Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-09-09

cuss the second and third portions,
except to state their relation to the
first. we shall leave them, and study
the portion Jesus selected and read.
This is most important, otherwise
He would not have stopped abruptly
at commai
"Anointed''-that was what Mes.
siah" means, and its Greek equiva-
lent, Christ" Among His own peo-
pie with whom He had played and
worked at the humblest tasks, He
made the bold claim to be the long
expected Messiah He claimed to be
the Christ. Taking the passage in
Isaiah with which they were IA
miliar, and which referred as they
knew to the Servant of Jehovah
long desired, He laid out before them
His work as a man for there are
six things He was ano1nted to do,
and six is the number of man)-to
preach good tidings, to heal, to pro
claim deliverance and recovery of
sight, to set at liberty, to announce
the acceptable of Jehovah! What
wonderful program!
10 preach good tidings to the poor
or, as Isaiah put it, the meek,
those who poor in spirit are meek
and willing to listen because they
have no dependence upon them
selves. 10 heal the broken-hearted-
only God knows how many Of them
there are. Often those closest to
us know nothing of the worst heart
aches; but Jesus knows, and cares
and heals. To preach deliverance to
the captiVes-bOund with the chains
of sin, there is no way of deliver
ance, except through Him who came
to destroy the works of the devil.
Recovering of sight ito the blind-in
whom the god Of this world hath
blinded Their eyes lest they behold
the glory Of God in the face OF
Jesus Christ. To set at liberty them
that are bruised-not wholly under
the power of Satan yet, but bruised
by sin; now set free by Him. TO
proclaim the acceptable year Of Je-
hovah-to tell that Gods offer is
now open; and it still is For there
He closed the book It will remain
open until the day Of vengeance of
our God, and woe be to him then
who has refused His gracious offer
in the open now!
1T was dramatic moment in the
synagogue at Nazareth that Sabbath
morning. When He had closed the
book, He sat down and every eve
was fastened intentIy on Him. Why
did He read that passage? Why did
He stop in the middle of a sentence?
Why did He give the book back to
the leader of the synagogue and sit
down WithouS saying anything in ex-
PLANTATION as the reader usually did?
Then He began to speak. 'Th.s
day is this Scripture fulfilled in your
ears" He said. And as F1e talked
of the meek and the good tidings;
OF the captives and their deliverance;
OF the broken-he hearted and their heal
ing; Of the blind and their recovery;
OF the bruised and their liberty. of
the open door and the waiting yearn-
ing God-oh! wouldn't you have liked
to have been in the congregation
that day?-they were amazed! They
never had heard such gracious words
in all their life. And coming from
this townsman whom they had
known all His life. Where did Jo-
seph's son get such words? Where
did the Carpenter ever learn such
Wondrous truth?
Their questions were more Of
doubt than of inquiry. They failed
to honor His claim to be the Anoint-
ed One, the Messiah the Christ; they
saw Him only as one who had grown
up with them. That's why He said:
No prophet is accepted in his own
country. But He cut them to the
quick when He reminded them that
it was only to a Gentle widow that
Elijah was sent during the famine.
lsraelitish widows enough and starv
ing, but without faith. And onlv
Naaman, a Gentle prince, was heal
ed; there were many lepers in Israel,
but they lacked faith.
They ragged with fury at this.
They resented His rebuke The
truth always hurts when you are in
wrong. The congregation became a
mob-they had forgotten His gra-
cious words; they thirsted for His
life Out of the city and to the brow
OF the precipice on the side of their
city they led Him-and He let them
lead Him. But before they could
cast Him over the brink Of the pre-
cipitous cliff, He passed through
their midst and went His way. 1t
didn't require a miracle to do this;
just presence of mind; quietness
when they were excited. He never
used His power to save Himself
He had come unto Ills own; and they
that were His own received Him not!
Every day Jesus lived that text.
He wishes by His spirit to repro
duce His life in you. There are poor
about you to whom YOU may preach
the good tidings. There are captives
waiting for you to bring Him who
can deliver them There are broken
hearts-oh, so many of thenl-that
need His healing touch, and you can
be the physician who applies that
Remedy. There are blind ones who
need to catch a sight of Him who is
the Light of the world. There are
| those who have been bruised by con-
tact with the rough road that Satan
leads them, who need to be set at
liberty. And all need TO know-two-
thirds of the people in the world
have never heard this--that the Only