Fox Street Church of God

Isaiah 61 is a powerful chapter in Scripture. Jesus makes direct reference to it in his hometown of Nazareth, but he stops short of reading the entire passage. Why?

The verses for today’s message are about those despised Samaritans. Looked down on by all full-blooded Jews, excluded from worship, if you saw one coming you would cross the street so you would pass them with the farthest distance possible. Why were they so hated?

Sometimes the truth in statements get lost in translation. For instance, our Protestant Bible is a translation of a translation, ancient and Coptic Hebrew in the Old Testament and Greek in the New Testament. The Catholic Bible is a translation of a translation of a translation, meaning the ancient and Coptic Hebrew to Latin, then Latin to English. The Greek to Latin, then Latin to English in the New Testament.

Last week’s message focused on the oppressive culture that was present during the life of Jesus. Under the brutal leaderships of Octavian, better known as Caesar Augustus, and Caesar Tiberius, those under their rule were taxed heavily and put under heavy requirements by the Herod’s and the governors of each province. Not only that, the Jews had Temple requirements, which put an even heavier burden upon them. Now look at Jesus’ statement in Luke 20:20-26: