The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
Jesus quoted this verse directly from Isiah 61 which happens to be His first public ministry. Referring to this quote, Dr. Stott mentioned about how spiritualizers and politicizers argue over for whom Jesus died. Spirtually poor or materially poor? Wait a minute... I thought all human without God are spiritually poor. Materially poor? who is rich in this world? Bill Gates? God owns Bill Gates. That's right. God owns Microsoft. God owns this world. Our wealth is really not "OUR" wealth. God is the master and the owner. Jesus died not just for selected people but for us all. In this sense, I thought today's study was pretty straight forward. But as I kept reading it over and over to get some insights. This quote of Jesus kept lingering in my head.
Luke 4:21 it reads
Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
This was literally Jesus's first public ministry. He let know the world know who He was and His purpose. I thought this was such a powerful statement. This was "the moment". World was never the same and never will be from this point on. This was the moment when Satan realized he was doomed and the moment that gave hopes for all mankind, though most don't realize that they do. Wow
I'm glad and delighted by Jeetae's "WOW" moment. It's a refreshing thought compared to what seems like a dull ache in my mind.
ReplyDeleteAs I was going over today's reading, it filled my mind of many, many thoughts. I'm still trying to organize a cohesive train of thought.
First of all Stott's emphasis on the role of the messiah to deliver the poor, the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed reminded me of Isaiah 58. Isa 58 recorded God's desire for His people to the kind of work the Messiah was "commissioned" to do. It's a challenge to fully understand Isa 58 in the light of Isa 61 and in comparison to it. Then I realized it is even a greater challenge to live it out. I wonder if it is possible with my own determination as Isa 58 is imploring God's people to do or if it is something that can be done only through Christ -since He is the messiah that was sent to accomplish the work of deliverance as it is written in Isa 61 . Perhaps it takes both-my determination to turn away from all that is displeasing to God and to turn to Christ to live a life that is committed to helping those that are materially, spiritually, and physically poor and oppressed. So much easier to think about than to actually do. Then it made me think...
The reaction of the people of Nazareth to Jesus' unveiling of His true identity is not so different from mine. When the Nazarenes asked "Isn't this the son of Joseph", they were asking "surely the messiah cannot be just an ordinary man". They reacted with skepticism and it betrayed their lack of faith and understanding of God. It reminds me of all the times I found myself saying as I read God's word " surly this is not in a literal sense..." or " surely God doesn't mean ME" As Pastor James shared this past week, people tend to mold God according to their own understanding. Perhaps this tendency is also a yoke of oppression that binds us against what is for our own good.
Maybe I'm just thinking too much and not doing enough- but I do feel God speaking and challenging me through Isa 58 once again. And I am most encouraged by the good news proclaimed in Isa 61.
Did Jesus come to bring "good news" to the materially poor or to the spiritually poor? This dichotomy is false since Jesus came to do both. As Stott points out, there are four categories of people that are mentioned in Isaiah 61: the poor, the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed. Historically, Jesus ministered mainly to the poor, since early in his ministry he was rejected by the religious leaders in their synagogues. From then, he went where he was needed, the rich didn't need him and so Jesus ministered among the poor, the oppressed, the blind, and the sick. But he came not only to work "miracles" for the blind but to give spiritual sight to the blind, to set free the prisoners and the oppressed from Satan's grip, and to give grace to the poor in spirit.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is that before Christ came into our lives through the Holy Spirit, we too were in bondage to these forces and needing to experience the ministering power of Christ. In fact, if we are honest, we are still experiencing or recovering from these bondages. We are still short-sighted, oppressed by our guilt and sin; we feel like prisoners to our sinful habits. I think today's passage reminded me just what the Holy Spirit is trying to do in my life even now, namely, to set me free from the power of sin -- which brings oppression and bondage and blindness and poverty to both body and soul.
Posted by Pastor James
Great sharing Jeetae...by the way...how do you do that cool quote box in the middle of your writing?
ReplyDeletesorry dave i can't share my coolness. it's actually on the text editor of this blog. Just highlight your sentence and click your " icon. do you need me to teach you how to use your mouse and click too? j/p hahaha you can use it on most blogs that uses HTML
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