Day 15 (Friday): Luke 4:18
Today’s Passage
Read the passage – Luke 4:18
Jesus used Isaiah 61 to describe his mission. While we do not have the same kind of anointing, like the first Christians we have been given the same Spirit and the same mission.
Questions to Consider
- What challenges you in this passage?
- What do you feel God is calling you to do about this?
Prayer
- May our plans reflect the Father’s glory and draw people closer to him.
- Pray that we would follow the example of Jesus being empowered by the Spirit and ministering to those in need.
- Pray for those in difficult circumstances in our local community, especially those in housing commission. Pray also for those trying to break addictions that they would be set free through Jesus’ power.
Go Deeper
John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).
So, Jesus returns like David, having bound the Goliath of Satan in the wilderness, and now he is ready to go on the offense and rout the Philistines and set the captives free. He could have chosen other texts to read in Nazareth. But he chooses Isaiah 61:1–2 to show that he comes in the power of the Spirit. Verse 18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” His mission is all the more relevant for us, because the same Spirit that leads him into battle has also been given to us.
In the wilderness Jesus fought on the defense by the power of the Spirit. In the synagogue at Nazareth, he takes the offense by the power of the Spirit. He sounds the trumpet for battle and calls us up out of the trenches to fight at his side with the weapon of the gospel.
When the Spirit of the Lord is upon us and he anoints us to share in the ministry of Jesus, we will pray and speak and work for the release of captives, the recovery of sight for the blind, and the liberty of the oppressed, as long as the acceptable year of the Lord lasts. And then will come the day of vengeance and the day of reward. The tables will be turned. The narrow, rocky Calvary Road will open into endless fields of thick green grass and crystal streams and cool winds and warm sunshine, precious friends, perfect health, and the presence of Jesus; and this slight momentary affliction will give way to an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
Songs for Worship and Reflection
