Why Jesus Came

Good Morning, turn with me in your Bibles to Lukes gospel in chapter 4 this morning I want to speak with you this morning on this subject. Why did Jesus come and what does it have to do with us today. Were looking at these verses for the simple reason it is the one place in which we have Jesus Christ giving His mission statement expressed in His own words.

Luke 4:16

Luke 4:16 HCSB

He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As usual, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.

Now what were told here in Lukes gospel happened a year into the minitry of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we only had Lukes gospel you would think it happened right at the beginning. But the other gospels make it clear that this was not the case. Matthew and Mark both record this scene much later on.

, , and when you read Johns gospel it becomes very clear the Jesus had some ministry in Jerusalem right at the very beginning right before this event takes place.

Luke has his reasons for putting this story here at the beginning of the gospel but even Luke himself in 14-15 makes it clear that Jesus jas already been ministering in Galilee and the news about Him has been traveling around the area.

Jeuss must have thought very carefully about the importance of the timing of this. So JEsus has come home to his hometown.

Think about this there was a buzz surrounding Jesus and his homecoming to Nazareth, this si the place he grew up as a boy and so the kids who had played with Jesus in the streets there as He was growing up are now in their 30’s many of them, they have children of their own many of them.

Some of the folks in this town and this is a small town how many carpenters would there have been? Many of these people would have had a chair that would have been repaired by Jesus or a table that had been ordered at the carpenters shop there in their home.

Luke tells us it was Jesus’ custom to go to the synagogue in His hometown, so were thinking about a community of people who personally had knelt beside had prayed beside, worshipped beside, had listened to the word beside Jesus and that had happened for many years.

But now everybody is talking about Jesus and when someone from a small town becomes famous its a big deal for everybody, and especially for Nazareth. Nazareth was not in the top 10 most desirable places to raise a family list.

It was a poor poverty stricken community, even the people chattering about Jesus would use this phrase CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF NAZARETH?

This was how this town was viewed.

CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF NAZARETH?

Well… how about the son of God?

So all of this is going on and finally the great day came when Jesus has his homecoming in Nazareth the place where He had been brought up and people would have been saying from house to house “now you better get to the synagogue early in the morning because there is gonna be a real big crowd and it wont be easy.

Can you imagine what this would have meant to Mary His mother she had to have been looking forward to Jesus coming home. every mother looks forward to their boy coming home. for her to think of Jesus bringing the word of life that must have been special for her, so Jesus comes and I want you to picture Him in the synagogue that was so familiar to Him and He would have been so familiar to these people.

You dont need me to tell you, how monotonous religion can be. you dont need me to tell you that there are alot of people with all the busniness of religion and all of the stuff that goes along with it cane be cimpletely boring.

The dead weight of years and years and years of tradition the way soome overly self righteous person can look down their nose at you. But this day was different the service would have followed a specific pattern it began with the singing of psalms then it was the reciting of these words THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD LOVE THE LORD WIHT ALL YOUR HEART

they would read from the 10 commandments and then read from one of the prophets and it was at that moment that Luke tells us that Jesus stood up walked to the front of the church and the scroll of Isaiah was given to Him and he unrolled it and chooses the reading from Isaiah.

Is

Luke 4:17 HCSB

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and unrolling the scroll, He found the place where it was written:

Luke 4:18 HCSB

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 to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed,

Luke 4:

Luke 4:19 HCSB

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Luke 4:20 HCSB

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

Luke records just the first sentence of the sermon of Jesus He began to say to them

Luke 4:21 HCSB

He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”

It was unlike any sermon they had ever heard, of course what they were used to is what many people have become used to. A scribe or a Pharisee or some other religious person talking about Isaiah

“Isaiah was a prophet who lived 1800 years ago,he ministered during the reign of Uzziah and ahaz and Jotham who were in the southern kingdom. People would look at thier watch and think how much longer have we got of this.

“Here in these words the prophet speaks about a day to come when the Lord will visit His people.”

So much preaching, is about prophecies of the past, promises for the future and leaves congregations of odinary people like you and me thinking what in the world has this got to do with me today?

Look what happens here

Prophecies from the past and promises for the future become gifts for today through Jesus Christ.

No looking backward thinking about a better day when God actually moved among His people no religious lofty ideas about someday there will be a better world.

No Jesus Christ says I am here to tell you there is hope for you today.

They had never heard anything like this in their lives.

No wonder everyones eyes were fixed on Him, He is speaking to them!

He is talkign about today, and He is talking about good news! This is important, the preaching ministry of Jesus is a model for every person who has the privelage of speaking as a minister in the name of Jesus Christ.

Jesus takes what was there and then and He makes it here and now!

The message is not God has done great things for people in the past, it is God can do GREAT THINGS FOR YOU TODAY!

