“Good News” for the Poor
A. Jesus embodied the good news (16-21)
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
B. People who fail to recognize that they are “poor”
1) They use Jesus (22-24)
22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn't this Joseph's son?” they asked. 23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself !’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” 24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.
2) They don’t worship the Lord (25-30) (1Kings17, 2Kings5)
25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
C. Love makes clear just how poor we really are
Rome1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Summary
Whether we believe in Jesus or not, we all need the love of God in our lives. Acknowledging our sin and realizing that nothing in this world can fill our deepest need, are crucial to our encounter with Jesus. At the same time, we can't fully appreciate the extent of our poverty until we understand Jesus' sacrificial love which prompted him to give up his own life on the cross. Let us continue to follow and look to Jesus as our model of love as we share the good news with others.
For Discussion
1) Why did Jesus say things that angered people?
2) How can we share the good news with people who feel that they don't need God?