Luke 4

In Luke 4, Jesus begins his ministry in the synagogue.  Jesus preaches with authority, a recurrent theme early in Luke.  What does this authority look like?  What about someone else who reads the same words.  Was Jesus just an effective public speaker? Surely that is not it.  Some have spoken powerful, manipulative words, without this kind of authority.  They led people to their deaths or had them kill others.

Jesus delivers the Old Testament prophetic message with a new authority, full of the grace of God, delivered to an amazed and sometimes angered congregation.  Healing and exorcism accompany these sermons.  Jesus came to transform and show the true power of God for humanity.  As he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God...I was sent for this pupose."  God be praised.