Inaugural Address

Read: Luke 4:14-21

The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day! Luke 4:21

IN WORD

Isaiah’s words at the beginning of chapter 61 of his writings were seen as a messianic prophecy, a picture of the coming Kingdom. This is where God was eventually headed with His people, even though they were under the oppression of injustices, illnesses, poverty, and every other manifestation of the frustrating condition of fallen humanity. So when Jesus opened the scroll at the synagogue and read from this passage—how this Kingdom figure would have God’s Spirit to bring good news to the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed—and said it was now fulfilled, He was making a landmark statement about His identity. He was declaring the coming of the Kingdom and, more specifically, the King Himself.

We have a tendency to do exactly what the Jews of Jesus’ day were prone to do: expect Scripture to be fulfilled, but not in our presence. We certainly believe the Kingdom is coming; but we typically don’t expect to see it manifesting in us, through us, around us, and for us. We expect the King to come one day, but not today. We expect the Spirit to do amazing things to heal, deliver, and transform the world, but for now we expect spiritual-only evidence that He’s at work. We don’t really expect Christian politicians to radically transform government, Christian businesspeople to exhibit the Kingdom in their work, or Christian artists and performers to express the sounds and scenes of heaven. Most of all, we don’t expect to see miraculous healing or supernatural signs, even though we pray for them. We look to the future through lenses of great hope, but we look at the present through lenses of disappointment.

IN DEED

Not all of God’s promises are for “one day.” Jesus is at work even now, still fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecies. We are, after all, living in the Kingdom age, or at least the age in which the hidden Kingdom is being revealed. How do we know? Because the King came. He inaugurated His mission. He equipped and commissioned His followers to carry it forward. Even today, Scriptures are being fulfilled in our hearing. Expect more. Believe in the power of the King for today.

ADDITIONAL READING: Mark 16:15-18

Jesus is the yes to every promise of God.

WILLIAM BARCLAY