Jesus

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

because the Lord has anointed Me

to bring good news to the afflicted;

He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to captives

and freedom to prisoners;

To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord..."

Luke 4:18,19

Isaiah 61:1,2

The study of Luke this year has been a great one - great not because of the teaching by any means, but because of the subject matter:

Jesus.

Likewise, the Gifts of the Cross series that we've been doing this past month has been great - not because of the teaching, per se, but again because of the subject matter:

Jesus.

As Jesus began His ministry in Israel, after His baptism and His bout of temptation in the wilderness with Satan, He entered a synagogue and read the above verses from the book of Isaiah which described His ministry goals.

At that time, no one knew how literally He would fulfill each line, but today we can sit in awe and understand exactly what Jesus meant and watch Him do it - in the lives of the Israelites of His time and in the lives of believers throughout history. We have the benefit of the complete Word of God and the proof of history that declares He is Lord and He is in the business of changing lives and eternal destinations.

This next week may just be another week for you, another week that happens to end with an Resurrection Sunday celebration. Oh, dear friend - let's not let that happen! Let's determine to celebrate Jesus all week by walking through the Passion week at home, by mourning our sin and the death of our Savior with a heart of unending gratitude as we remember the cross and head into Sunday with an eager anticipation to rejoice with the Body of Christ in His victory over death which gives us hope and new life! I'll tell you what - if we all did this, the celebration on Sunday would lift the roof off our churches!

I know, I know...everyday we should be celebrating our risen Savior. I agree, but just as the Israelites were commanded to remember the Passover each year, we have our opportunity here as Passover comes this week to remember the fulfillment of it, so let's not miss it. Let's not let the week pass without humble introspection and without immersing ourselves in His-story.

What a day Resurrection Sunday could be this year! Are you in?

Weekly reading suggestion:

Palm Sunday - Luke 19:28-44

Monday - Luke 19:45-48

Tuesday - Luke 20 and 21

Wednesday - Luke 22:1-6

Thursday - Luke 22:7-53

Friday - Luke 22:54-23:55

Saturday - Luke 23:56

Sunday - Luke 24:1-12