Luke 4:14-15 Fresh Out of the Gate
Jesus returns from the wilderness in our story today. Luke gives a general broad statement as to how the beginning of His ministry went.
First thing that Luke tells us is that “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit” (verse 14). We know from the other gospel writers that Jesus didn’t begin doing miracles for a while. His first one was at a wedding in Cana after He began calling His disciples. Jesus didn’t demonstrate the miracle working power of the Holy Spirit until that point.
So how was it that the Spirit was working through Jesus? I believe it was through His teaching. I would not be surprised though to learn that He was teaching in the synagogues as soon as He emerged from His wilderness excursion. His message hit home with the people and that was why He initially became famous. We heard not too long ago that Jesus was engaged in interactions with the teachers in the synagogue since an early age. Those teachers were blown away by His insight. Now the whole region is too.
Was Jesus’ teaching what got His disciples to follow Him in the first place? He wasn’t doing miracles before calling them. Jesus was initially preaching the same message John the Baptist had been sharing. He was teaching about forgiveness of sin and the love of the Father. God’s love was the driving force behind all the messages from Heaven. Without the Father’s love for us, He would never have sent His own Son. But His heart longed to reconnect with us. That love cost Him dearly, but He willingly paid the full price. Jesus’ message about the Father’s love was extremely popular with the people. They knew they were lost and desperately wanted to be found.
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your message of hope. You personally brought and shared that hope with any who would listen and accept the free gift You were and are offering. Thank You for reaching my heart and for continually reminding me of the real reason You came. Love makes us do crazy things. Yours made You do AMAZING things. I know I am not worthy of such a gift but I won’t reject it. I accept Your love with open arms. Help me share that same kind of love with others around me, especially my husband. Not that he doesn’t know Your love, but that I don’t always demonstrate Your loving attitude towards him; especially when I’m tired.
