The Year of the Lord's Favor!

Luke 4:14-19 NLT  

  14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 

  16 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.  17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: 

  18 “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, 19 and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.”

Coming right of a month and a half without food or water, and then a galactic level supernatural challenge by the chief enemy of God, Jesus goes home and to a house of the Lord to teach people. He selects a passage from Isaiah 61. This passage announced the coming of God's Son, the Messiah who would take away the sins of the world. In his application message there was no mistaking what he was saying. He dared to introduce himself as the one promised by this passage.  Now, he was not without proof. He was already known for several super natural events that no one could explain and was known for speaking up on behalf of the under privileged and powerless. Since his birth he had fulfilled scripture, right in front of everyone's eyes and few noticed.  When he dared to point this out directly, the result was a mob scene, attempting to harm him. But they could not. It was not time for that to happen so they were powerless to bring their rage to harm him. That would not happen until HE permitted it. Now he was about introducing them to God's favor. Their definition of such favor, was different, apparently, than what God had in mind. God's favor is to send a messiah, a sacrificial lamb to carry all our burdens and cleans us from our sins and sin condition. But fallen humanity has a different definition of 'favor' from God. And, it usually had much to do with individuals getting their own way over everyone else. To us that seems like favor but God has a much higher plan in mind when HE shows favor.




Have you experienced the true favor of God as yet? You can right now if you wish to.

Your servant in Christ's love

Dan

drdanelliott@gmail.com