The Seeking Savior
Intro: What are you seeking?
(4:14–30) (Matt. 4:12–17; Mark 1:14–15)
These 17 verses serve as Luke’s summary of what happened throughout the entire ministry of Jesus: Jesus declared Himself to be the Messiah (Luke 4:21); the Jewish hearers proved themselves to be unworthy of God’s blessings (vv. 28–29), and the gospel would also go to the Gentiles (vv. 24–27).
“freedom” (aphesin) always refers to the forgiveness of sins elsewhere in Luke-Acts.
The Spirit of the Lord … anointed me. This anointing refers to Luke 3:22 (cf. Acts 10:38) and the divine commissioning for Jesus’ ministry. This anointing was not just a prophetic anointing (Luke 4:24) but a messianic one as well (3:22; Acts 4:26–27; 10:38), for Jesus is the bringer, not just the herald, of salvation. Although only Jesus was said by Luke to have been anointed by the Spirit (cf. Acts 4:26; 10:38), he serves here as a model for Spirit-filled teachers and healers in Acts.
Jesus was “anointed … to preach good news to the poor” (italics added). The word “poor” can cover poverty of every kind. But the emphasis here is on a conscious moral and spiritual poverty, which often is the lot of the financially poor. The rich are less likely to be aware of their spiritual poverty (cf. Revelation 3:14–22). The Greek word here (ptochois) is the same word Jesus used in the first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Often the poor are especially open to receiving Jesus’ teaching as good news because they realize their desperate spiritual straits.
Similarly, “prisoners” has a spiritual application because the word technically means prisoners of war. No prisoners were attached to the congregation in Nazareth, but the word broadly includes many forms of spiritual bondage—bondage to money (cf. 19:1–10), bondage to Satan (cf. 8:26–39), bondage to guilt (cf. 7:41–50), bondage to sensuality, and bondage to hatred. To all in the prison-house of sin, the truth about Jesus’ ministry is:
He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood availed for me.
—CHARLES WESLEY (1739)
The next element that Christ’s ministry offers is “recovery of sight for the blind” (italics added)—a mighty spiritual promise. In fact, Jesus used it again in explaining Paul’s ministry to him: “I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:17b–18).
Lastly, the root idea of “oppressed” is “broken in pieces” or “shattered” or “crushed.” Jesus comes to those squashed by life’s circumstances, who can see no way out, who find living itself an oppression—and he gives them freedom. Malcolm Muggeridge wrote, after coming to Christ in his later years, “All other freedoms, once won, soon turn into new servitude. Christ is the only liberator whose liberation lasts forever” (Jesus Rediscovered).
The “poor,” like the “prisoners,” the “blind,” and the “oppressed,” are not only the unfortunate of this world but those who have special need of dependence on God (cf. comment on 1:53; and on 6:20). The words “to release the oppressed” fill out the meaning of the previous words. Luke 7:22 cites some ways Jesus fulfilled this mission.
The passage was Isaiah 61:1–2, with the words “to release the oppressed” taken from Isaiah 58:6. The variation from the usual wording may simply reflect the interpretive translation in use at that time.
In saying “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21), Jesus identifies himself as the subject of Isaiah’s prophetic word. As such he is (1) the bearer of the Spirit (v. 18); (2) the eschatological prophet, proclaimer of the “good news”; and (3) the one who brings release to the oppressed (a messianic function). His role as Suffering Servant is not specified here, but an association may be assumed on the basis of the place of Isaiah 61 among the Servant passages.
Jesus applied all of this to His own ministry, not in a political or economic sense, but in a physical and spiritual sense. He had certainly brought Good News of salvation to bankrupt sinners and healing to brokenhearted and rejected people. He had delivered many from blindness and from bondage to demons and disease. Indeed, it was a spiritual “Year of Jubilee” for the nation of Israel!
The crowd was fascinated at His teaching—The eyes of everyone … were fastened on Him (Luke 4:20). Jesus’ words plainly stated that the offer of the favorable year of the Lord (i.e., the kingdom time) was being made to them through Him (v. 21).
