May 4, 2021 — Luke 4:14 – 30

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:14-19)

“The indwelling Spirit shall teach him what is of God and what is not. This is why sometimes we can conjure up no logical reason for opposing a certain teaching, yet in the very depth of our being arises a resistance.” (Watchman Nee)

Can we make the Holy Spirit exclusively ours? The text from Luke says that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit – actually the power of the Spirit, and then began to teach. In essence, even in his actions, not just in his words, Jesus is teaching the disciples and, of course you and me, what it means and what can be done when one has the power of the Spirit. 

Throughout his ministry we will witness Jesus teaching, preaching, healing and casting out demons. The complaint that comes from his hometown is that Jesus implies that his ministry is not just for his own people but to those who need it – without regard to nationality, gender or race. The Jewish people wanted the “prophet” only for themselves – Jesus came for all people. 

As Christians, we cannot allow our community to believe that our ministries are only for Christians. We cannot keep our ministries only to our own people, our own kind, our own county, our own country. We need to move into ministries where the Holy Spirit leads us – without regard to exclusivity.

Pastor Dave