"Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing"
It's Wednesday, so I'm thinking 'today'
On Wednesdays, I workshop the sermon. Even on Sundays when I’m not preaching, like this one.
Scripture: Luke 4:14-21
Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Scripture:
‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’
I love that, because it’s always ‘today’ when we read it. It was ‘today’ when Jesus said it the first time, and it has been ‘today’ every day since - till today.
I love the idea of collapsed time through Scripture. How these words capture Jesus in a particular moment of his life and ministry - and how the Word of God speaks directly to us today.