- with Jeff Klein, Pastor of Outreach
Jeffrey Klein 00:08
Welcome to Elmhurst CRC's, daily dose in the Word of God. It's Monday, January 17. My name is Jeff Klein, Pastor of Outreach here at the church. I'll be reading from Luke 4:14-21. "Then Jesus returned to Galilee filled with the Holy Spirit's power. Reports about Him spread quickly through the whole region. He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed him he unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for his anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released that blind men will see that the oppressed will be set free, that the time of the Lord's favorite has come.' He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently, then he began to speak to them. The Scripture you've just heard, has been fulfilled this very day."
Jeffrey Klein 01:16
Jesus is returning to Galilee, from the wilderness of Judah, where he was tempted by the devil. Having resisted the temptation, he is now filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and begins his ministry of preaching and teaching. Luke tells us that he regularly taught in the synagogues, and His teaching was extremely well received. Maybe that's because he reads several lines of scripture from Isaiah 61. And then his sermon is one line. " The Scripture you've heard, just heard, has been fulfilled this very day." I bet you're all longing for a sermon that short. But I think it goes beyond that. Jesus is pointing to his mission. The reason he came, was originally Israel's mission, but they failed to carry it out. So now Jesus has taken it up, he will be opening the eyes of the blind, not just the physically blind, but the spiritually blind. He is anointed by the Holy Spirit to bring good news to the poor, not just the poor in spirit, but the economic poor, people who feel like they have no hope of anything getting better, who will release captives and free the oppressed or enslaved. He is coming to reestablish God's reign and rule a God's way on planet Earth. And that begins with a message, a message that points to himself as the source of hope and healing that rises above all the others. When you said yes to Jesus to following him, and you receive this hope and healing yourself. You also said yes to joining him in his work, who do you know that is blind or oppressed or captive? Who needs to hear the good news? What are you waiting for? It's a new year, time to get out of your seat and get going. People are counting on us to continue the work Jesus started.