Luke 4:13-30

Last week, we saw how Jesus was tempted:
tempted to serve his own needs
tempted to do gain the power, splendour & prestige of this world
tempted to test God.

But, despite weakness & hunger, Jesus resisted each temptation.

And we were also reminded that while Jesus resisted, we so often do not:
we serve ourselves.
we look for power & prestige from things like education, employment, beauty & possessions.
we test God – demanding that he proves himself.

Then we went to the cross, to Luke 23, and we saw how even there Jesus resisted temptation & did nothing wrong. He died a perfect man, taking on himself the just punishment that should be ours for our weakness & failure.
As the hymn says,

There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heaven, and let us in.

Now, in Luke 4:14, Jesus returns to Galilee & he's welcomed with open arms, 'Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.'

Then he went on to Nazareth, his home town. He went to the synagogue where he was clearly well-known because they asked him to do the reading. He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah – a large scroll probably about 1' high & 24' long - and he unrolled it until he found Isaiah 61 verses 1 & 2.

Then, standing in front of all the people, he read, '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, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.'

And, says Luke in v20, 'The eyes of everyone were fastened on him – everyone is staring at Jesus – looking to him. And he rolls up the scroll, gives it back to the attendant and sits down. 'Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing', he says. In other words, 'The great prophet Isaiah was writing about me. I am that Spirit-filled man, and I've come to establish the new Kingom of God.'

Jesus is saying something about himself, and something about his mission.

First, Jesus says something about himself:
'The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me.'
In the OT, the HS was given by God to just a few special people – prophets & kings.
The prophets spoke for God, and the kings ruled for God. And that's just what Jesus has been sent by God to do. He's not come on his own, he's been sent by God with a message for the people.
So Jesus is God's anointed King, his Spirit-filled prophet, sent by God to fulfil the mission promised through Isaiah.

And having told everyone who he is, Jesus then says something about what he's come to do - he tells us his mission statement:
'The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.'

At first glance, it seems as if Jesus will be setting up a whole series of charities:
Christian Aid to relieve poverty
Amnesty International to release prisoners
the RNIB for the blind and
Liberty for human rights and civil liberties.

And it's true that, throughout his ministry, Jesus certainly does heal people and free people from the oppression of demons. But these are simply the outward signs of a far deeper reality.
So we need to take a wide-angle lens & look at the big picture if we're going to understand Jesus' mission.

And we need to go back to Isaiah.
Isaiah is the tale of two cities: First, the earthly Jerusalem. Isaiah 1:2-4 & 7

God's people have turned their backs on God, and he's turned his back on them.
Soon, they'll be sent into exile in Babylon – oppressed & imprisoned.
This is not the Lord's people enjoying the Lord's favour.

But then there's the heavenly Jerusalem – the new capital city of God's new kingdom:
Isaiah 60:14-17
And the chapter goes on to paint a wonderful picture of a city renewed and blessed by the presence of God, enjoying peace and plenty, joy and light.

And then comes chapter 61 – the chapter Jesus turned to in the synagogue: '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 broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.'

Jesus has come to bring God's people into a whole new kingdom – the kingdom where Jesus rules – the eternal kingdom of God.

And back in the synagogue, back in Luke 4, as Jesus preaches, Luke tells us that everyone spoke well of Jesus, amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.
You can imagine the scene: as Jesus preaches, the congregation begin to nod approvingly. They turn to each other & whisper, 'He really does preach very well, doesn't he?'
And then some of them say something seemingly insignificant, 'Isn't this Joseph's son?'
But as we read, the alarm bells ring. We remember what God had said about Jesus, 'This is my Son'We remember that the devil taunted Jesus, 'If you are the Son of God...'
But these people – oh, they know who he is – he's Joseph's son – “How extraordinary that a carpenter's son should preach so well!”
And Jesus senses what's going on – v23, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me:`Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your home town what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'"

Jesus knows that when they understand what he's claiming; that he is the Son of God, not the son of Joseph; when they begin to understand that he's claiming to be God's anointed king, then they'll turn on him – 'You're mad – you need a doctor. Don't preach to us, preach a bit of humility to yourself!'
And then they'll say, 'Go on then, if you're the Son of God, prove it. Do some miracles for us, like they say you did in Capernaum!'

Jesus knows what's going on in their hearts. He knows that, just as they rejected the prophets before him, now they'll reject him.
“No prophet is accepted in his home town”, Jesus says - his family & friends know him - how can he possibly be God's chosen one?!

And Jesus illustrates this rejection from the OT:
There was once a prophet called Elijah – you can read about him in 1 Kings 17.
At that time, Israel worshipped idols and provoked God to real anger, so there was a famine in the land. During the famine, Elijah needed to eat, so God sent him to a foreign widow in Zarephath. She welcomed God's prophet Elijah and God gave this foreign woman and her son all the food they needed, while Israel starved.

Another time, there were lots of people in Israel with leprosy. But God only healed a foreigner, Naaman, the Syrian.

Do you see what Jesus is saying?
He's telling these people that because they won't accept him, God will bring the blessings of his kingdom to foreigners, not to them. Because they won't acknowledge themselves as the poor, the imprisoned, the blind, the oppressed, he can't help them. So if they don't want to receive the year of the Lord's favour, he'll take it to the pagan Gentiles.

And the people are furious!

So they drive him out of town and take him to the brow of a hill to throw him off the cliff. But somehow Jesus just walks right through them and goes on his way.
We're not told how Jesus does this, but clearly it's a miracle – so the people got their miracle after all!

If Jesus is the Son of God – if the Spirit of the Lord has anointed him to preach good news, to proclaim freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind and release for the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour, then the question is, 'Do we recognise ourselves as being poor and needing good news?#

Do we recognise that we're prisoners of our own making – trapped by our selfishness and narrow-mindedness that rejects the gospel?

Do we acknowledge our blindness & ignorance? Do we realise that if we want to know God, we have to depend on his word to reveal God to us?

Do we realise that we're oppressed and enslaved by sin, incapable of doing what is right, incapable of glorifying and honouring God?

If not, then we're like the villagers of Nazareth who thought Jesus was just Joseph's son, and we'll reject him and even try to rid the world of him. Not that our puny resistance will stop him – he will just walk on through.

But when we acknowledge our need – when we recognise our pathetic, sinful, blind, oppressed lives, and turn to Jesus as God's son, then we begin to discover true freedom and begin to see God as he is.
We're freed from the idolatry of the kingdom of this world and enter the glorious kingdom of the freedom of God's sons.