Preaching is not just about information but it is mainly about transformation, I dont want you to come in here and leanr and never be changed.

What do you know in your life about a living encounter with God?

Not a setof dead religious traditions, not a head full of Bible knowledge have you met the living JESUS?

Here and now

If this Jesus were to touch your life how different would it be today?

(Taylor family)

We are preparing for Christmas and we wanna know what is the good news.

what is the reason for great joy

how can this good news be yours?

We wan this good news to be transforming the way we think and act everyday.

Christ tells us why He came

He came to proclaim release for the captives

sight to the blind

to set free the opressed

proclaim the year of the Lords favor

WHATS THAT?

THE YEAR OF THE LORDS FAVOR= the mountain top of compassionate laws that God had given for the protection of the poor to His people in ancient Israel.

For example one of the laws that God gave for the people was that every seven years all debts were to be cancelled.

HOW ABOUT THAT!

Can you imagine Visa and Mastercard adopting this law?

And every seven years just wipe it out and start over.

Every 7 years all slaves were to be released

for people who got themselves in severe financial debt, one of the ways they could work that off was to do work for someone who they owed the money to. That was allowed in the OT but it was only allowed for 7 years and then the person was to be released.

These were awesome laws, and they were be done every 7 years, but then there was a huge one.

This was for the protection of the poor and this last one was

YEAR OF THE LORDS FAVOR

After 7 cycles of 7 years in the 5th year all land that had been bought was to be returned to the origional owner. You have to understand when the people come into the land the land was given to each clan and each tribe and to each family.

Over the years some people would have been in the position of selling land because they fell on hard times.

But so that it did not go to some more than others there was this law called the year of Jubilee. Every 5th year

Leviticus

Leviticus 25:10 HCSB

You are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants. It will be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and each of you to his clan.

This was an awesome way that Gods purpose should be protected. Every 50th year.

This would allow for people who had to sell their land in order to survive to get that land back at the end of 50 years.

The price of the land would go up

This was meant to give those struggling a break once every lifetime.

Here is what we need to understand, no other country ever had laws like this.

No other culture has ever porotected the poor like this.

But God says you are my people and this is what I call you to do.

Question:

“How would you have liked to live under these laws?”

Would you have liked it?

Well it all depends doesnt it?

alot would depend on whether you are a borrower in which it would be great, or a lender in which case it wouldnt be so good.

These laws were great for those in debt, but they were costly for creditors. But god gave these laws to Moses and He says very clearly that when I bring you into the promised land this is the way it needs to be this is what you are to do, and every 50 years you should sound the trumpet and proclaim the year of the Lords favor.

Now in all of Israels history how often do you think this happened?

NEVER

NOT ONE SINGLE TIME, WAS THE JUBILEE LAW OF GOD EVER OBEYED IN ALL THE OT and you know why?

because the folks with the power are the folks with the money. They look at what the jubilee is gonna cost them and they say “we’ll do it next time.”

So the trumpet never sounded

By the time isaiah arrives on the scene, God’s people had been there for 700 years. by that time there should have been 14 jubilees, and there was not a single one.

The trumpet never sounded, the year of the Lords favor had never been proclaimed thats why the OT prophets always rebuke the people about hjow they had neglected those in need. They had not enacted the kind compassionate laws of God for the people.

These laws could only work in a community of people who really loved God with all their heart and loved every neighbor as much as themselves.

There isn’t a single culture on the face of the entire Earth in which that is true.

In other words what God’s laws consistently do, they prove to us how selfish we are, and our absolute need of a Savior who will alone do what we will not do and canot do for ourselves.

So God told Isaiah about One who would come, One who would preach good news to the poor, One who would bring freedom to the oppressed, one who would sound the trumpet and proclaim the year of the Lords favor. That nobody had ever done, or ever had the heart to do.

Who would do this, who would have the heart to do it,who would have the power to do it?

Who would be willing to pay the price to do it?

Then JEsus comes home and he steps up and reads this passage

Luke 4:18-

Luke 4:18–19 HCSB

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 to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Luke 4:21 HCSB

He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”

He is saying to them I am the One that Isaiah wrote about I am the One who has come to bring in the year if Jubilee.

Now does that mean that He came to insititute some economic program no, whats He talking about?

Jesus is saying

GOD IS GOING TO DO FOR YOU, WHAT YOU WOULD NEVER DO FOR EACH OTHER.

You think you know what love is?

You dont know anything when it comes to the love of God. God is going to do for you what you would not do for each other and I am here for this reason because God is ready to cancel all your debts to Him.

He is ready to break into all that binds you, all the chains on you, HE wants to set you free from Satans power, He is ready to give you back the inheritance that Adam lost and gavr away.

Im here Jesus says because I want to return that to you.

