Luke 4:17-21(NKJV)
So He [Jesus] 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. 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:
“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; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”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. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
In one sentence Jesus delivered a sermon that rocked his hometown of Nazareth. At first, they marvel at his teaching amazed by what they heard. That turned quickly to denying and refusing to believe that the hometown son could be the Messiah. Make no mistake! With one sentence, Jesus declared he was the answer to the prophet's prophecy! He did so with confidence and total conviction.
There is a simple lesson taught in this passage concerning sharing the gospel. It's not how long, detailed, or elegant the message is but rather how confident and assured you are that it is good news. You do not need to be a theologian to share the gospel. You do need to believe it is the truth, and it has the power to make an everlasting difference. JB
