What's Your Favorite Scripture Passage?

What's Your Favorite Scripture Passage?  Below is mine.

It was the Gospel Reading for today (Jan 27, 2013).  I like it for many, many reasons.  Perhaps a podcast on this would be best.  Hmmm.  There are some interesting aspects to this story, which only appears in Luke's Gospel.

First, I love that Jesus walks into the home synagogue and they hand him the Scripture to read.  Probably, the scheduled lector was home with a sick kid.  So Jesus steps up and they hand Him the Scripture.  He opens it to Isaiah, and begins to read from Isaiah, Chapter 61:1-2, and 58:6.  Dr. Luke doesn't tell us whether this was the scheduled reading, or if it was Jesus' call on the passage.  I think it was the later,since the locals were amazed at Jesus quickly turning to the passage at hand.  Mary would know, since she was probably there.  When we get to Heaven, we will ask them this question.

Second, because God moves outside of time, when Jesus says that "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing," it literally applies to THIS DAY and the present time.  That gives me hope.

Third, after these local yocals make a snide remark about St. Joseph, kind of amazed that this Carpenter's Son is so well versed in Scripture, so eloquent, Jesus quickly schools them on a short history of cures, and how those prophets more often than not, chose to heal gentiles over Jews.

Last of all, because of the above, the citizenry are completely torqued at Jesus, since he just told them that His first priorities lie elsewhere.  So they chase Him out of town, and he disappears from within their midst.  So I'm thinking that Jesus knew some serious martial arts...Or, more poetically, I imagine that several Guardian Angels simply surrounded Jesus and escorted him out of the danger zone.


Luke 4:16-30

16 He (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read 17 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

20Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.

21He said to them,

“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

22And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”

23He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”

24And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. 25 Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. 26 It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”



Martial Arts Jesus

 28When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. 29They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. 30But he passed through the midst of them and went away.



Guardian Angels

 Until next time,
Thanks for praying and reading with me.
Be Imitators of Christ!
tim