14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the 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 proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[f] 20 Then 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. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
If one applied for the position of Son of God, one might find the job description a tad overwhelming and one’s compensation even less appealing. Here in Luke 4 we find that in addition to the responsibilities of teaching, preaching, and healing; Jesus took on the task of fulfillment.
Thanks be to God that the opening for Son of God has been filled now, and forever. However, I come this morning with an encouragement to seize every opportunity afforded us to fulfill the Scriptures. Each Sunday morning, Luke 22:19-20 stands fulfilled in our hearing by the breaking of bread and partaking of the juice.
And yet our time at the Lord’s Table represents just one of countless possibilities for us to fulfill Scripture. For in each second, in every minute, at any hour; scripture waits to be fulfilled. Well Chris, just exactly what possibilities are you talking about? Do you mean to say that there remains a life in need of being experienced beyond the worship hour? Well yeah.
If in the course of time you were fortunate enough to find someone willing to marry you despite your annoying habits, then each new morning you both possess the chance to fulfill Eph 5:33 as you seek to love the other as you love yourself, and show respect to the other no matter how tired you are or how frustrated you get.
If even more blessed you are to have children, then every new day you hold the opportunity to fulfill Duet 11:19 by teaching the sacred words of Scripture to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Furthermore, with each passing day orphans and widows in distress stand anxious for someone to fulfill James 1:27, while every empty stomach, every thirst throat, every lonely heart, every tattered garment, every hospital bed, every jail cell cries out for anyone willing to fulfill Matt 25:35-36.
Each venomous dispute requires someone brave enough to fulfill Eph 4:32 where kindness and compassion produce the same forgiveness Christ bestowed to us, while every act of violence needs someone courageous enough to fulfill Ro 12:17 where evil is not repaid with evil and where the right thing to do is always to live at peace with everyone.
No matter how hard it may feel or how difficult it may appear, may all of us not shrink from the occasion to fulfill the Scriptures. For the antithesis of fulfillment is violation, and we most certainly deserve death for all of our past violations.
But thanks be to God that we are still alive if only because Christ neither broke from God’s plan for his birth, nor disobeyed God’s will for his death. And by doing so, Christ proved himself to be the same God he had been from the beginning. For whether in matters of promises or prophesies, our God has always been a God of fulfillment.
