TEXT: LUKE 4: 16-24
READING: PSALM 147: 1-20
SUBJ: Our Lord's declaration at Nazareth that He was indeed the Messiah and so declares the Gospel to them from the prophet Isaiah with all the substance therein declared.
AIM: That we might see all our needs described and met here in the Words of our Lord and so be in a way of praise and worship at such a day as this is.
INTR: The thoughts that brought me to this text having their origin in the Old Testament but landing here with the Gospel we would preach - is there any significance to fifty?
The event that transpired here at Nazareth is not thought to be in chronological order. Some feel that Luke tended to lean toward a logical presentation of the Lord's ministry.
Regardless of that we note that there is much that is fundamental to what Christ would communicate to them and which we would continue in Gospel seeing and preaching the substance of the Gospel.
In this we will see a most powerful application of the Old Testament Scripture as well as what to expect from the world - how quickly the perception changed from a gracious observance to hostility toward Him.
THESIS: The preaching of the Gospel entails addressing the most basic of human needs and profound deficiency and then presenting the only means whereby deliverance is accomplished.
The event and the reason of it (vv. 16-17)
It is interesting to note that Jesus was often pleased to honor the traditions of the fathers and did so on this occasion. This even though the conditions morally and spiritually were terrible.
After all, He had returned to Nazareth where He was well known.
Some typical things about these services in the synagogues are here noted:
The books of Moses were read in regular order with a passage in sequence each Sabbath.
Readings from else where may have been chosen by another or by the reader.
In any event, He was handed the scroll of the Book of Isaiah and it is said "He found the place where it was written."
Some have thought this to be providential and the thought occurs to me that it may be possible that the Mosaic reading may have been from Leviticus 25 where we read of Jubilee.
The message He preached (vv. 18-21)
Herein is the essence of the message that remains current and brings the claims of the Gospel to bear.
Two different words are used here for preach - the first is that which means to evangelize or to bring good new.
The second is found in v. 19 and means to herald an event or something happening. It was the message of the crier.
We must consider the substance of that which was preached:
The Gospel to the poor - those poor in substance, honor, destitute of Christian virtue, and who are powerless to accomplish whatever is needed. Blessed are the poor in Spirit.
To heal the brokenhearted - hearts that are shattered to pieces, crushed, and are brought to see their condition.
Deliverance to the captives - literally prisoners of war and consider the state of all before as being the captives of an old nature, the world, and the devil.
Recovering sight to the blind - the physically or mentally unseeing. Here we would understand the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit.
Liberty to the bruised - again, broken and smitten through.
And to herald the "Acceptable Year of the Lord."
Many think that the parallels here and elsewhere are unmistakable references to the year of Jubilee from the Old Testament.
It was after a period of seven sabbath years that Jubilee as sounded and there was a restoration of all things.
In particular, indentured servants were freed, and inheritances were restored.
We are thus drawn to N. T. thought as: "...Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2)"
The most profound declaration: This is the day here spoken of and He was the One saying it. "Earth shall keep her Jubilee, Jesus saves, Jesus saves!"
The reaction then and now (vv. 22-24)
They acknowledged the words but not the reader.
The demands He anticipated from them and
The declaration concerning them.
We consider the following response to their anger.
It was here that it was said of Him that “He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.â€
How is it now with men? Are we rejoicing in that we have been delivered from abject poverty, healed of our broken hearts, freed from the clutches of this present world, and set at liberty to worship our worthy Lord forever?
