Names of Jesus | Advent DevotionalSample

Sunday, December 8
Luke 4:14-21 | Christ (Anointed One)
Author: Dr. Sam Lamerson

Have you ever been in a situation where an audience member stands up and interrupts the speaker? I have seen it, and I have actually been the one who was interrupted. Once, when doing ventriloquism at a nursing home, a woman yelled at me: “You leave that boy (the puppet) alone; that’s my son.” These kinds of interruptions can change the course of everything.

In today’s passage, we see Jesus standing up to read. He was not interrupting in the normal sense of the word. It was common during this period for a person to stand (out of respect for the word of God) when they read the Scripture and then sat down to discuss it. It is not the reading that is so shocking to the listeners; it is the comment after the reading that is so unusual.

What do we learn about Jesus from this passage? First, we learn that he attended synagogue faithfully like any other practicing Jewish man (v. 16, “as was his habit”). We must never forget that Jesus grew up in Israel and was fully Jewish. Anyone who was a follower of Jesus during his day would have been considered Jewish. It is only later that Judaism and Christianity separated into two different systems.

Second, we learn about Jesus’ view of himself. He read the passage from Isaiah that predicts the end of the exile and the coming of the Messiah. The coming will be known because of what happened (blind see, lame walk). Remember when John the Baptist asks Jesus, “Are you the one . . .?” Jesus answers John’s disciple by telling him that “the lame walk, the blind see . . ..” Jesus is saying, “John, you should have known this. The coming of the Messiah is far different than you might have imagined.”

In this passage, Jesus does this again. After reading it, he tells the crowd, “I am the fulfiller of this passage; I am the messiah; I am the one you have been waiting for.” Often, this season of the year is difficult. We remember those whom we have lost, either physically through death or emotionally through disagreements.

We can always remember Jesus's comment that shocked the crowd. It is shocking to think that God himself came down and lived with us, taught us, and died for us. As we all go through this holiday season, try to remember that we live on the “visited planet.” Our visitor has come to offer us the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus told the crowd that day, and he continues to tell us today. He is the Messiah; come to pour grace on those who need it.