Old Testament Scripture Reading: Isaiah 61:1 – 3 (KJV)
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Isa 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Isa 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Luke 4:16 – 22 (NASB)
Luk 4:16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
Luk 4:17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
Luk 4:19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”
Luk 4:20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
Luk 4:21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luk 4:22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
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Transforming Power Statements:
1) A principal featured many times in “prophetic” or “apocalyptic” Holy Scripture” is seen here in the text which Jesus The Christ selected to teach from during this occasion when He began His earthly ministry in His own home town Nazareth, which is known as the principal of a “near” and “Far” fulfillment.
2) This is one reason that Jesus stopped short of continuing with more of the passage which was originally given through Isaiah, and pertains to the season of open salvation for all people, known as the acceptable year of the LORD, which is a time of God’s extension of grace to “Whosoever will come to receive it” and was preached by Jesus and the Apostles, beginning with the Jews, then to all the world, and continues to be done also by the Church!
3) The term “familiarity breeds contempt” is illustrated by this text because we can learn that when one might think that this announcement of the coming of the Christ the Anointed One, was fulfilled it would be met with a warm welcome, but instead it was met rather with hostility because the people were not able to perceive that someone they had known from a child could actually be the Messiah, therefore, they were offended at His message and even attempted to destroy Him, although they were not successful.