T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
585
our own im agination in picturing th is scene for th e details are not given to us; bu t we may be sure th a t as a loving Son He p u t His arm s around th e mother th a t had borne Him, and th a t she looked up into His face w ith all th e m atern al pride and joy which a m other feels. It was a g reat day for th e carpen ter’s home when th e young man, th irty years of age, who had lived and worked amongst them , came home w ith the won d erful prestige which H is m inistry gave Him. W hat m ight it no t have m eant for them had they only seen th rough the veil th a t covered th e ir eyes and wel comed Him as the promised Messiah! The news was spread abroad th a t He was to be in th e synagogue on th e Sab b ath Day. According to th e custom, several were to tak e p a rt in th e service and Jesus was the last one called upon. The Book was handed Him, th e portion read by Him was either th e selection for the day, or H is own choice (Isa. 61:1, 2 ). I t was a prophecy concerning Himself,— concerning H is person, His office, His suffering and trium ph. The custom was— standing to read ; sitting to teach. In th e passage read by Jesus He is set fo rth as a preacher, a physician, a liber ator, a revealer,— and these characteris tics correspond exactly w ith th e W ritten Word. The Bible is a preacher; it is a physician; it is a lib erato r; it is a revealer. Jesus had been anointed for H is min istry a t His baptism when th e re was the wonderful testimony of God th e F ath e r, speaking from Heaven and God the Holy Spirit— in th e form of a dove— resting upon th e head of God th e Son, (Luke 3 :2 2 ). The Chosen, Anointed One h ere pro claims H imself as Christ, th is title being th e Greek equivalent of th e Hebrew word “Messiah.” His gospel is for the poor,— th a t is, th e “meek.” The poor are th e spec!al objects of God’s grace (Luke 6 :2 0 ):
“A n d he lifted up his eyes on his dis ciples and said, B lessed be ye poor} for yours is the kingdom of God.” He cited the fact th a t the gospel was being preached to the poor as a proof to John th e B ap tist th a t He was th e Christ (Luke 7 :2 2 ): “Th en Jesus an sw erin g said unto them. Go your w ay, and te ll John w h a t th in gs y e h ave seen and heard; how th a t the blind see, the lam e w a lk , the lepers are cleansed, the d eal hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gosp el is preached.” The appeal of th e Gospel has never been in any large measure to th e g reat or th e learned. (1 Cor. 1:26-31; Jas. 2 :5 ). The schools have never been th e seat of spirituality. As a physician, Jesu s came to h eal' th e broken-hearted. He is th e G reat Physician. He is th e High P rie st who is touched w ith th e feeling of our in firm ities (Heb. 4 :1 5 ). All th e tender sympathies of th e God-Man w ent ou t to th e suffering people; to th e widow of Nain (Luke 7 :1 2 ); to th e Syro-Phoenl- cian woman (Matt. 1 5 :2 8 ); to Mary and M artha (Jo h n 1 1 ); to th e multitudes (Mark 1:31-33; Matt. 9 :3 6 ). As a liberato r, Jesus gives deliver ance to those led captive to th e will of Satan. (2 Tim. 2 :2 6 ). L ike th e woman (Luke 1 3 :1 6 ); like th e de moniac (Mark 5 :1 -20 ). Whom th e Son makes free is free indeed (John 8 :3 6 ). As a revealer, He gave sight to the blind, physically and spiritually. F o r example, th e blind man in th e 9th of John whose eyes were opened; and th e sp iritu ally blind like Saul of Tarsus. He opens th e eyes of those who are blinded by the god of th is world (2 Cor. 4:3, 4; Eph. 1 :1 8 ). As a prophet, He announced th e ac ceptable year of th e Lord,— th e coming jubilee of th e millennium . H ere His message stopped, b u t no t so th e prophecy. Why did He not read th e re st of the verse, “ and th e day of ven geance of our God?” Why did He close His lips and close the book w ithout read ing the prophecy which speaks of the etern al w rath of God and th e coming day of His vengeance?
Made with FlippingBook HTML5