Luke 4:1- 5:39
1Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled[a] among us, 2just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.
This is how Luke kicked off his gospel. He tells us what it is an account, a report, of the stuff fulfilled amoung us.
So time and time again we hear about these words of fulfilment as the story marches on. Check this little section out:
14Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17The 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 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,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[e]
20Then 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, 21and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Here Jesus shows his cards. “You know the one the prophets were talking about, well I’m the one”.
Here Jesus identifies himself, he is the one Isaiah spoke of, he is the servant of the Lord. The suffering servant (Isa 53), the one who would die for his lost sheep.
The people who originally read this letter were probably coping it on lots of fronts, persecuted by the Jews, treated unfairly by the Roman authorities. They needed a bit of assurance about who this bloke was. Jesus was no one hit wonder. A guy with some cool party tricks. He was the one the old testament was pointing to. He was the one the prophets longed to see.
Never forget Jesus. Never tire of him. Never lose sight of him.
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