Meditation
PRESENTING THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Text: Luke 4:16-21
27 March 2022
SO MUCH MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT GOD’S KINGDOM
When the Lord Jesus began to preach about the Kingdom of God, there was so much misunderstanding. He had to clear up misconceptions. He had to battle ignorance and indifference. How would He go about helping people understand the greatness of God’s Kingdom?
THE PLACE OF THE SCRIPTURES
The Scriptures had much to say about the Kingdom of God. But many were unable to understand the Scriptures easily. He was once asked to read and explain a Scripture portion in the local synagogue at Nazareth, His hometown.
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16-21
- The Relevance of the Scriptures
a) The Lord showed understanding of the Scriptures
b) He showed the people in the synagogue the relevance of the Scriptures
2. Aspects of the Kingdom revealed
a) The Kingdom will include the poor
b) The broken-hearted will find healing and comfort
c) Those who are captives and oppressed will find liberty
d) The blind will regain sight
e) That which represents the Kingdom properly is the Gospel
FULFILMENT OF THE SCRIPTURE
The way the Lord Jesus chose to teach about the Kingdom of God was to fulfil the Scriptures.
- He will proclaim the Gospel
- He will reach out to the poor, the broken-hearted, the blind and all who are oppressed
- He will invite them to repent from their sins and to believe in Him
- He will welcome them into the Kingdom of God