Scripture Is Fulfilled In Christ And In Us Series

Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your only God and Savior? If so, then you are a Christian, meaning you are in Christ!

It is wonderful if you believe in Christ! But here’s something to think about as you live your daily life: Do you really believe that you are a Christian?

Do we really tell ourselves on a daily basis, “I am in Christ!”

Today we will hear what Jesus said about Himself. Do we believe Him? And again more importantly, how does my belief in Jesus impact my daily life?

Please open your Bibles to Luke Chapter 4. But before reading our passage this morning, let us together pray our commitment to the Bible…..

Read along with me Luke 4:13-32……….

Let us summarize the story:

After beating the devil’s temptations, Jesus returned home to Nazareth in the power of the Holy Spirit!

Jesus went to church where He’s been going to for about 30 years now.

Jesus was asked to read from Scriptures. Did Jesus have a choice in what to read??

Jesus was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah!

After reading, Jesus said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing!” In other words, Jesus said, “What I just read is fulfilled in Me!”

What did Jesus say about Himself in v18-19?

Remember that Jesus was publicly proclaiming these things at church and to the Jewish Leaders.

1. God the Holy Spirit is in Him.

2. Anointed by God.

The original Greek word here for anointed indicates that Jesus Christ is the Messiah sent by God! Messiah means the expected Savior for the Jews!

3. Preacher of the good news to the poor!

How many of you like grumpy people??

We are attracted to good news people! There are too many things to be sad about; we are all sinners; but with Jesus, there is always good news! Smile! Bring good news to people!

Husbands and wives, give your spouse a smile everyday!

4. Proclaims freedom for prisoners!

What did Jesus mean by this? Jesus was talking about the spiritual conditions of people! Jesus was bringing freedom from the slavery of sin!

5. Recovers sight to the blind!

What did Jesus mean by this? Jesus did heal the blind! But what was more important to Jesus, healing of physical or spiritual blindness?

In John 9:39-41 we read, “Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?" Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” Pride leads to blindness!

Jesus is the Healer for spiritual blindness!

We read in the last part of v18 that Jesus,

6. Will release the oppressed!

Other Bible translations state that Jesus will liberate the “bruised”! Jesus Christ will heal all pain! All Believers of Christ will go to heaven and the Book of Revelation tells us that in heaven Jesus will wipe every tear…. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain…. There will be a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse.

And we note back in Luke 4:19, Jesus

7. Proclaimed the year of the Lord’s favor! God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s grace, all God’s favor start and only accomplished through Jesus Christ!

We then note in v22 that the church leaders were initially amazed at what Jesus said. But look again at how Jesus responded to them in v23…..

You see, Jesus knew their hearts! What the church leaders were looking for was what they could get from Jesus, not what they could give to Jesus!

Jesus directly told them He is the Messiah and because God loves all people, Jesus cites in v24-27 that the Gentiles (non-Jews) will be saved and go to heaven! This is what infuriated the Jewish Leaders and they threw Jesus out of town!

You see, the issue was selfish pride! The Jewish Leaders thought they had it all figured out and they didn’t want to listen to Jesus.

How about us today? How’s our selfish pride? Do we think we have it all figured out rather than humbling ourselves before Jesus Christ?

God is looking for humble hearts! How do we humble our hearts to God?