Saturday, January 20, 2007
Luke 4:18, 21 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." . . . "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
WHAT A SAVIOR WE HAVE IN JESUS!
The people of Nazareth were wondering and speculating about Jesus. They had heard so many reports, so many stories. Could someone who grew up in their town actually be the Messiah? The One awaited so many generations? The One described so by prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah?
Jesus does not dance around the question. He reads the very words of the Messiah which God caused Isaiah to record, and then plainly says, "Today, while you are listening, what is written here has come true."
Right now. Right here. The LORD is carrying out the promise of these words. You heard about My baptism and the dove descending, it's true:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor . . .
I bring the good news of the kingdom of God to those who need it most . . .
Those who know they are empty-handed in God's presence -- who sorrow over the seriousness of their sin against God, I tell them how my Father in love bestows on them the riches of His forgiveness.
"He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To tell those with hearts crushed by the reality of their sinfulness and the terrible fact that they cannot throw off the guilt that weighs so heavy, to tell them that I have taken their load; I will bear the awful burden for them.
"To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,
To sinners who have no future but the sentence of death's eternal dungeon
and the utter blackness of being shut away from God forever . . .
I've come to announce pardon -- full and complete, to bring the light of happiness to souls shuttered with the darkness of guilt,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed;
to say: "Take heart, your sins are forgiven."
