Following Christ-Rediscovering the Jewish Faith of JesusSample

Day 19: Scripture Fulfilled

At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, shortly after His temptation in the desert, He returned to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. On the Sabbath, as was His custom, He went to the synagogue to worship. As a participant in the service, He read this short passage from Isaiah: “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, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor” (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 61:1-2).

After reading that, Jesus said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). This passage from Isaiah is in the middle of a large section describing the glories of the future kingdom of the regathered Israel. The people in the synagogue would have realized that. As did Jesus. By claiming to be the fulfillment of this passage, Jesus was announcing Himself as the King of that kingdom. His future miracles would be evidence of that role.

As Jesus continued His ministry, He said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” (Luke 4:43). The people were aware of the kingdom that the prophets had written about, and it would have indeed been good news to them, as they were suffering under Roman rule.

The message Jesus preached to His people during most of His ministry seemed to have two parts: The kingdom is at hand, and repent! Later in His ministry, when it seemed clear that the leaders of Israel were rejecting His offer of the kingdom, He changed His message to a prediction of His death and resurrection. Before His ascension, when His disciples asked if He was now going to establish the kingdom, He basically answered, “No, not now.” Then He went to heaven, and an angel promised that one day Jesus would return to establish that kingdom. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). What good news! We should all be looking forward to that day.

Reflection

Jesus is still urging people to repent today. It’s the only way we can be saved. In what ways do you “preach good news to the poor” in your life?

Jesus said that the Spirit of the Sovereign God was upon Him. As we just read, at Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, the Holy Spirit came upon thousands of people. Through His ministry, Jesus created “one new man” out of all the divided peoples of the earth. Take a moment today to thank Him.