Some wishes come true

Jesus, teach me to see you as a wish that came true! Amen.

Jesus went to the temple -- like a church -- in His town and read from the Torah, the Jewish Bible. "The Spirit of the Lord is in me," He read. "He has sent me to make the poor happy, make the blind see, and tell you it's time for God to save His people." Jesus looked at the people and said, "Today, this reading has come true right in front of you."

Have you ever wished for something, and your wish came true? If you dreamed of having a basketball hoop in your yard and then got one for Christmas, or entered a contest and actually won it, you know how incredible that feeling is.

You hoped for something but didn't really expect it -- and then your wish came true!

The people in Jesus' time felt exactly like that. For many years, they had wished God would send help for them. Their government was bad and treated them cruelly; they sometimes wondered if God had forgotten all about them.

Then along came Jesus. In this week's Gospel (Luke 1:1-4;4:14-21), He tells them that their dream has come true: The things they read about in the Torah are really happening. God has sent Jesus to boost their faith, do miracles and bring them close to God again.

Having a wish come true is exciting because it's so rare. It isn't every day that you really want something to happen, and it does! Sometimes, you're so overwhelmed that you don't even know how to feel about it.

People reacted to Jesus' announcement that way, too. Some were excited and hopeful; others were scared to believe Him until they saw some proof.

But, either way, it was an exciting moment when they heard the news: The Spirit of God was in Jesus, and He was going to help people everywhere!