[Jesus] began by saying, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  

-Luke 4:21

After John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where He was tempted by the devil. Strengthened through battle and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned to Galilee to start His public ministry. He traveled through the region, taught in synagogues and people praised Him (see Luke 4:15). His ministry took off. He quickly received public acclaim. Eventually He went back to His hometown, Nazareth, and on the Sabbath He spoke in the synagogue. He opened the scroll and read portions of Isaiah 58 and 61, saying

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).

After reading Scripture, He started His sermon by saying, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus had already been anointed to proclaim the good news. He had already been sent to proclaim freedom, to restore sight, and to release people held in bondage. The anointing and sending had already happened, yet Jesus says the Scripture is fulfilled at the time the message is heard. Listeners play a role in the process.  Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing, which happens when we allow the message to penetrate our hearts and souls, when we accept the message as the truth, when we are transformed by it. In this context, hearing is not merely allowing the words to prick our intellect; it involves experiencing the reality conveyed; it involves accepting the freedom, the sight, the release offered by Jesus Christ.

“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  We are part of the process. God’s holy word is intended for you, today. May you have ears to hear, may your heart be fertile soil for His seed to grow into a mighty oak.