Sunday Reflection

I did not get to hear the sermon in today's service. The choir was asked to sing for the Sunday School kids, so we left abotu 20 minutes into the service. There was a substitute pastor for the service this morning; I would have been interested to hear his sermon as it would have been a different style.

The Gospel reading from this morning's services was one of my favorites. It comes from the fourth chapter of Luke:

"¹⁶ When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. ¹⁷ The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

¹⁸ 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
¹⁹ and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.'

²⁰ He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. ²¹ Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

I think I like this passage so much because I try to imagine what it would be like to be in the synagogue when Jesus said what he did. Can you see the reactions of those in attendance? I can see the feelings of anger, confusion, contempt. Who is this Jesus saying that he is the chosen one? And to say these words so calmly, so matter-of-factly. It is just a wonderful selection of verses.