It’s Friday and Sunday’s Comin’!
Jesus evidently hit the ground running when he left the wilderness of temptation. Luke’s gospel says he “returned to the Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.” Galilee was a region north of Jerusalem and Bethlehem that was home to the familiar towns on the Sea of Galilee of Capernum, Bethsaida and even the gentile/Roman city of Tiberius. It was also home to Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, where he had been raised.
For the next two Sundays, our Gospel readings (both from Luke) will be set in Nazareth. We will see a crowd gather that loves Jesus’ teaching turn into a crowd that wants him put to death. Ironically, his ministry story is framed with threats of death from the beginning. But what might he say that would put him in such jeopardy? Well, that will be next week.
This week, his actions recorded in Luke 14:16-21, are received well. Here are some of the things we will discuss on Sunday:
- What does “annointed” mean in this context?
- To whom was Jesus sent to preach good news?
- Whom would he free?
- What was he to do for the blind?
- Whom would he release?
- And what in the world does “the year of the Lord’s favor” mean?
Hope to see you Sunday, and to discover how Jesus got of to a good start when preaching in his hometown.
-David Hayes
