The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 4) tells us that following Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness He returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit.” Eventually, He ended up in Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He went into the synagogue. When He stood up to do the reading, He was handed the scroll that contained the writings of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled it to a certain place and began to read.
“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, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” [61:1-2a]
Jesus read that day from what we now know as Chapter 61 of Isaiah. Isaiah’s words perfectly fit the purpose of Jesus’ First Coming among men. Good news. Freedom. Recovery. Release. Proclamation of the Year of Jubilee when the captives were set free.
It is interesting that Jesus stopped reading where He did in that section, because the next part of the line reads, “and the day of the vengeance of our God.” [vs2b]
The vengeance of our God was not part of the mission of Jesus’ First Coming. It will, however, be part of the mission of His Second Coming. I must admit that I have always focused on the Good News in my preaching … people do need to hear that God loves them, desires to be with them, and wants them to experience all He has for them. I have failed, however, to remind people that to reject that Good News now, will make them vulnerable to experience the other side of Good News … “The day of the vengeance of our God.”
Father, forgive me, help me now to preach the whole truth! Amen
