Friday, September 16, 2005
Luke 4:16-21 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the roll of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the scroll, He found the place where it was written: "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." Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on Jesus . . . and He said:
"TODAY THIS SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING."
So Jesus, anointed not with fragrant oil but with the Holy Spirit begins His ministry and His redeeming work. In the power of the Spirit He brings the Word that comforts and delivers, heals and enlightens, that sets human beings free from sin and death.
For it is the life and death and resurrection of Christ which makes His word, the Gospel, powerful and effective. Then . . . and now . . . Because He went from Nazareth to Golgotha and then left the grave in the garden we can say without doubt or equivocation: Jesus still comes to you.
Having returned from death triumphant the living Christ still comes to us in Word and Sacrament. Through faith He brings us into fellowship with Himself. This is not the same as when a man long dead influences others through the record of His words or actions. We have come to know not merely Jesus' ideas and principles -- or His example. He who once was dead has come to us personally. He who once was limited by time and space -- is no longer.
Jesus has come to us and by the Spirit's power He has touched our hearts. He comes not merely to inspire us through what we know of Him, He comes through His Word to live in us.
To many, coming to church to hear the Word of Christ is seen as no great need. The truth is we need to come to church because we need Jesus the Christ to come to us.
That's why we call it a divine service.
God Himself serves us through Word and Sacrament.
