Today

Today – Today used to bring us a great deal of excitement. The promise of a long planned trip, treat, or event was out there somewhere. Maybe it was a birthday when we were very young.

“How long until my birthday party, Mama?” we would ask.

“Oh, not yet,” she would answer. “It’s not until next month.”

“How long until my birthday party NOW,” we would ask in a few days.

“Oh, it will be here soon. It’s less than a month,” would be the answer.

After many more requests and a combination of patient an maybe impatient answers, “How long until my birthday party, Mama?”

“Tomorrow!” we would finally hear. But, tomorrow is not yet today, is it? We were anxious for the day to arrive. We wanted it to come. We were anxious to see our friends, to find out what kinds of presents might have come our way, and to be allowed one of the few days out of the year when we were allowed to do everything first and eat almost as much unhealthy food as we could ever want!

Today we live in the world of now. We have microwaves to speed up our meal preparation. We have instant coffee, instant rice, instant just about anything you could imagine. We have cameras that allow us to view the picture seconds after we have taken it. We want our internet speedy. We want what we want, when we want it. We carry our phones with us because we can’t wait to get home and get our messages. We have call waiting so we don’t have to call back when the line is busy.

All of this seems to have made us less patient instead of more. Imagine the Israelites gathered in the synagogue when Jesus opened the scroll to the passage from Isaiah. 


Isa 61:1-2
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me 
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,


He selected a passage written by the prophet Isaiah some 700 years prior to that day. Imagine the longing of the people present on that day, people who were poor, who were in bondage, who were blind in so many ways, and who waited, and waited, and waited for the Year of the Lord for generation upon generation.

What sort of interpretation did the congregation expect that day? The probably expected to be encourage to “keep the faith,” maybe to “suffer patiently,” perhaps a condemnation issued upon the oppressors of the people of Israel. I think it is safe to say that no one expected to hear “This day this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing!” Today has arrived. Praise God!

Pastor Craig