January 27, 2019 Third Sunday of Epiphany

5And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. Nehemiah 8:5-6 ESV

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:14-21 ESV

Jesus is the Living Word of God and each person tries to understand just who Jesus is. How can learn who Jesus really is? Let us explore these two scriptures for hints. 

In Nehemiah Israel had lost God's written word and when it was discovered not only was it read but it was read to all who were there. The response is amazing! All there bowed their heads and worshiped God!

In Luke Jesus came home and as “was His custom” read the scriptures in the Synagogue. This was a time when the reading was from the scroll of the book of Isaiah. Isaiah is filled with prophesies of the Messiah and the passage to be read was one of these.

Isaiah proclaims the wondrous and amazing revitalization the Messiah would bring to broken and oppressed people! Humanity which had been broken and turned upside down would be healed and made right for those who opened their lives to Jesus the Messiah!

In both passages the written word of God was the definition and expression of the

Living Word Jesus Christ! Only through the written word, the Bible, can we understand Who God really is and protect us from creating our own idol or god!

In the Bible we see God creating, missing fallen humanity, protecting us from ourselves, bringing healing and hope through the faith God gives us, preparing us to share the Good News