Twitter
RSS
Facebook
ClickBank1

11/17/11 JESUS, THE ANOINTED MESSIAH

11/17/11 JESUS, THE ANOINTED MESSIAH
Luke 4:14-30
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Key Verse: 4:18 Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,”

Dear Lord heavenly Father, thank you for your love and grace. I am the worst of sinners, but you are the holy God. I need Jesus. Lord, I repent of nit picking my sons smacking of his lips. Jesus accepted me with all of my humanness. I must accept others as they are. Please make me a graceful, shepherd like father. I pray that you help me to reveal God’s love and God’s truth to my family and those whom you send into my life. Please grant me one word through this daily bread passage. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

1. The Lord has anointed me (14-21).

Verses 14-21 read, “ 14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[a] 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus returned to Galilee full of the Holy Spirit. He taught in the synagogues. He became famous quickly and people praised him. Jesus was bold and clear, and a wonderful teacher. Then he went to his hometown. In the synagogue he read Isaiah 61, which spoke of the Messiah. God gave the Messiah his Spirit, not to be popular, but to preach the gospel.

I need to Holy Spirit to go and preach the Gospel. I need to take the opportunity to do so at the Hospital and at NIU and among my own family members. Sometimes I just want to keep to myself and be quiet. But I need to open my mouth and preach the word of God.

The Messiah gives freedom. We are prisoners to our sins. When we are heartbroken, we can become prisoners to fear and doubt. Jesus made a bold, true statement – God fulfilled his promises! Jesus’ power of love and truth can set us free. We need him. People are blinded and oppressed in this world by materialism and the pressure to succeed. Jesus restores us. That is Jesus’ mission. This is the year of his favor.

Jesus sets me free from my anger and my despair. Jesus sets me free from my fatalism and my hopelessness. Jesus molds me into a servant of God, despite my sins and my failings. I thank God for setting me free from judging my kids about petty little issues. I want to accept them as they are and reveal the love of God to them. I am falling into my sins frequently but I thank God that Jesus is always there to pick me up and turn me around. People need to know this Jesus, this Savior, because they are trapped in so many different sins and need to know the savior.

2. Jesus rejected (22-30).

Verses 22-30, “ 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” 24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy[b] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”
People initially liked Jesus, but when they thought about his human heritage, they rejected him. Jesus understood. It takes humble faith to accept Jesus the Messiah. It takes humble faith to accept his mission.

I see here that a preacher of the word of God is not usually accepted by the people that are closest to him. I am still waiting for my family to come into a saving relationship with Jesus. I have pretty well given up hope that they will ever come to me for spiritual advice or a question about faith. Most of our interactions avoid topics of faith all together. That is just the way it is. Jesus was also rejected by the people of his own hometown. It wasn’t until after his death and resurrection that his own siblings became followers. I pray that God may send shepherds and Bible teachers to my family members that they may come to a saving knowledge of Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, I need you! Thank you for being my Savior. Restore me and renew my spirit. Please anoint me to preach the good news.

One Word: Jesus is my Savior.




Interact with us using Facebook

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.