“Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.  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, ¹⁷ and 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 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, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:14-19

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 embarked upon his ministry. In essence, even in his actions, not just in his words, Jesus was teaching the disciples and all of the other followers what it means to be empowered with the Holy Spirit, and what can be done when one has the power of the Spirit. We will witness Jesus teaching, preaching, healing and casting out demons. The complaint from his hometown is that Jesus says his ministry is not to his own people but to those who need it – without regard to nationality, gender or race. The Jewish people wanted the “prophet”, and expected the Messiah would come only for them. As followers of Jesus, we cannot allow ministries to be thought of in the same way. We cannot keep our ministries only for our own people or our own kind. We need to move into ministries where the Holy Spirit leads us – without regard to exclusivity.

Pastor Dave

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ² where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” ⁵ Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶ And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”⁹ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ ¹¹ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” ¹² Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.” Luke 4:1-13

For forty days, Jesus was tempted by the devil. Temptation is a universal human experience. For Jesus to be tempted gives evidence to his humanity: it gives evidence that Jesus was tested just as we are tested every day. What truly gives us hope and should strengthen our will to sustain temptation is the amazing fact that Jesus was able to avoid the Devil’s temptations when he was truly hungry, truly questioning his ministry and figuring out what it meant to be “the Beloved Son.”  Time generally wears a person down, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The longer Jesus remained in the wilderness with the temptations, the more that his own will would have been tested. What gives us hope is that we worship a G-d who, became human just like us, and gives us a model for withstanding temptation — even in the most difficult of trials and tribulations.  No, we cannot be sinless like Jesus, but we can receive strength and hope knowing that Jesus was fully human and knew what it meant to be tempted.

Pastor Dave