Jesus announces the inaguration of His Kingdom in a Nazareth synagogue. He quotes from Isaiah and reminds His hearers of those He came to serve. Jesus is always for the outsider, the broken, and those on the margins of society. He comes to give the humble a new start. The heart of His hometown was revealed in their reaction to His preaching. When they hear that His plans include the Gentiles, the Nazarenes are livid. In their anger, they try to kill Jesus. This outrageous reaction shows how offensive Jesus to those who want to keep control and power. May we be willing to join Jesus in loving and serving those the world has forgotten and counted out!
There are no outsiders to the love of Jesus! He welcomes EVERYONE into His open arms! When we are trying to stand in sinking sand, Jesus offers us another way. He has proclaimed freedom for the prisoners! I was one of them! I was a prisoner to myself and to the enemy. The enemy makes that prison with things of this world in it so that we want to stay. But then Jesus comes. Jesus comes to save those prisoners, to set them free from the blind choice they've made by staying in that prison. He opens their eyes and their hearts to Himself! He lets us see the world differently then we did before! Jesus came to save us from the enemy that we didn't even realize we had! We are no longer bound by our past, our sins, ourselves, but we are free, and we are redeemed!
ReplyDeleteAmen! Praise God for His amazing grace offered to us in Jesus.
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