Sight to the blind

Thus says God, the Lord,  who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,   I have taken you by the hand and kept you; have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations,
7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,  from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name;

Wow, and and added wow. This run-on sentence and follow in Isaiah basically carves out the path, the mission statement if you would, for Jesus.

So that when he goes to the synagogue in Nazareth and reads this from the provided scroll, he then drops the mike because it's all over. He reads the scriptures but instead of I, he says this: The Spirit of the Lord is upon ME because he has anointed ME to bring good news to the poor. He has sent ME to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

He rolls up the scroll, gives it back, and with every eye in the synagogue on him, he says, , "Today in your hearing this is fulfilled." Or in other words, I'm him, the one who will be a light to the nations, will open eyes that are blind, will bring out prisoners from the dungeon of darkness. He says this and walks out.

There was a buzz. This guy, wasn't he the son of Mary and Joseph? What is wrong with him?

And everyone came together and knelt before him, right? Nope. They ran him out of his hometown, heck even tried to throw him down the brow of the hill the town was built upon.

I just feel like confessing today. He is the one who turned the light on for me. He removed the scales from my eyes. He brought me out of a prison. I can never give enough to him, and I fail him all the time.

But I must say even when I fail, when I fall, when I open the door of the prison again with the struggle to decide whether to stay in the light or walk on back into the darkness, he is there. He is there. There is no better thing, thought, idea than knowing he is there.

My guilt for his scars remains. My guilt for the nails, the spear, the crown of thorns gets no less.

But through it all, my captivity is done, my blindness is over. Because He came. Because He touched me. Because He has touched my wife and kids. Because what once was lost is now found.

Today in your reading, this is fulfilled.