The SPIRIT of the LORD is Upon Me
March 1, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Dr. Carole Hulslander
The Ruach Adonai Elohim is on me, because Adonai has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of Adonai’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of Adonai, that He may be glorified. They will rebuild the ancient ruins. They will restore former desolations. They will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. Strangers will stand and shepherd your flocks, children of foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers. But you will be called the kohanim of Adonai, They will speak of you as the ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations and boast in their abundance. Instead of your shame, double portion. instead of disgrace they will sing for joy. Therefore in their land they will inherit a double portion; they will have everlasting joy. For I, Adonai, love justice. I hate robbery in the burnt offering. In faithfulness I will reward My people and cut an eternal covenant with them. Then their offspring will be known among the nations, their descendants among the peoples. All who see them will recognize them, for they are the seed that Adonai has blessed. I will rejoice greatly in Adonai. My soul will be joyful in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me in a robe of righteousness— like a bridegroom wearing a priestly turban, like a bride adorning herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes things sown to spring up, so Adonai Elohim will cause justice and praise to spring up before all the nations.
And He came to Natzeret, where He had been raised. As was His custom, He went into the synagogue on Shabbat, and He got up to read. When the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“The Ruach Adonai is on me,
because He has anointed me
to proclaim Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed,
and to proclaim the year of Adonai’s favor.”
He closed the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue were focused on Him. Then He began to tell them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.”
All were speaking well of Him and marveling at the gracious words coming out of His mouth. And they were saying, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
But He said to them, “Doubtless you will say to Me this proverb, ‘Doctor, heal yourself!’ and ‘What we have heard was done at Capernaum, do as much here also in your hometown.’”
But He said, “Truly, I tell you, ‘No prophet is accepted in his own hometown.’ But with all truthfulness I say to you, that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when heaven was closed for three and a half years and there came a great famine over all the land. Elijah was not sent to any of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a widowed woman. There were many with tzara’at in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them were purified apart from Naaman the Syrian.”
Now all in the synagogue were filled with rage upon hearing these things. Rising up, they drove Him out of the town and brought Him as far as the edge of the mountain on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him off the cliff. But passing through the middle of them, He went on His way.
Luke 7:20-35
When they appeared before Him, the men said, “John the Immerser sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”
At this very hour He was healing many of diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits; and He granted sight to many who were blind. And answering, He said to them, “Go report to John what you saw and heard: the blind see, the lame walk, those with tzara’at are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them. Blessed is he who is not led to stumble because of Me.”
And after John’s messengers left, He began to speak about John to the crowds. “What did you go out to the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? No? So what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine garments? Look, those who wear finery and live in luxury are in the palaces of kings! Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, even more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,
‘Behold, I send My messenger before You,
who will prepare Your way before You.’
I say to you, there is no one greater than John among those born of women; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
And when all the people heard, even the tax collectors, they affirmed God’s justice, because they had been immersed with John’s immersion. But the Pharisees and Torah lawyers, not having been immersed by John, declared God’s purpose invalid for themselves.
“So then, to what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other, saying,
‘We played the flute for you,
and you didn’t dance.
We sang a dirge, and you didn’t weep.’
“For John the Immerser has come not eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking. and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
1 John 3:1
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.