Today's devotion is by THEO GROENEVELD who serves at Emmanuel Presby, Pretoria.
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He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." Luke4:16-19
After His baptism and temptation Jesus began a powerful Spirit-empowered ministry and by the time He returned to His home town, Nazareth, He'd earned quite a reputation. Luke tells us that "everyone praised Him." (Lk.4:15)
Then in His home-town Jesus read this amazing prophecy from Isaiah.
He claimed that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him:
That:
- The poor would hear Good News
- The prisoners would hear a proclamation of freedom
- The blind would recover their sight
- The oppressed would be released.
The people of Nazareth were amazed, but in a sceptical way.
"We saw this guy grow up among us - there's nothing special about him." "Who does he think he is?"
But in the months that followed Jesus would preach Good News in words and in action (healings, exorcisms, resurrections and feedings). He opened blind eyes and set demon-possessed people free.
John the Baptist was in prison and was filled with doubt, but Jesus comforted him "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."
Who are the poor, the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed in your circles of influence??? When we begin to serve them it proclaims the year of the Lord's favour. When we begin to love the lonely, care for the wounded, serve the homeless and protect the victimised it will encourage the "doubtful Johns" and silence the "home-town sceptics".
You may say "The task is too big" but we're not asked to finish the task, we're just asked to start!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
