One day on the Sabbath Jesus stood up in the temple to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it he found the place where it was written:
“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 for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Luke goes on to tell us, "Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, 'today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'” [Luke 4:17-20]
I never saw anything unusual about that until I read the full passage in Isaiah 61. Did you know that in the original there is a comma and not a period after “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord?" After the comma it continues:
“to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
and the day of vengeance of our God . . .”
Wow! Jesus sat down in the middle of that sentence! He proclaimed the acceptable year of the Lord was fulfilled in their sight that day—and then he sat down. He "rightly divided the Word of Truth."
The word “acceptable” is translated from the Greek word “dektos” and it means “approved.” According to the Greek scholar Thayer, dektos is that "most blessed time when salvation and the free favor of God profusely abounds." So Jesus came to declare and fulfill a season of blessing where salvation and the free favor of God would profusely abound. And we are still living in that season.
Jesus came came to usher in this season of grace for us. A season of unmerited favor. Undeserved. Unearned. Unmerited favor of God. After years of living under the stern expectations of the Old Covenant law, Jesus came to usher in a new covenant of freedom — a time of grace. God has allowed this season of grace for 2,000 years. I'm so thankful!
Yet a comma is still a comma —
and the second part of that quote will also come to pass.
God's Word shows us that we are nearing the end of this season of grace. Soon Jesus will stand up and return to earth a second time and those who do not know Him will behold “the vengeance of our God.” I'm so thankful God has extended grace to me! What about you? Are you experiencing God's unmerited favor?
Don't miss out!
The only way to experience this season of grace is through Jesus.
Do you know Him?
Do you really know Jesus or do you just know about Him? If you are not sure, please know that He died for you! And you can KNOW FOR SURE that you will be with Him throughout eternity. Not "hope you can," not "question if you could" He tells us these things so that you may KNOW! FOR SURE!
"And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him."
Are you willing to admit to Him that you cannot live a perfect life on your own? Will you release all your angst to Him—the good, the bad, and the ugly? Our Father God loves you so much just the way you are! He runs to you! Through His very own Son's death He offers you His grace—His undeserved favor—His free gift of Life forever with Him. And with that gift comes His forgiveness, His joy, and His peace inside your heart no matter what the circumstance.
Your precious life is your unique story. Be sure to acknowledge God in your story so you live with Him forever! And if you do this, be sure to tell someone!
Please contact me if you have questions or if you'd like me to pray with you.
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