Reading LUKE - January 21-27 - Week 3 of 11

Luke 4:14-6:11
Beginning in Galilee

Tracking the World-changing Jesus Movement and the Power behind it

Pay special attention to THE MISSION OF JESUS

• Luke 4:16-20 The mission Jesus claimed in reading the prophecy from Isaiah
• Luke 4:43 "I must  proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose."

Pay special attention to the sightings of the HOLY SPIRIT

• 4:14 "Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee..."
• 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor..." (quoted from Isaiah)

Filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus demonstrates spiritual AUTHORITY

• 4:21 "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing..."
• 4:32 "They were astounded at this teaching, because he spoke with authority..."
• 4:36 "...For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!"
• 5:17 "...and the power of the Lord was with him to heal."
• 5:24 "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins..."
• 6:5 "Then he said to them, 'The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath'..."

Tracking Jesus' Mission to the Marginalized
What kind of people does Jesus' mission take him to?

Scene 1: Jesus Reads the Isaiah Scroll in the Synagogue
The poor, captives, blind, the oppressed.  The follow-up teaching in 4:23-30 shows Jesus speaking of times when God favored foreigners instead of the people of privileged position.

Scene 2: Jesus Heals the Demonized and the Diseased
The demon-possessed, those sick with various kinds of diseases, the "unclean", the paralyzed, the deformed (the man with a withered hand).

Scene 3: Jesus Calls the First Disciples
Fishermen...common, hardworking folk - definitely not the elite of society.

Scene 4: The Scandalous Accusation
Tax-collectors and sinners (5:29-32)

Bottom Line:
Spend some time in reflection about these verses from Luke's gospel...

²⁹ Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹ Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Amen.