We've been tracing the theme of the first born. It's a theme about how people use power.

What we've seen is that people consistently use power to oppress others. They use others

for their own benefit to keep themselves elevated. But Jesus, the first born son of God,

wields his power in cosmic authority in a way we've never seen before.

And what Jesus, as the son of God, is going to do with his cosmic authority is to go reach

to the people in the lowest status in his society and community, the poor, the imprisoned, the blind, the oppressed,

and elevate them. And that's the power of the divine first born at work in the world.

In fact, this is exactly what Jesus says he has come to do. One day in the synagogue he reads from the Skrulvizea

and says, I have come to proclaim good news to the poor.

This quote is about God's coming cosmic king and those they're listening right him off.

So he leaves the synagogue and immediately encounters an evil spirit.

Whatever presence is driving this man knows who Jesus is.

Because it says, leave us alone. Have you come to destroy us?

I know who you are. You're the holy one of God.

So this is ironic because the people in the synagogue were like, who is this guy?

And then here's this death spirit who knows exactly who he is.

Jesus drives out the unclean spirit and then he continues throughout his ministry to touch all sorts of people

considered unclean under the Levitical Law.

Now if he was a typical priest or rabbi, this act would have made Jesus unclean too.

But instead his touch makes the unclean clean. With Jesus, it's not contagion that spreads, but his holiness.

Or contagious holiness. Or contagious life. Holiness describes God as the unique one who's the source of life.

It's as if divine life is what becomes contagious through Jesus.

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