Today this Scripture Has Been Fulfilled in Your Hearing

The gospel for this coming Sunday (Third Sunday after the Epiphany) is Luke 4:16–30. This is the narrative of Jesus being rejected in His home town of Nazareth.

It was a custom for a visiting teacher to be asked to read from the Scriptures on the Sabbath. In fact, any qualified male could read from the Hebrew Scriptures in a synagogue (TLSB). Jesus probably read from Isaiah in Hebrew, and then He or someone else paraphrased it in Aramaic, one of the other common languages of the day.

What was different in this situation was the reaction of the people to Jesus’ statement after the reading: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in Your Hearing” (v. 21).

The reaction went from “marveling at his gracious words” (v.22) to quickly de-valuing Him because He had grown up there and his family still lived there. When Jesus chided them about their unbelief, they got very angry and try to throw Him off of a cliff.

There are 351 OT prophecies fulfilled in Jesus. They range from Him being born of Mary in Bethlehem to His death for the sins of the world.

On one occasion Jesus says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). In order to free us from the terror of our constant breaking of God’s Law, Jesus took our place under that same Law and kept it perfectly. This He did right to the end of His time here on earth. This allowed His death to be accepted as the perfect and only payment accepted by God.

There is yet one last prophecy waiting for us. It is one that Jesus made about our final resting place. He says, ^“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3).

This assurance greets us each morning. It gives us joy and strength in our daily living. It gives us a purpose for each day.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for fulfilling every prophecy that was ever stated in the Scripture that is about You. Thank You for doing everything perfectly so that my salvation is completely assured. Remind me each day of the blessed future I will have with You. Amen

©2022 Eugene Brunow

Used by permission.