CHRIST OUR PATTERN The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor....to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners (Isa.61:1). Our scripture (Isaiah 61:1-11). Jesus was immersed in Hebrew scriptures. He was not only familiar with them, but by the time he began His ministry, He knew himself to be the subject of them. That is why, when the attendant in the synagog in Nazareth gave Jesus the scroll of the prophet Isaiah (Luke 4:16-30), He found the passage we know as Isaiah 61. When Jesus began to comment on the passage, He stunned the gathered worshipers that they were witnessing, in His ministry the fulfilling of the prophecy. When John, from the prison cell, sent some of his followers to Jesus to inquire whether He was the one they had been anticipating or whether they should be looking for someone yet to come, Jesus` description of His work echoed that same passage (Matt. 11:1-19). For Jesus, the work of God took on concrete, observable, and compassionate expression. It was not vague, theoretical, or philosophical. It was flesh-and-blood engagement with the most desperate needs of the people around Him. What was true then is still true today. The unwilling resist, doubt, and criticize. The willing see, believe, and engage. Dear Jesus may you always be the pattern for my life. May I always be there for you and You for me. May we journey through life together. Paraphrased, Jesse C. Middendorf, RE--FLECTING GOD 10/6/14). [Jesus] is the one to which the Old Testament points: He is the fulfillment of it all. (Diane Leclerc).
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 10:51:58 +0000
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