Jesus Praised

Luke 4:14-15 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
 
JESUS is moving. The Holy Spirit baptized him in the Jordan River near Jerusalem. His battle with Satan was about twenty miles north of there in the Judean desert. And then he traveled about another 60 miles as he “returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit.” Luke doesn’t tell us where he first ministered in Galilee, his home territory. But we know he chose most of his disciples in Capernaum and Bethsaida, two fishing villages on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. He is about to return to Nazareth, his hometown.
   These two verses may be one of the most peaceful, unifying two verses in the Bible since Genesis 2:2-3 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. All was at peace in God’s creation.
          We can understand a similar peace in Luke 4:14-15 as we witness a communion of God the Father, Son and Spirit with God’s people on earth. The Holy Trinity rested in his creation, counting it all very good as God joined with Adam and Eve. Surely God rested for a moment in the beginning of his new creation, the Kingdom of God on earth. Perhaps this was the most reverent obedience the Jews granted to God in all history of the world. The new rabbi came with a reputation of John the Baptist’s testimony: John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” For a short time, many Jews rejoiced in the hope that God was fulfilling the prophecies of old. Jesus’ words were heard and praised. People were eager for a change. Or were they?