4:21 this Scripture is fulfilled. This was an unambiguous claim that He was the Messiah who fulfilled the prophecy. They correctly understood His meaning but could not accept such lofty claims from One whom they knew so well as the carpenter’s son (v. 22; cf. Matt. 13:55).
Some scholars have suggested that a recent Jubilee year may have made this text fresh in the minds of Jesus’ hearers; some other scholars dispute whether this even remained a current practice in mainstream Judaism. That Luke ends the quote on a note of salvation is probably intentional, but his readers who know Scripture well would know how the passage continues.
These images are first physical in meaning but they have a spiritual application as well. There is no inherent virtue in being poor or oppressed or in bondage, but these experiences typically correspond to and foster a certain condition of heart and soul. When we recognize our brokenness and bondage and blindness, the gospel meets us fully and restores us. The gospel applies to our lives at the level of our whole person, not only our need for sin-forgiveness. We apply this full gospel to ourselves by looking to Jesus for restoration in every area of our lives, not just in the “spiritual” realm, recognizing that full restoration may await heavenly fulfillment.
4:18 the poor … prisoners … blind … oppressed. In their original contexts they refer to the oppressed and exiled people awaiting God’s salvation. In this context, they refer to marginalized groups thirsting for God’s deliverance.
To release the oppressed. The same word translated “release” here is translated “freedom” earlier in this verse. It probably is best to understand this metaphorically as standing in synonymous parallelism with the preceding statements (cf. esp. Acts 26:18, where forgiveness of sins parallels release for the oppressed in Luke 4:18), although there is a literal dimension in it as well (cf. 4:31–37; 13:16; Acts 10:38). This statement from Isa 58:6 is not meant to serve as a substitute for Luke’s omission of 61:2b in the next verse because it appears before rather than after 61:2a.
There is another sense, however, in which “blind” refers metaphorically to those who are “spiritually blind.”
The tradition that Israel rejected its own prophets was strong in Judaism; for instance, Jeremiah was persecuted by his own priestly town, Anathoth (Jer 1:1; 11:18–23). The proverb in 4:23 is attested in some form in Greek classical and medical literature, and some rabbis cited a similar Aramaic proverb.
4:28–29. A mob could not legally execute capital punishment in Jewish Palestine; the crowd is thus unusually angry—especially to attempt this execution on the sabbath (v. 16). Although Nazareth does not appear to have been built on a hill per se, like many ancient cities it was set in the hill country, with plenty of jagged rocks and cliffs nearby. Stoning began with throwing the criminal over a cliff, then hurling rocks nearly the size of one’s head on top of the victim. One aimed for the chest first, but at such a distance one’s aim would not be particularly accurate.
4:30. Whether the Lord hides him (cf. Jer 36:26), his attitude silences them, or his townspeople suddenly realize what they are doing to one of their own, Jesus walks through the crowd unharmed—his hour had not yet come.
4:22 The people are amazed at Jesus’ “gracious words” because they are powerful (cf. Acts 6:8). Isn’t this Joseph’s son? This should be understood in a negative sense: “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son …?” (Mark 6:3).
4:19 the year of the Lord’s favor. Alludes to the Jubilee Year (Lev 25:8–55), when once every 50 years debts are canceled and slaves are freed. favor. Greek dekton, which connects with the word “accepted” (Greek dektos) in v. 24; although God has forgiven his people and shown them favor, they did not find this good news acceptable.
He stopped in the middle of v. 2. The rest of the verse prophesies judgment in the day of God’s vengeance. Since that part of the verse pertains to the second advent, He did not read it.
4:30 passing through the midst of them. The implication is that this was a miraculous escape—the first of several similar incidents in which He escaped a premature death at the hands of a mob (cf. John 7:30; 8:59; 10:39).
and every fiftieth year (after seven Sabbaticals) was set apart as the “Year of Jubilee.” The main purpose of this special year was the balancing of the economic system: slaves were set free and returned to their families, property that was sold reverted to the original owners, and all debts were canceled. The land lay fallow as man and beast rested and rejoiced in the Lord.