02-05-06-Jesus the Messiah
Today, I want to begin to look at the healing aspects of God by examining the primary scripture that Jesus read to confirm that He was the Messiah and why He was here.
Luke 4:14-21 (NIV) Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised Him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. And He stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him, 21 and He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Isa 61:1-3 (NIV) 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee He went around teaching in the synagogues and is praised by all (v. 15). Yet, when He comes to His hometown, Nazareth, He has quite a different reaction. As we examine this passage, we want to see what it is that Jesus said that caused them to want to literally throw Him out of town. Jesus reads from the Old Testament scripture of Isaiah 61:1-2. The first question is why did He pick this passage out of all the passages in Isaiah to prove that He was the Messiah? Isaiah is full of Messianic passages and many of them would have been much more easily accepted. However, when Jesus was handed the book of Isaiah, vs. 17 says He opened the book and “found” the place where this passage was written in Isaiah 61:1-2.
I believe there are 2 reasons for why Jesus chose this passage.
1. He wanted to reveal to them the truth of who He was
2. He wanted to reveal to them the truth of His mission.
1. The truth of who He was.
Jesus knew that He was anointed by God. In vs. 14, Luke says He returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit.” Jesus was acting under the anointing of God. The very first thing this passage said in vs. 18 was “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me . . . .” Jesus was telling them that He was the Anointed One of God—the Messiah.
4899 מָשִׁיחַ [mashiyach /maw·shee·akh/] n m. From 4886; TWOT 1255c; GK 5431; 39 occurrences; AV translates as “anointed” 37 times, and “Messiah” twice. 1 anointed, anointed one. 1a of the Messiah, Messianic prince. 1b of the king of Israel. 1c of the high priest of Israel. 1d of Cyrus. 1e of the patriarchs as anointed kings.
5547 Χριστός [Christos /khris·tos/] adj. From 5548; TDNT 9:493; TDNTA 1322; GK 5986; 569 occurrences; AV translates as “Christ” 569 times. 1 Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God. 2 anointed. Additional Information: Christ = “anointed”.
The word Hebrew word for Messiah (meshiach) means “The Anointed One”, in the Greek it is the word “Christ”. To be their Messiah, He had to have the anointing of God upon His life. In vs. 21 He leaves no doubt that He is talking about Himself fulfilling this scripture and claiming to be their Messiah.
Jesus had been teaching and ministering in Judea for about a year. Luke does not show this, but if you look at a harmony of the gospels, you will see that John shows the first year of Jesus’ ministry was primarily in Judea (John 2:13–5:47). He turned the water into wine in Cana, but then ministered in Jerusalem, Samaria, and throughout Judea. So when He returned to Galilee, the news about Him had already been spread around (v. 14). Now, Jesus is using this passage in Isaiah 61 to substantiate what He has done so far and who He is—their Messiah.
2. The truth of His mission.
To claim to be the Messiah was great, but I think more importantly, Jesus wanted to let them know why He was there. What was His mission as the Messiah? Of all the passages in Isaiah that He could have picked, none declare any clearer than this one, what God wanted to do in the lives of people in that day as well as today.
“Notice the revolutionary implications of the Messiah’s mission. He came to deal with the enormous problems that have afflicted mankind throughout history:
Poverty. To preach the gospel to the poor.
Sorrow. To heal the brokenhearted.
Bondage. To proclaim liberty to the captives.
Suffering. And recovery of sight to the blind.
Oppression. To set at liberty those who are oppressed.
In short, He came to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord—the dawning of a new era for the world’s sighing, sobbing multitudes. He presented Himself as the answer to all the ills that torment us. And it is true, whether you think of these ills in a physical sense or in a spiritual sense. Christ is the answer.
It is significant that he stopped reading with the words “ ... to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” He did not add the rest of the words from Isaiah “ ... and the day of vengeance of our God.” The purpose of His First Coming was to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. This present age of grace is the accepted time and the day of salvation. When He returns to earth the second time, it will be to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God. Note that the acceptable time is spoken of as a year, the vengeance time as a day. “[i]
To preach (Rev., proclaim) the acceptable year of the Lord. This was a reference to the first day of the year of Jubilee, when the priests went through the land proclaiming, with the sound of the trumpet (shofar), the blessings of the opening year.
Lev. 25:8–17 (NIV) “‘Count off seven sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan. 11 The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. 12 For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields. 13 “‘In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to his own property. 14 “‘If you sell land to one of your countrymen or buy any from him, do not take advantage of each other.. . . . 17 Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.
Note vs. 10, where liberty is to be proclaimed to all in the year of Jubilee. Jesus was proclaiming (like the blowing of a trumpet), that I the Messiah, am declaring the year of Jubilee in everyone’s lives! This was the year of restoration of liberty to everyone. It was a year of release from bondage and a year of rest. It was a time of thanksgiving and an occasion for the exercise of faith that God would provide food because the land was to lay fallow during this year (so the year before would yield 3 years worth of food).
The year of jubilee was the fiftieth year in the Jewish religious calendar as it followed the completed series of seven sabbath years or 49 years (Le 25:1–8). It was heralded on the day of atonement by the sounding of “jubilee” (Heb. yobel), i.e., a “ram’s horn” or a trumpet made in the shape of a ram’s horn (Le 25:9; cf. 16:29–30). The year of jubilee provided Israel with a time of release and rest (Le 25:10–12). Like the Sabbath years of rest, it was to be observed “to the Lord” with celebration and trust that God would provide food as He promised (Le 25:2–7, 11–12, 18–22). The release included the reversion of land to its original owners, cancellation of all debts, and freedom for all Israelites in servitude.[ii]
Purposes of: Restore liberty (to the enslaved) Lev. 25:38–43
Restore property (to the original owner) Lev. 25:23–28
Remit debt (to the indebted) Lev. 25:47–55
Restore rest (to the land) Lev. 25:11, 12, 18–22
Figurative of:
Christ’s mission Is. 61:1–3
Earth’s jubilee Rom. 8:19–24[iii]
Specifically, Jesus talks about 5 areas of restoration or healing:
1. To preach the gospel to the poor. Poverty—Physical and Spiritual
2. To heal the brokenhearted. Sorrow/Grief—Emotional
3. To proclaim liberty to the captives. Bondage—Spiritual
4. And recovery of sight to the blind. Physical and Spiritual
5. To set at liberty those who are oppressed. Oppression—Physical and Spiritual
For the next few weeks we are going to look at each of these areas in more depth to learn how we can have the restoration and healing in our lives that Jesus came to bring us. We will look at how salvation provides for every aspect of life—Physical, Emotional, as well as Spiritual. This will provide the foundation for what I believe God wants to do through His church in 2006. That is we declare 2006 to be a year of Jubilee in our lives!
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n n: noun
m m: masculine
TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version
adj adj: adjective
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
TDNTA Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version
[i]MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (electronic ed.) (Lk 4:16). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[ii]The NASB Topical Index. 1998 (electronic ed.). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[iii]Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Nelson's quick reference topical Bible index. Nelson's Quick reference. Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers.