“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,”
Luke 4:18
Hi James and Ellen,
If you want to try to emulate Jesus’ life, what will you have to do to be like Jesus? You will have to be born in and laid in a manager in a cave or grotto. The cave or grotto will have to be used to protect sheep, cattle and donkeys from cold Bethlehem winter nights. As a recently born baby boy, you will have to face the very real possibility of being murdered by a jealous kingpin. As a little kid, you will have to live with your dad and ma in a foreign country. Growing up as a kid, you will have to work under your dad as an apprentice to be a stone mason. Also as a kid, you will have to religiously study and memorize the Torah and you will have to proactively take part in the worship rites that are specifically delineated in the Torah. Until you are about thirty years old, you will have to live with your dad, ma and bros in a cramped, stonewalled house. Before you will be able to go into a ministry mode, you will have to be baptized in the Jordan River by a guy who is making a desert his home, who is surviving on a locust and honey diet and who is wearing a garment that is made from camel hair. You will have to have – in the form of a dove, the power of God – as God the Spirit, settle on you as you are being baptized by the guy who is living in a desert. Right before you will begin your public ministry on planet Earth and while you are hanging out in a sweltering, desolate desert, you will have to go without eating anything for forty days. At the end of the forty days of not eating food, you will have to pass the devil’s temptation exams by not caving into the devil’s enticing wiles. You will have to refuse eating rock bread. You will have to refuse being top dog. You will have to refuse falling into an angel net.
Doctor Luke begins in Luke 4 – in his Luke Book, the ministry component of Jesus’ life. Jesus’ face to face confrontation with the devil at the end of a forty day fast begins this chapter. After first hanging out in a desert that was culminated with encounters with the devil, Jesus returned to the Galilean area – which was close to where the home of His dad and ma was located in the town of Nazareth. Once back in the region of Galilee and filled with the power of God – as God the Spirit, Jesus began to preach in local synagogues. While visiting His hometown – which was the town of Nazareth, Jesus taught on a Sabbath Day in the synagogue that was in the town of Nazareth. While Jesus was teaching in the synagogue that was in the town of Nazareth, Jesus was handed a scroll to read that had been scribed by Isaiah. Isaiah had been about 700 years earlier one of God’s prophet spokesmen. The words that Jesus read from the scroll that had been scribed by Isaiah as he had God – as God the Spirit, breathe on him the words to scribe, are mostly found in verse 18, “‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,” Jesus told the guys who were listening to Him who were in the synagogue that was in the town of Nazareth that what they had heard read was being fulfilled right before their eyes. When Jesus told the guys that He knew that He really was not welcome in His hometown, the guys got really angry with Jesus. The guys became so angry with Jesus that they tried to physically throw Him over a nearby cliff. Instead of getting thrown over the nearby cliff, Jesus walked through the angry, milling mob and went on to still another town – the town of Capernaum. The town of Capernaum is situated on the north end of the Sea of Galilee. When Jesus got to the city of Capernaum, Jesus began to step up His teaching by adding actions to the words that He was saying. Jesus told an evil spirit – who recognized Who Jesus was, to come out of the guy who the evil spirit was possessing. The evil spirit immediately did what Jesus told it to do. When Jesus rebuked the high fever that the mother-in-law of Simon – who was a fisherman, the fever left her. When Jesus laid His hands on sick guys, gals and kids, the guys, gals and kids who had a variety of ailments were healed. Jesus called out demons who had taken up residence in guys, gals and kids. Jesus then rested before He moved on to other area communities where He continued to preach the Good News message that He was their long-awaited Messiah – that He was the One Who prophets – such as Isaiah, had prophesied about Who would come one day to . . .
If Jesus already lives in you, are you able to emulate Him? To try to emulate another guy, gal or kid is to try to be just like the guy, gal or kid. If Jesus already lives in you, do you have to try to be like or emulate Him? If Jesus already lives in you, do you have the same kind of teaching acumen as Jesus had to communicate the Good News message? If Jesus is already living in you, do you have the same kind of awesome power that Jesus had to be able to rebuke demon minions to flee from and to restore sick and physically challenged guys, gals and kids? Because your grandmaa and grandpaa know that Jesus lives in them, your grandmaa and grandpaa know that they are being used by God – as God the Father, to do far more for His kingdom than what your grandmaa and grandpaa thought that they had the ability to do. Because Jesus lives in the hearts of the guys, gals and kids who God – as God the Father, specially elected to adopt for Himself as His specially elected guy, gals and kids before He formed planet Earth, these guys, gals and kids are primary targets for the devil to aim his fiery temptation arrows. So – if there is no need to emulate Jesus, your grandpaa would like to suggest to you that you emulate the fisherman whose mother-in-law Jesus healed. Jesus had chosen Simon – the fisherman who He had renamed Peter, to be one of His twelve disciples.
Luke 4 (888)