Do you believe God fulfills his promises? Do you believe Jesus will fulfill His promise of eternal life with Him? Do you believe Jesus fulfilled prophecy while He walked this earth? How does your belief affect your daily life? Or does it?
We can say we believe something while not fully believing it. We may think we believe, but when put to the test, our belief turns out to be shallow and fails us. Only a deep down in the gut belief will sustain us when everything seems to turn against us.
Jesus has just read from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue. He then states that the passage He just read was fulfilled in their presence. His implied meaning was that He was fulfilling it. Their initial reaction is one of patting Him on the back, being proud that one of their very own had done well.
Jesus responds to their accolades by stating they will turn on Him. He tells them that they will want more from Him. He continues by stating that He is not welcome in His hometown. He gives examples of how God worked through the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
Ultimately, Jesus is pointing out to those in the synagogue that they will need to come to Him to be saved. They did not want to hear that. After all, they knew Him as Joseph’s son, not the Son of God. They could not fathom the little boy they saw running in the neighborhood was who He claimed to be. Therefore, they decided to run Him out of town. In fact, they intended to throw Him off the cliff. Yet, He walked right past them without harm.
I pray we all choose to believe Jesus is who He says He is. I pray we believe Jesus is the Son of God deep within our heart. I pray each one of us will choose to follow Him, rather than toss Him out. Believe Jesus is who He says He is. Believe Jesus is the Son of God. Choose to follow Jesus.
Luke 4:21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Marty Pressey 