The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor,

Baseball legend Dizzy Dean is credited for the phrase – “”It ain’t bragging if you can back it up” and I thought about that when I read today’s passage. It’s the same passage Jesus read in the synagogue in the fourth chapter of Luke.

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus was in Nazareth, the town where he grew up and on the Sabbath day, He stood up to read and when handed the scroll of Isaiah, He found the passage above. Once He was finished, he sat down and then, while every eye was fixed on Him, he made a bold statement –

And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 4:22

Think about that for a moment. This hometown boy made an audacious claim, essentially stating He is the coming Messiah and He backed up His word with the ministry

As you read on in Luke 4, the initial response of the people was positive, but as He continued the crowd turned on Him attempting to throw Him down a cliff in Nazareth. Luke tells us, He walked through the mob and went on His way delivering people from demonic possession and healing many including Peter’s mother-in-lawn.

Jesus backed up His statement and completed His mission to save the people and they did witness many amazing works among the people of His time and that ministry continues now as we are still able to experience the LORD’s favor in our lives.