Jesus Rejected at Nazareth: The Mission of the Messiah (Part 2)

New King James Version:
Luke 4:16-21 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. (17) And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: (18) "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; (19) To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." (20) Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. (21) And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Ang Bag-ong Testamento (Gihubad sa pinulongang Cebuano gikan sa Griego, by Dr. Gadiel T. Isidro):
Lukas 4:16-21 Ug siya mipauli ngadto sa Nazareth diin siya midaku ug sumala sa na-andan, misulod siya sa sinagoga sa adlaw nga igpapahulay ug mitindog siya aron mobasa. (17) Ug gihatag kaniya ang basahon ni Isaias nga manalagna ug sa pagbukas niya sa basahon iyang hingkitan ang dapit diin nasulat: (18) Ang Espiritu sa Ginoo nagpaibabaw kanako, busa gidihog ako niya aron magsangyaw sa maayong balita ngadto sa mga kabus, gipadala ako niya aron mag-ayo sa mga masulob-on, aron magmantala sa kagawasan sa mga bihag, aron ang mga buta makakita, ug paghatag ug kagawasan sa mga dinaug-daug; (19) Sa pagmantala sa tuig nga nahimut-an sa Ginoo. (20) Sa pagkatapus sa pag-lukot sa basahan, iyang gihatag sa sulogo-on ug milingkod siya; ug ang tanan nga didto sa sinagoga mitutok ngadto kaniya. (21) Ug misugod siya sa pagsulti kanila nga karon kining kasulatan natuman na pinaagi sa inyong pagpamati.

Introduction

We are now in our study, at the time when Jesus was doing what He came to do when He first came here on earth in person. The early chapters of Luke recorded His infancy narrative; where Luke gathers witnesses testifying to the identity of Jesus, saying Jesus is the promised Messiah, the long awaited Messiah, who will bring redemption, salvation, freedom from oppression, and the promised kingdom and blessings.

Here we are now when Jesus Himself claims that He is the Messiah. Let us read our text. Luke 4:16-21.

We have learned last Sunday that when Jesus said in verse 21, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” What He meant was that He is the one who is referred to in the passage being read. Jesus is essentially saying to them, "I am the fulfillment of these prophecies and the favorable year of the Lord” in verse 19 “is now." “Favorable year of the Lord” is the era of salvation, the age of redemption. He is simply saying the promised Messiah is here, salvation has arrived, it is no longer future, it is no longer something you look forward to, it is here, it is now. I who stand before you am your Savior and Messiah. I am the fulfillment of these prophecies.

I. Jesus was Sent – v. 18a

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me because He has anointed Me… He has sent Me.”

Jesus did not take it on His own to do these works, He was sent. He did not just, out of the blue, it came to His mind that He will do this. No. He came here because He has a mission, and He was sent to do and to fulfill that mission. His death, which is the climax of His mission is no accident, it was not just a consequence of His ministry having oppositions. It was part of His mission. Jesus was sent on a mission.

As followers of Jesus we are also sent ones. Upon our confession of faith in Him, we are also, at the same time, commissioned to witness to the world who Christ is, what He has done and what He will do to those who will entrust their lives to Him.

We can learn that in this mission, in our text, the Trinity is involved. The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me. The Holy Spirit is present, giving power, empowering Jesus for this great mission. Yes, Jesus is powerful, they are equal in power, but the Holy Spirit has a unique ministry to and with Jesus. Verse 14 says And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. So the Holy Spirit is present, and He is the Holy Spirit of the LORD, refers to the Father. The Father’s Holy Spirit is upon Jesus. We have the Holy Trinity in this first phrase of verse 18, and this is taken, read by Jesus in Isaiah 61:1, The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me. I do not know how you will explain that if you’re a unitarian.

Also, let us remember that in Isaiah this is a prophesy about the Messiah; that He is to have the full power of the Spirit of God upon Him. And that is the case of Jesus. Again, verse 14 says And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. So, Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He anointed Me." Jesus submitted to the power of the Holy Spirit who came upon Him to enable Him to do His ministry and to anoint Him with divine power. So Jesus is that Messiah and He says it in verse 21, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." I am the Messiah and this is the day of salvation.[i]

So here we learn, that it is God the Father who anointed and sent Jesus for this mission. The word anointed here means set apart or consecrate, it also means empowered. Thayer’s Lexicon has this, consecrating Jesus to the Messianic office, and furnishing him with the necessary powers for its administration. So Jesus was set apart and empowered to this Messianic office. Christ from Greek chrīstós means anointed one, and anointed one in Hebrew is Messiah. That is why Jesus is called Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

His coming to earth was on a mission from the Father. He did not do these things on His own. And the Jews did not recognize that. Jesus said in John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

The people who claimed that they believed in God but rejected Jesus are actually not believing in God and does not know God (yet). When people still hold on to religiosity as a means to be saved then they do not really have faith in Christ, the don’t really believe in Christ and therefore they do not believe in God. It is because God the Father is the one who sent Jesus here on earth to die on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. And so we continue to witness.

