Luke 4: 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
[The Desire of Ages pp 32] As the Jews had departed from God, faith had grown dim, and hope had well-nigh ceased to illuminate the future. To the masses of the people, death was a dread mystery; beyond was uncertainty and gloom. In “the region and shadow of death,” men sat unsolaced. With longing eyes they looked for the coming of the Deliverer, when the darkness should be dispelled, and the mystery of the future should be made plain.
The forms of religion were being followed as vain and empty exercises, which did very little for the adherents, and the priests and people had become sticklers for pomp and ceremony, while the very kernels of religious life were conspicuously absent. On this point we must declare that there will be an ongoing temptation to focus our attention on the celebration, rather than on the relational aspect of the season.
Any celebration of Christ must include the relational aspect for without this, festivities are just a mere husk. Thus, as His earthly ministry began, Jesus invariably sought to restore humanity’s relationship with God, in ways that would make a difference for the better. He addresses the three dimensions of our being, the spiritual, the physical, and material, because, when Jesus declares that He came to give us abundant life all three dimensions are included.
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!