Nazareth: Part 2

Luke 4: 16b-19, 21

“16b He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” …21 Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Scholars tell us that there were no professional clergy in Jewish synagogues back then. Apparently, the leader of the synagogue had the authority to invite a competent worshiper or guest to read and comment on the Scriptures.

Jesus stood to read and by chance or by God’s providence, He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  He read what is referenced in our Bibles today as Isaiah 61:1-2a.  

Christ’s message that day was not really what he had read, but the fact that He was the fulfillment of what he had read.  

Through Him, the good news of salvation and eternal life would be brought to the world.

Through Him, all who were bound and oppressed by sin would be set free; 

Through Him, all who were blind to God’s presence in the world would see God.

The people did not know it, but the hope of the world stood before them that Sabbath day in Nazareth.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Nazareth: Part 1

Luke 4:16a

“16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. 

Have you ever returned to the place where you were raised and found that no one there knew you?  I mean, they knew the person you were before you left, but they did not know the person that you became after you left?  That can be a strange feeling.

Jesus returned to his hometown and, while there on the Sabbath, he went to the synagogue. Bible scholars tell us that the population of Nazareth back then was probably about 500. 

Everyone there in the synagogue that day probably knew Him as the carpenter’s son; the one who used to carry hammers and hold boards for His father.  No one knew Him as a teacher, a Rabi, and certainly not as the Messiah. 

But they were about to be surprised.  

God was going to introduce His Son to Nazareth.

“Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.” (1 Samuel 3:11)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Wilderness Part 6

Luke 4:14-15

“14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.  15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.”

Jesus emerged from the wilderness focused and on fire with the Spirit. The suffering and pain he experienced in the wilderness was used by God to strengthen Him.

In our lives, the wilderness is a time of suffering and pain.  It can be a time when we lose sight of what’s important; a time when we feel lost and alone (Jesus, being human as well as divine, may have felt all of these things, as well).

The wilderness of suffering and pain can also be a time that God uses to change and strengthen us, a time that God uses to draw us closer to him.   We may not understand this until we look back on the experience years later.

It is then that we will see our wilderness was filled with God’s love.

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom;” (Isaiah 35:1)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Wilderness, part 5

Luke 4:14-15

“14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.  15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.”

Jesus emerged from the wilderness focused and on fire with the Spirit. The suffering and pain he experienced in the wilderness was used by God to strengthen Him.

In our lives, the wilderness is a time of suffering and pain.  It can be a time when we lose sight of what’s important; a time when we feel lost and alone (Jesus, being human as well as divine, may have felt all of these things, as well).

The wilderness of suffering and pain can also be a time that God uses to change and strengthen us, a time that God uses to draw us closer to him.   We may not understand this until we look back on the experience years later.

It is then that we will see our wilderness was filled with God’s love.

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom;” (Isaiah 35:1)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Wilderness, part 4

 Luke 4:13

“When the devil had finished every test, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”

Luke tells us that Satan never gave up trying to lure Jesus away from His purpose.  Jesus, throughout His ministry, must have experienced the most terrible temptations that Satan had in his repertoire.  

If the wilderness was any example, Satan probably tempted Jesus time and again when he was exhausted or at a low point such as in the Garden of Gethsemane, or maybe when his disciples deserted Him on the night of His arrest.

We, like Christ, are never above temptation.  But, unlike Christ, there are times that we give in to the temptations of sin.  At those times, we are grateful for our savior, and grateful for His forgiveness of our sins…

and the sacrifices he made for us in the wilderness and on the cross.

“But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”(Romans 5:8)”

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Wilderness, part 3

 Luke 4:9-12

9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’11 and On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Satan begins the third temptation with a conditional “If”. “If you are the Son of God…”  But remember, after Christ’s baptism God, in an audible voice, said,  “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Jesus knew that He was the Christ.   Satan knew who Jesus was.  But the world at large did not yet know.

Satan was asking Jesus to subvert God’s plan; to show himself to be the Christ to people in a flashy, worldly way that would not accomplish God’s plan of redemption, but would accomplish only temporary, worldly fame.  

But Jesus knew His purpose on earth. It was not the easy, flashy, way.  His way was the eternal way, the difficult way…

 but the only way that accomplished God’s plan for humanity.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”  (Matthew 7:13-14)

The Wilderness, part 2

Luke 4:5-8

“5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

Satan offered Jesus glory and authority over the kingdoms of the earth, things that were not his to give, and which Jesus would shortly possess.  

God never gave Satan authority over the earthly kingdoms.  These would be given by God to Christ after he completed his earthly mission (as we read in Matthew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”).

The world promises us wealth, power, and glory, but as we pursue these, we find they are hollow and temporary.  Only God can give us the wealth of our faith in Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and the glory of our eternal salvation.  

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)