Being Fulfilled

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BEING FULFILLED

Luke 4:16-21

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. And he stood up to read. 17 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 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, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."   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 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." 

NIV

We are going to see an uproar later over this situation in the synagogue in Nazareth, and we have something to think about. Still, we first want to consider the words of Isaiah regarding being fulfilled. We know the Spirit of the Lord is on Jesus, which we also know is upon or within us. In that sense we are like Jesus, we should portray the image of someone the Spirit is on. As far as being anointed to preach good news to the poor, Jesus did fulfill, for we have the record of all his ministry. We do wonder if that is not the calling given to us as believers, to share our faith, to live it out loud as we bear that image of God, having the glory of God in ever-increasing glory, shining brightly in a dark world, showing people the way to salvation. There are many prisoners in the world, of which we were once one, held captive by the devil. Because we sing, “To be like Jesus, to be like Jesus, all I want is to be like him, all through like Journey from earth to glory, all I want is to be like him”, we should then be a proclaimer of the good news to those still being held captive to sin. When we think of recovery for the sight of the blind, again, we were once blind to the truth of God, living in the darkness not able to see. But when the Light of the world shone into our hearts, we could see. Jesus has told us that we are the light of the world. There is this song, “This little light of mine I'm going to let it shine, Oh, this little light of mine I’m going to let it shine, (second stanza) Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m going to let it shine, Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, all the time, let it shine” There is another stanza that sings about not letting Satan blow it out, No! I’m going to let it shine. It is a great little song giving us that truth about giving sight to those still blind to the truth, as well as being used by the Lord to release those who are still oppressed by the powers of this dark world. God has shown us great favor, and others can experience the favor of the Lord, for we are still in the time, the year of His favor, He is holding back his wrath until the last day, so it is still time for others to grab hold of the favor of God. Isaiah surely spoke about Jesus, and He did fulfill it completely, but it also can speak to us, because Christ is in us, we bear his image, His likeness. Let the words of Isaish be fulfilled.