Living Beyond, Now
February 9, 2025
Luke 4:14-22a
Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region.
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Faith is seeing and living beyond the immediate and tangible. Jesus, after being tested in the wilderness, returned to preach in His hometown of Nazareth. The people were initially amazed by His words but soon dismissed Him as merely Joseph’s son, failing to recognize His divine identity. They expected the Messiah to fulfill their personal hopes rather than their being part of God’s greater plan.
Jesus' message encompassed both spiritual and earthly realities—proclaiming good news to the poor, releasing captives, and bringing sight to the blind in both the physical present as well as the eternal future, Jesus calls us to be like him - living in the present while holding to eternal hope. Our faith does not separate earthly life from eternal life; instead, our physical presence is to reveal God's eternal love and grace in our everyday lives.
