Jesus had come home. Sabbath morning the little place of worship was packed with relatives and friends. Nazareth was a little town. Most everyone was somehow related and everyone knew everything about everyone. Rumors about Jesus had set their imaginations on fire. The room was hushed when He rose to speak. Isaiah flowed from His lips. “He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.” The crowd was electrified with horror at the blasphemy. Uncles, nephews, granduncles, and grandnephews grabbed Jesus and dragged Him out of town to a cliff. But before they could throw Him over, their own flesh and blood, He walked right through them. It is the last time He would go home to Nazareth. A few years later He went to His real home.
His message is just as appropriate today. The good news is salvation is a gift no matter how bad we have been. The freedom is from our guilt and slavery to our nature. Sight is to enlighten our understanding that we need not fear the future. Our place in eternity is secure. The release is from the oppression of memories of a not so perfect past. We are given power to forgive others as well as ourselves. Is there someone who harmed you? Let it go. Is there someone you harmed? Fix it if you can. If you can’t, let it go. God will fix it for you. Take Him at His word. Believe Him. If we don’t we are just like the folk at Nazareth. When we do believe, joy and inner peace are the natural fruit.
Written by Roger Bothwell on August 31, 2010
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org