Love God. Love Others (Part One)

Love God. Love Others.

Luke 4:14-22

Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.”He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

Have you ever seen one of those movies that have a time machine in them? You know like Back To the Future, Time Line, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure or perhaps Time Changer? I recommend the last one!

I think those kinds of movies are pretty cool. Why? Simple. They’re intriguing! The whole time machine concept is intriguing to me. most of us, at one point or another have been asked or have asked this question, “If you could go back in time, where would you go?” That question is so intriguing because the human race is filled with awe inspiring and jaw dropping moments.

Where would you go anyway? Perhaps the 2008 Presidential Election and change your vote? What about seeing World War II first hand? Or how about the Civil War? Would you try to stop the assassination of Abraham Lincoln? What about seeing Martin Luther King Jr deliver his famous, “I have a dream” speech. Maybe you’d like to witness to signing of the Declaration of Independence. Then again, maybe you’re not all that crazy about American History and just want to go further back into the corridor of human history. How about the Ice age? Or what about going back to the garden of Eden. Then you could meet Adam and Eve and tell them about the theory of evolution that has come out. I’d love to see the expressions on their faces when they hear about the whole creation vs. evolution debate that’s going on!

How about this: let’s limit our Time Machine to the life of Jesus Christ. Now, there is a life worth visiting right? So many amazing moments in His life. You could return to the very first Christmas night when He was born. Watch His first miracle at the wedding in Cana. Watch Him walk on water or calm a storm. How about visiting Him at the transfiguration event? What about watching Him pray in the garden or the crucifixion? What about, you knew this was coming, the resurrection? Lots of amazing moments filled Jesus’ life and yet, one moment, stands out for me. I don’t mean to say this one moment defines His life, but in this moment, a revolution took place.

So here’s the scene: Jesus is fully grown. He’s about 30 years old. He’s recently retuned from his 40 days of fasting in the desert. Jesus is the guest speaker at the synagogue today. He’s been speaking around the area and getting noticed for his wisdom and simplicity. Perhaps you heard him speak and so you get a group of your friends and head over to the synagogue and listen to him.

The first thing you notice is that the synagogue is full today. The news that Jesus was speaking got out and lots of people wanted to hear what he said. Then Jesus enters the synagogue and stands up front. He gets to the pulpit, open the Septuagint(Jewish Bible), and he begins to read from Isaiah.

Jesus had been growing in popularity. His wisdom is shining through and people are flocking to hear him speak. So, Jesus could have read any Old Testament passage but today he focus’ on Isaiah. Why is that? So he can reveal his identity.

Make no mistake. Jesus isn’t looking to get people in an uproar. Jesus isn’t looking to get into a debate. Jesus has a desire though; to reveal himself and to reveal his father to those around him. And so he ends with this, “This Scripture is fulfilled.”

The scriptures have been fulfilled? Whoa, wait a minute! What just happened? Jesus went from being the top dog to the talk of the town. He went from being this nice, polite guy who had amazing understanding of God’s word to be an outcast, a blasphemer in the eyes of many. Jesus statement began a revolution.