Luke 4:17: “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. . .”
When Jesus was given the book of Isaiah to read from, 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 the recovery of sight to the blind, to set at Liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18, 19.
Isaiah is a big book. Sixty six chapters in all, and Jesus knew right where to go. He found the place where it was written, where it was written about Him. After He finished reading, He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Then Jesus said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:21.
“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus was in essence saying, “I’m here, I’m here in this scripture; it’s fulfilled today as I speak it out loud and as you hear me say it out loud.” Unfortunately, no one was hearing that day, and instead of the good news of healing, deliverance, and full restoration, their unbelief betrayed them. Instead of receiving, they sought to kill him. But that’s another story.
The Bible is a book about Jesus. From Genesis to Revelation, it’s all out Jesus. Many other characters are included and the entire Bible is for us, but it’s for us and not about us. That is, unless we believe– and then we are in Christ, where Scripture is now about our place in Christ, our journey in Christ, our discoveries in Christ, and our knowing and being known in Christ. Now, abiding in Jesus with His words abiding in us, we find ourselves inside of scriptures. With the help of the Holy Spirit and Truth (the Word), we begin to behold the glory of God in the face of Christ, and we are changed into the glory we see in Christ, from one level of glory to the next. That is why we have such hope of glory, because we are becoming more like Him as we grow by the Spirit and in Truth (2 Cor. 3:18; 1John 3:2; Col. 1:27).
But because of the Word spoken to us in Christ, tribulations and testings will come, too. These try to dislodge the Word from our hearts, lest it grows up and bears much fruit. The testings are to remove the Word (so the devil hopes) but in truth, it’s to prove the word as faithful and true as we learn to hear. Through the Word heard and the testing endured, we will find ourselves in the scriptures we have heard and believed. We will be able to find the place where it is written and declare today, “This scripture is fulfilled in Christ!” Christ in me, the hope of glory, is sitting down in the synagogue of my heart, explaining this is that which was spoken and is now being fulfilled.
To make this as simple as it really is: We do hear, and what we hear is then tested. This should not surprise us, but somehow, it still does. However, when we become convinced that what we have heard God promise to us, He is able to perform– without our performance– we have found ourselves in the scripture in Christ. Immovable forever, having been tested and found true, the Word abiding in us now bears much fruit.
Where in the Bible are you? What promise are you becoming? What tests are you enduring? Be encouraged that your responses to these questions are the very promises God is proving, testing, and bringing His glory to in and upon your life.
The Holy Spirit of truth is always leading us in truth to discover Jesus and be changed into His image in Christ. Never apart from Jesus, but in trust, surrender and dependence upon Jesus, we experience and carry Christ in us. We are becoming joint heirs with Christ.
The Lord is anointing His Body with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is helping us in our trials; the Word of God is delivering us out of our trials; and through that deliverance, the power of the Holy Spirit accompanies us. He is ready to multiply where the Word has become fruitful. This is the season where we find the place where it was written and say, “It is today! Today this scripture is fulfilled.”
Seriously, as I hand you the Bible, find the place where it is written in scripture, and is fulfilled (or being fulfilled) in you TODAY in Christ, and worship God there. Declare the decree that what you say, you will see!
