Luke 4:16-19

Luke 4:16-19

And He came into Nazareth, where He was having been brought up, and He went into the synagogue in the day of the Sabbath according to His custom.  And He stood up to be recognized.  And the book of the prophet Isaiah was being given to Him.  And after unrolling the book He found the place where it was having been said, “A spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the reason of anointing me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind and to send forth the ones who have been broken in a release from bondage and to proclaim a fixed period of acceptance of the Lord.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus’ custom was to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath.  He went to the synagogue to teach.  He went to the synagogue to read and expound on the Word of God.  Jesus was rooted in God’s Word and obedience.  He was also a model of this life.  He modelled godly living for the people around Him to see.

Why is it important to see Jesus modeling godly living?  Why is it important to see that even the Son of God was involved in the study of God’s Word as well as the teaching of it?

Second Thought:

The Spirit of the Lord is given to Jesus.  But what is the purpose?  The first purpose of the Spirit is to anoint Jesus.  The Greek word for anointed one is Christ.  The Hebrew word for anointed one is Messiah.  In other words, the Spirit of the Lord is upon Him to demonstrate that Jesus is God’s Messiah.  He is the promised one.  He is the one to come.  He is the one to restore our relationship with the Father.

Is Jesus your Messiah?  How do you think the people recognized that Jesus had the Spirit?

Third Thought:

The second reason for the Spirit coming upon Jesus is to proclaim to the poor.  Who are the poor?  The poor are those unable to save themselves.  The poor are those who cannot save themselves.  The poor are the ones who are held in bondage to their sinful nature.  The poor are the ones who cannot see God without help.  We are the poor.  Humanity is the poor.  All of us are fallen, broken, and unable to save ourselves.  The Spirit of the Lord came to Jesus so that we might know relationship with the Father.

Do you think of yourself as poor?  Is this an insult to you?  What does it mean to you that Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit for your sake?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 4:20-22