-
“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”
The scripture passage I want to look at today comes from Luke 4:14-30. We will look at the first half this week and finish with the second half next week.I want to look at these verses in relation to the Kingdom of God, what it is, where it is, and what it really has to do with us.
Now, I have to admit, that growing up and hearing this scripture, I thought, wow! Jesus just laid it down for these people. Some might understand when I say that this sounds like a “mic drop” occasion. Jesus stands up, reads this short passage from two different places in Isaiah, sits down and says; “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Bam! The people were happy with him, some even surprised, and then Jesus kept talking and opinions changed, but that’s next week. Let’s focus on what Jesus proclaimed in the synagogue that day.
But really, Jesus reads the scripture and then sits down, not to signify that he is done, but that the time for teaching is beginning. The time for discussion, study, and reflection is upon them and it is now time to search for meaning.
The passage quoted from the scroll of Isaiah in this passage is speaking about the Kingdom of God. It is giving us a picture of what this kingdom will look like and what will happen there. But what is the Kingdom of God? Are we talking about heaven here? These are difficult questions and ones that require a lot of thought and reflection.
Let me say this, I believe that the Kingdom of God or Heaven, is both here and now as well as in the future, when Christ comes again in glory with the re-creation of this earth. It is not just the place we go after we die. Scripture is full of imagery of this earth being recreated at the end of the age. What we know here will change, as it is recreated into the place it was designed to be, God’s kingdom.
So what does the Kingdom of God look like? Jesus gives us five attributes in this passage today.
- Good news to the poor.
- Liberty to the captives.
- Sight for the blind.
- Liberty for the oppressed.
- Year of the Lord’s favor.
We find this in Revelation; there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears. There will be no more poor, no more blind, no more oppressed, because we will live into God’s will for this creation, all of us.
We are called to help the poor and the less fortunate, free those who are in chains of addiction, oppression, abuse, or even loneliness. This is what it’s like to be living in the Kingdom of God.
So let me emphasize that this Kingdom is here and it is there, ahead of us. It is near and far, it is already and not yet. But this is what we pray for, this is what we hope for, this is what we strive for, every time we share together the Lord’s Prayer. “Thy Kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
With this prayer, we ask not to escape this world, not to just be transported to heaven, but for us to be part of God’s plan to transform this world! God has asked us to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of this world.” Not just the transformation of heaven, because I don’t think we have that much power. But we can influence and transform this world by our actions, our words, our prayers, and our love.