We spent a bit of time here to establish that Jesus was sent by God the Father. You see, there are many people who are ignorant of this truth, either actively or passively. Imagine if people, the world outside the church, will realize this, will they not believe, will the church not be full? To know that Jesus is and was God-sent is life-changing! God sent His Son. It was God who sent the Lord Jesus. Many still do not believe, many still are ignorant. That is why we must not stop proclaiming about God’s offer of mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

II. To Whom He Was Sent

There are four metaphors used here to describe to whom the Messiah was sent: the poor, the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed. These four metaphors describe the unredeemed, they described the unsaved, they describe the lost, the unconverted, the unforgiven. They sum up the work of salvation. He preaches good news to the poor, release to the prisoners, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed. Each of these provides for us a metaphoric picture of the sinner in the desperate condition of his need.[ii]

Before we came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ this is the description of ourselves in front of God. And when you think about the unbelievers in the world, this is how you are to view them. They may, in fact, be rich. They may, in fact, be free. They may, in fact, have no physical infirmities whatsoever, like blindness. And they may appear to be on the top of the world, eminently successful. But the fact of the matter is, any sinner falls into these categorizations. Apart from the salvation that Christ brings, they are poor, they are prisoners, they are blind, and they are oppressed. This is the desperate condition of the sinner and until the sinner comes to a recognition of that condition, there will not be any compulsion to seek a solution. Unbelievers on the surface may be rich, as I said, they may have what they believe to be absolutely unlimited freedom, free to express themselves they think in any way they want. They may think they're on top of the world in terms of life style. But the fact is, spiritually they are poor, they are prisoners, they are blind, and they are oppressed. They must realize that in order for them to be saved they have to turn to the One who can deliver them.

They have to realize there are no personal resources to which they can turn to solve their imminent deadly situation. And that is the point of what Jesus is saying here as He opens the meaning of Isaiah 61. When the Messiah comes He will deal with the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed. Let's take them one at a time.

III. The Purpose of Being Sent (or the Mission) – v. 18-19

Jesus’ mission is described in a series of phrases in verse 18, phrases built around infinitives that describe the work of Messiah, the work of salvation.

a. Preach the gospel

To evangelize. This is Jesus’ first purpose. To proclaim good news. How important it is that when the Messiah came He announced His arrival and His purpose. If Jesus did not claim that He is the Messiah and that He come to seek and save the lost then the world will not know the Savior. There will be no disciples and no Christians.

To preach the gospel to the poor. The Messiah will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach the good news to the poor. The good news is not that poor people are going to get rich. The good news is not economic prosperity. The good news is not material enhancement. We are talking about spiritual riches here. The good news is to people who are spiritually impoverished, spiritually poor. The good news is you can be released from your spiritual bankruptcy.

The word poor, from Greek ptochos means to cower. It is a picture of a beggar curling up asking alms. This is the word that refers to a beggar. This is not the ordinary word for “poor.” The ordinary word for “poor,” penichros, means somebody who has very little, like the widow in Luke 21:2, the widow who had just a few coins but still gave it as offering, she was poor. She had very little. But ptōchos means you have absolutely nothing, and that is the word here. The Messiah will come and bring good news to the people who have nothing. And spiritually speaking, this is talking about people who recognize that they have nothing by which to praise themselves. In Luke 6:20 Luke records Jesus saying, "Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God." And again it's a repeat of Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor (in what?) in spirit," not in money, but the poor in spirit. That is the condition of every sinner. Every sinner is morally bankrupt. Every sinner, in the words of Isaiah, could count his righteousness as filthy rags. Every sinner has nothing to commend himself to God.[iii]

And, of course, this goes contrary to the Jewish mentality. They thought that by their good works and by their self-advancement by keeping ceremonial law, and obeying the Mosaic system, at certain points being careful legalists they would earn salvation. And Jesus comes and shatters that entire view and says, "The only people that Messiah is going to be able to bring salvation to are those who recognize their spiritual poverty." As long as you think you're a good person, as long as you think your religion counts for something, your morality counts for something, God cannot and will not have His mercy on you and therefore you’re still under God’s judgement. The poor are those, on the other hand, who recognize their total spiritual destitution.

So the person who comes to the realization that there are no saving resources available, they can only beg for mercy from God alone, they and they alone receive the grace of salvation. All pride is gone, all self-assurance is gone. They are utterly empty-handed, without commendation, who alone can turn to God and receive from Him what they cannot themselves generate.[iv]

They're like the publican, tax collector, in Luke 18:9-14, Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: (10) "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. (11) "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men; extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. (12) 'I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' (13) "And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' (14) "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." And Jesus said the man begging, the man with his face down went home justified, not the other one. It is the state of spiritual bankruptcy then where a person really sees their own helpless condemnation.

Again, Jesus reference to poor here does not refer to economic poverty. His ministry was not primarily for economic salvation, not for financial freedom. The word ptochos is the same word used in Rev. 3:17 which again refers to spiritual poverty, let’s read, Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

So let us note He's not talking about the economically poor. But it is true, and I want to add this, it is true that people with economic need, people who are genuinely poor, people who are in desperate economic conditions are fertile soil for the gospel. People who have very little, like us, are drawn sometimes to God where people who have everything materially are not. Jesus put it this way, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven." His riches become a barrier to his entering the kingdom because he has no sense of his need. He thinks he has no more needs.

So here we're talking about lost sinners, restless sinners without resources, starved, hungry, thirsty. The Messiah brings good news to those who are spiritually bankrupt, spiritually destitute and who know it and who come to the Lord with the words like that hymn, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling."[v]

Conclusion

Let me close with this. Let me read to you Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, (15) and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." Jesus was proclaiming that the kingdom of God is near, and what did He say the people should do? He said repent and believe the gospel. Jesus’ first coming here was not to liberate the poor from economic poverty. He came to offer spiritual riches to those who will believe Him. The work of the church is to lead people to Christ that people will have all the riches in Christ in the heavenlies (Ephesians 1).

The verses that follow this text in Mark tells us that Jesus was calling His first disciples. The amazing thing about this is that God’s kingdom will be established by using these common people. He was calling fishermen to follow Him and help Him in His work of proclaiming the gospel. We too are called. We may be common people, unpopular and few but we have an important message to the world. Let us continue to proclaim that there is salvation in His name. Amen.

___________________________

[i] John MacArthur

[ii] John MacArthur

[iii] John MacArthur

[iv] John MacArthur

[v] John MacArthur