Daily Devotion for March 17, 2025

Devotion:

For an audio version of this devotion, click here.

Read Isaiah 61:1-2.

The prophet Isaiah is telling us that God’s mission includes the things listed in these two verses – a mission to champion those who are powerless, poor, and marginalized. Other parts of Isaiah’s writings include the promise of a “suffering servant” of God, the Messiah.

When Jesus returned home to Nazareth, he was invited to speak in the synagogue there. Very intentionally, as Luke tells it, Jesus found these verses in the scroll of Isaiah. In our Bibles, it is a fairly quick process for us to flip through the pages to find a passage. But Jesus had to unroll the scroll with one hand and roll with the other, searching for this passage without chapter or verse numbers. We can imagine the anticipation in the congregation as he searched, found and read the passage, handed the scroll back to the attendant, and sat down to speak. With the words, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus lets them and us know that he is the promised Messiah, the Christ. And this is his mission, so that means it is now our mission!

Personal Worship Option:

Our church is blessed to have ministries that reach out to the poor, the homeless, those in prison, and others who are marginalized. Pray about which one(s) of those Christ might have you participate in or lead.