesus as God’s Word made flesh that is the revelation. Our Psalmist was encouraging the reader to understand that God’s Word has power – the power to revive us and the power to increase our wisdom. When we are faced with decisions and/or dilemmas, do we turn to God’s Word for advice or do we rely on our own worldly wisdom? Let’s read on to see what else our Psalmist may have to teach us.

the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
    enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
    and righteous altogether.

In these verses, and those from yesterday, we had a robust description of the power of God’s Word to transform us. It revives us, makes us wise, causes us to rejoice, opens our eyes, increasing our awe of God, and reminds us of the truth of God’s Word and power to guide our lives. Jesus was God’s revelation in the flesh. Scripture is God’s revelation in the written word. Both come together to fulfill God’s plan for the redemption of all creation. If this is the truth, which I believe it is, then we should be steeping ourselves in the Word daily and allowing the teachings of Jesus to provide examples for how we should treat God and each other (love God and love your neighbor). Perhaps this is the year to commit to making God’s Word a priority in your life, acknowledging Jesus as Lord and the fulfillment of all of scripture.

This is a recap from last week just in case you missed it. Jesus has returned to his hometown of Nazareth. As is his custom, he joins in worship at the local synagogue. He asks for a scroll, from 

which he intends to read and teach. Luke 4:17-20 reads: 

17 The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

‘18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, 19and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ 20 He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. 

We are left here with a sense of anticipation. Jesus has just finished reading a well-known scripture to the people of his hometown, and he has everyone’s complete attention. What will he have to say? Will he have any new insights?

21 He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.” 22 Everyone was raving about Jesus, so impressed were they by the gracious words flowing from his lips. They said, “This is Joseph’s son, isn’t it?” 23 Then Jesus said to them, “Undoubtedly, you will quote this saying to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we’ve heard you did in Capernaum.’”

Everyone seemed so proud of the young man who grew up in their village. He was able to read and speak graciously, even though his training was as a carpenter’s son and apprentice. He was not one of the local boys studying with a rabbi to become a rabbi himself. When Jesus finished his reading, he sat down, as was the custom of those teaching in a synagogue (no twenty-minute sermons here!). The people gathered had heard tales of some of Jesus’ healings and miracles in other places, and Jesus fully expected them to want him to perform some of these acts here. But this is not the way of faith; this would be the way of showmanship. This not Jesus’ style or intent.

24 He said, “I assure you that no prophet is welcome in the prophet’s hometown. 25 And I can assure you that there were many widows in Israel during Elijah’s time, when it didn’t rain for three and a half years and there was a great food shortage in the land. 26 Yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to a widow in the city of Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 

It’s all about expectations, isn’t it? The people of Nazareth saw a young boy growing up in their town and their expectations for him were to be a carpenter.  In their scriptures, the people of Israel were told they were God’s chosen people. This led them to certain expectations: when times were hard, they expected their God to show favor to them; to protect them. When Jesus reminded them that God had given no guarantees that they would never have trouble, it didn’t fit their unrealistic expectations. And when God showed favor to a faithful non-Jewish woman, it was a little hard for them to take. (This story can be found in I Kings 17:8-24)

27 There were also many persons with skin diseases in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha, but none of them were cleansed. Instead, Naaman the Syrian was cleansed.”

Again, we see that when God shows care for a non-Jew by the name of Naaman, the people’s expectations were dashed (The story of Naaman is told in 2 Kings 5:1-19). Time and again we see that God sent prophets to perform miracles for non-Jews (foreigners). This was scandalous to the Jews, who saw themselves as God’s uniquely chosen people. Why do you suppose these stories are included in the Old Testament, or the Jewish scriptures? Why did the Jews take so long to realize that their God was the God of all people? Did their expectations get in the way?

28 When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with anger. 29 They rose up and ran him out of town. They led him to the crest of the hill on which their town had been built so that they could throw him off the cliff. 

“As a man thinketh, so is he” is a concept found in Proverbs 23 (KJV) and expanded upon in James Allen’s book “As a Man Thinketh.” In other words, our thoughts shape our reality. For example, if our expectation is that all of the people we meet in a new place will be rude, we will probably find them to be rude. If we think they will be kind, we will probably find them to be kind. Our expectations have a great deal to do with how we approach the world and how we interpret our experiences. When circumstances go against our expectations, we can become disoriented, confused. Perhaps angry. Certainly, Jesus’ claim that he was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy was not within the Nazarene’s expectations and it made them incredibly angry – enough to try and kill him! He was going to embarrass the town and bring shame on his family for saying such outrageous things.  They couldn’t stop to consider that Jesus might be correct. How do your expectations shape the way you view your world?

30 But he passed through the crowd and went on his way.

I love this verse. It’s so simple, and yet so profound. It reminds me of the story of Frederick Ndabaramiye, a Rwandan man who survived the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. As a teenager just after the genocide was over in most parts of the country, he was ordered by a band of warriors to kill the rest of the passengers on the bus on which he was traveling to go see his grandmother. He answered, “My God will not let me do that.” And so, they chopped off his hands as an example to the rest of the passengers and ordered him to over to the group of men who would finish the job of killing him. Yet, he wrote in his book (“Frederick”) that he walked toward them, but he passed through them and went on his way. His book tells his story of survival after that, if you would like to read a great witness of faith. It can be a monumental thing to “pass through them and go on your way.”! Yet, when God is walking beside you it is so simple: you can pass through any trouble and go on your way. You may end up with scars or other reminders of your troubles, let the scars be reminders of how God walked with you through your darkest days and then you carried on.