Its a promise of good news that brings hope and joy to us but is incredibly costly to Him. Because if you right off a debt heres what it means, you lose

When God rights off our debts to Him heres what it means, He absorbs all of that loss into Himself, and that is exactly why Jesus Christ went to the cross, exactly why He had to go, why? HE BORE THE LOSS TO CANCEL THE DEBT, TO RESTORE WHAT YOU HAD LOST

GOD CANCELLING YOUR DEBT TO HIM

GOD RESTORING YOUR BROKEN SOUL

GOD DID THIS IN JESUS CHRIST

According to Jesus’ own words that is why He came to Earth

HOW CAN THIS GOOD NEWS BE YOURS?

You have to recognize your own need

Notice who Jesus says He is bringing good news to.

-poor

-captives

-blind

oppressed (crushed)

Now some people today want to think that JEsus is for those who are without money, and people without freedom and people without power.

Now if Jesus were talking aout physical things none of these thigns would have applied to many of the people who were at the synagogue, you cannot be in prison or held captive if you sitting in a church, most of the people would have been pretty well off, at least by their standards...

So Jesus is not talking about physical relaties but spiritual.

YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS THIS MORNING APART FROM JESUS YOU ARE POOR THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN OFFER GOD TO BECOME RIGHT WITH HIM.

YOU ARE BLIND BECAUSE THE THINGS OF GOD ARE FOOLISHNESS TO THOSE WHO ARE PERISHING

YOU ARE IN BONDAGE TO SINAND A PRISONER OF SINS POWER

YOU ARE CRUSHED IN SPIRIT BECAUSE YOU THINK THERE IS NO WAY OUT!

This is every person, from the wealthiest person to the physically poorest person the ground is level at the foot of the cross.

Apart from Jesus Christ you got nothing

In this country where we rejoice and celebrate our freedom Jesus would say this

whoever sins is a slave to sin, in other words theres a power in this thing that you cannot get out of on your own.

No one will ever

sin makes us incredibly poor, it makes us a captive to its stranglehold, it makes us spiritually blind, and it crushes the personality.

There is a poverty that sin brings, and Jesus has come to make us rich in Him

There is a bondage that sin brings and JEsus has come to set us free

There is an inability to see that sin brings and JEsus has coem to give us sight and there is a crushing that sin brings and Jesus tells us thatHe has come to heal our wounds.

I HAVE COME TO CURE WHAT AILS YA!

Iv’e come to free you!

You follow the impulses of your own heart and what happens you mess your life up@!

You have wounds only I can heal, you have debts only I can pay, and You are in the dark but i have come to give light to your eyes.

Thats what He is saying

That leaves us with a choice with how we will respond.

You can say well this aint about me im fine!

If you say that you will never recieve anything from his hands because He only offers this to people who know their own need.

IM LOST LORD, IM CRUSHED LORD I NEED RELIEF, IM STUCK LORD

What if God is speaking to you this morning, and He is. There is nothing He cant fix, he can give direction when your lost vision when you need it, healing for your broken heart and allow you to mount up on wings as eagles

HE has come to bring good news to you!

If your going to recieve from Jesus youve got to see your own need

2. DRAW NEAR TO HIM

Not to give him soemthing that will impress Him you come to Him saying NOTHING IN MY HANDS I BRING SIMPLY TO THE CROSS I CLING

Im not coming to offer you something Lord I am coming because I need to recieve.

Draw near to JEsus Christ

You come to Jesus Christ because He is the One who holds the gifts of God in Hi hands, notice how personal it is, the Spirit of the Lord is on me!

He has anointed me to proclaim this good news to the poor, He has sent me

ME ME ME

so what do we have to do, Jesus says come to me, and I will give you rest

Christ is the One who brings these blessings into your life its not the church, or other Christians, not changing you circle, it doesnt mean you lifes circumstances will change, its not moving on to another place, Its Jesus Christ who is able to bring these wonderful gifts of God into your life

The gifts of God become yours when Christ is Yours

JESUS CAME TO BE YOUR FRIEND AND YOUR LORD

HE CAME TO LIFT YOUR BURDENS

This is why He came

what is it that you need to recieve from JEsus today?

Healing?

Wisdom?

VISION?

FREEDOM FROM BONDAGE?

SALVATION?

RELIEF FROM BEING CRUSHED IN SPIRIT?

Jesus is one cry away.

I dont know who this is for I do not write poetry, but last night about midnight god put these words in my heart and I had to write them down.

Jesus is one cry away,

it does not matter what time of day,

He longs to be your friend and helper,

Waits for you to seek His shelter,

Under His wings He will cover you,

In His love HE’ll carry you.

By His strength you’ll make it through.

Can you believe the Lord wants to give you what you need this morning?

today?

Are you willing to receive it?

Let’s pray