Jesus’ Mission Statement

Manuscript:

Today we watch and read about this story that Luke captures for us where Jesus returns to his hometown called Nazareth. He has just begun His earthly ministry at the age of 30 years old. It’s the Sabbath day, so Jesus went to the synagogue where Jewish people and families would go to worship the Lord. Jesus was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, which we can find in our Bibles today in the Old Testament. He unrolled the scroll, and found a certain place in the scroll, and read out loud what was written. The scroll said,

Luke 4:18-20 ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.”

Who do you think the prophet Isaiah was writing about? The coming Messiah, who of course is Jesus! Jesus then said something really significant about what He had just read. He told all of those in the synagogue, Luke 4:21 ...“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”” What do you think Jesus meant? He was saying that what the prophet Isaiah wrote long ago about the coming Messiah was coming true right before their eyes! Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy written about Himself.

After Jesus made that statement, Luke 4:22 “And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”” They knew Jesus as Joseph’s boy, the carpenter’s son. Surely He was not the one to fulfill this great prophecy given by Isaiah. But, as you and I both know, Jesus is the one who fulfilled that prophecy, and every other prophecy about a coming Messiah.

Jesus responded back, Luke 4:23-24

Luke 4:23–24 ESV

And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘ “Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’ ” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.

The people of Nazareth wanted Jesus to perform the same miracles that had taken place in Capernaum, especially because they were from His hometown.

Jesus then gave examples of Old Testament prophets Elijah and Elisha and how because of much of Israel, God’s chosen people, turned back on God and didn’t believe, God used Elijah and Elisha to reach the Gentiles (anyone else other than a Jew. We are Gentiles!)

Now, after Jesus had said that, did the people receive it well? Nope, they sure didn’t. In fact, the people got so mad, they drove Jesus all the way out to the edge of a cliff in the city and wanted to push Him off of it! But Jesus was able to get away, most likely from the help of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus had compassion for people; even those who weren’t apart of Israel, God’s chosen people. God’s ultimate plan was to save all kinds of people, not just the Israelites. People misunderstood Jesus often and didn’t like His mission and what He was about. He made claims that they didn’t believe - things that upset them to the point of wanting to take His life. However, Jesus understood His mission, and why He came to earth. Just like Jesus Himself read in the scroll of Isaiah, He came to proclaim good news to the poor, He came to set the captives free, give sight to the blind, free the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of God’s favor.

Did Jesus come to do these things only for Israel, God’s chosen people? No! We know that Jesus came for all people. His compassion went far beyond just the Gentiles. It was His mission to seek and save the lost.

What can we learn from this story? Well, we can learn that Jesus shows great compassion to others. In fact, His compassion is so great that He went as far as dying on the cross for the sins of His people! Jesus set the example of how we are supposed to love others and show compassion to them. Here’s another question: do you think Jesus still loved the people who tried to push Him off the cliff and kill Him? I think so. Because Jesus wasn’t bound by sin, He had a perfect view of people. He could see them for who they truly were, and love them for who they truly were, without any conditions.

Our bottom line for today is: If Jesus showed compassion, I should show compassion!

The Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is where we clearly see Jesus’ compassion on full display. He died on the cross, and rose again three days later, defeating sin and death once and for all. We can have a relationship with Him, if we repent of our sins and place our faith and trust in Him and in Him alone.