Submitted by Pastor Davis Klappenbaugh, First Lutheran Church, Rock Port

When you open up Luke’s gospel and begin reading it, you might notice that the Holy Spirit is alive and active.
In the first chapter the Angel Gabriel informs old Zechariah that his son to be born and named John will be full of the Holy Spirit before he is born.
The Angel Gabriel informs the Virgin Mary in response to her question about how she will bear a child since she is still a virgin and not yet married, “the Holy Spirit will come upon you.”
After this news the Virgin Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country and the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy at presence of Mary because of the Holy Spirit.
After John the Baptist is born, his Father Zechariah, full of the Holy Spirit, praises God saying, “Blessed be the God of Israel for He has come to His people and set them free. He raised for us a Savior born of the house of His servant David…”
When Jesus is grown up and after He is baptized and praying, the heaven is opened and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him in the form of a dove.
Then Jesus is led by this same Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After this temptation, Luke reports that Jesus returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. The news about Jesus spreads. He is praised for His wonderful sermons. People are flocking to the synagogues on the Sabbath day to listen to this Rabbi (teacher). I can imagine Jesus is pretty engaging. The Holy Spirit is definitely empowering His ministry. Most certainly, the news of Jesus’ activity has reached his hometown of Nazareth.
When Jesus left Nazareth He was a well respected carpenter and member of the community. Now He is the teacher who has made good. One day Jesus returned to His hometown and since it is the Sabbath day Jesus goes to the synagogue along with all the people of the village. Since Jesus has returned home, the people ask him if he will read the lessons for the day and preach. That is pretty common for folks who have gone to seminary today. They return home to their hometown congregation and they are expected to preach to all the familiar faces and to those who knew them as youth or young child. I suppose the situation is quite similar for Jesus.
Of course Jesus accepts their gracious offer. When the time for the lesson comes up in the liturgy the attendant brings Jesus the scroll. As God would have it, it would be the Isaiah Scroll, and the place marked for the day would be Isaiah 61. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” The Word of the Lord.
When he finished the lesson he rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant and sat down. Rabbis sat down when they preached. So, here comes the sermon. It is a short one, so pay attention. “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” And Luke reports that all thought it was a marvelous sermon. That was because they didn’t realize he was referring to Himself, suggesting that He was the one Isaiah was talking about. Once they realized that He was referring to Himself they didn’t like the sermon so much. Things get so heated that they are ready to throw Jesus over the cliff.
(I know I have preached some sermons that weren’t really good, but thankfully it has not led to being led outside of town to be thrown off the bluff.)
But Jesus will pass through the crowd because He has the work of His Father in Heaven to do which is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
One side note, from this point on St. Luke makes no more mention of the Holy Spirit except in one place in Chapter 8 where Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit praising God. There is no more mention of the Spirit, until Jesus is on the cross dying for our sins, and at the last, Jesus’ last word from the cross is commending His Spirit to His Father.
In these latter days God sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost who gives us to power to say, “Jesus is Lord.” Whenever the Good News of Jesus, the Savior, is shared the Holy Spirit is working to bring us to and keep us in faith.
Yes, this scripture has been fulfilled in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, in your hearing. He rebukes your sins and casts them out, unbinds us from our fears about the future and most certainly from the fear of death. Jesus is interested in your physical body as well as your spiritual soul. Because of his resurrection, He will raise you up and all believers on the last day and give eternal life. In the meantime, may your life be Spirit filled and always leading you to Jesus Christ our Savior.