1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Psalm 119:97-102, Luke 4:16-30
My Beloved, I don't come to You with a great plan on how I am going serve You. I don't need to be coached on how to speak eloquently in order to capture the attention of my listeners with clever words. All artifice is worthless. All I need is to know, teach and preach the Good News that God sent You into the world as our Messiah who obtained our salvation through a bloody Crucifixion on the Cross.
I am who I am, Your little nothing, weak, fearful and trembling. I just make myself available to You. I show up and I let the holy Spirit work through me with His power - if any should come to the faith, the glory belongs to God alone.
Psalm 119:97-102
My Beloved,if I am to grow in wisdom and knowledge I must love Your law. Like Mama Mary I must meditate on Your Word all my waking hours. Your commands must be the rule of my life so I will never stray from the paths of holiness and goodness and I will be invincible before the enemy.
The more I ponder Your commandments of love the wiser will I grow in understanding your teachings and instructions. I must abide by our law if I desire the light of Your Word to guide my steps You have not left to muddle on my own but have given me Your Holy Spirit as my Teacher, Instructor and Guide.
Luke 4:16-30
My Beloved, You returned to Nazareth the place where You grew up. You went to the synagogue on the Sabbath as You had done in the past when You lived there. You stood up to read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah which was handed to You. You found the verses in which the prophet revealed the messianic role, verses which were very familiar to You because they spoke of You. All eyes were fixed on You as You read aloud in Your beautiful, mellifluous voice the ancient texts breathing into the well known text the fire of life and truth as You proclaimed to Your hearers God's wonderful plan of salvation.
You sat down while every gaze in the synagogue was riveted on You and said, “Today
these prophetic words come true even as you listen.” There was something so compelling in the say You said it that everyone agreed with You and was moved but there will always be skeptics who can only focus on the banal and the inconsequential and it is they who say, "Who is this but Joseph’s son?” The response of those who limit the power of God according to their own narrow boundaries of understanding and their response is just as stupid as those who thought they knew You. Like Nathaniel's preconceived prejudice which prompted him to remark, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
You pointed out to them that throughout the history of Israel the prophets were rejected, persecuted and put to death and this is why outsiders and foreigners were singled out for God's singular blessings rather than His chosen people. On hearing this they not only became furious but hostile - truth often brings out the worst in the wicked and they too were prepared to kill You in order to silence the Truth. You walked away unharmed through the crowds for Your hour had not yet come.
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