Jesus Christ Began His Ministry Series

Introduction

When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in bodily form like a dove. From then on, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and fasted and prayed in the desert for forty days as the Holy Spirit led him. And although he was tempted by the devil in the desert, he defeated all of the devil's temptations with the word of God.

Afterwards, the Holy Spirit led Jesus to Galilee where he began teaching in the synagogues of various towns and villages.

I. Jesus teaching in the synagogues of Galilee (vv. 14-15)

Look at verses 14 and 15. “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.” Jesus' teachings were a completely different gospel that people had never heard before from the teachings of the scribes. Jesus did not tell them what they should do if they wanted to be saved, but focused only on the grace of God, who always cares about God's people. Moreover, by the many signs and miracles Jesus performed, he confirmed that God's grace had returned to God's people through Jesus himself.

Everyone talked about Jesus. News about Jesus spread everywhere. Centering on Galilee, it would have spread to the Decapolis region, the Phoenician region with Tire and Sidon, the Idumea region, and the Jerusalem and Judea regions. After hearing about Jesus, people came from all over to hear his words or be healed by Jesus. Jesus was praised by all. People had never seen or heard anything like this before.

Why did people praise Jesus? Is it because they have heard and seen God’s grace come to them in Jesus? For most people that was not the case. Jesus' Word did not take hold of them unto eternal life. They just found exciting about Jesus' Word. Jesus' teachings and miracles did not free people from the guilt and the power of sin. People only praised Jesus because of the miracles he performed. Thus people's hearts were cut off from Jesus.

If Jesus went to Nazareth, where he grew up, how would people react to him? Would the people of Nazareth be proud of a young man from Nazareth who was praised by everyone in his village? They saw Jesus growing up and playing in the streets. They heard and knew what Jesus had done. Before Jesus began his public ministry, he supported his family by working as a carpenter in Nazareth. And after receiving water baptism from John the Baptist and fasting for forty days in the desert, Jesus preached the gospel in Judea and Galilee before visiting his hometown of Nazareth for the first time. Will the people of his hometown, Nazareth, truly accept Jesus as the One who has been anointed by the Holy Spirit for the work of redemption? Will they really believe in Jesus in order to be saved?

II. Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing (vv. 16-22a)

Jesus went to Nazareth, where he grew up. The people of Nazareth may have known he was coming, but what they expected did not happen. Many miracles did not occur. There were sick people in Nazareth too, and Heavenly Father would have given Jesus the opportunity to perform many miracles. However, because of their lack of faith, He did not do many miracles in Nazareth (Matthew 13:58). Jesus layed his hands on a few sick people and healed them (Mark 6:5). Jesus performed many signs and miracles in the Galilee region, but in Nazareth, Jesus was just one of them, and he was just an ordinary citizen of Nazareth. The people of Nazareth not only did not believe in Jesus for their own salvation, but they also did not believe in his power to perform miracles, thus they could not be healed. This fact was clearly revealed when Jesus taught on the Sabbath day.

When the Sabbath began to dawn, like old times, Jesus went along the familiar streets and passed through the door of the synagogues he knew so well. There Jesus seated himself, just as he had done so often in the past (v. 16). Yet it was different now. Great tension could be felt among the people in the synagogue. Would Jesus now teach here too? What would Jesus say?

The man in charge of the synagogue read the selected portion from the books of Moses. Next in the order of service was the reading of a portion from the prophets. That portion could be freely chosen and anyone could de reading. At this point Jesus stood up and went forward. An attendant gave Jesus the scroll of Isaiah. Jesus rolled it open to chapter 61:1~2 and began to read (v. 17). Look at verses 18-19. “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 favor.” This means that God's anointed Messiah will come and free those who were held captive by the fetters of sin. Jesus proclaimed a great jubilee, the year of the Lord's favor. The Jubilee year comes after a full 50 years, and in this year, all the Israelites who were sold into slavery because they could not pay their debts are freed. They are free and can return home. Spiritually, it means that sinners who were slaves to the evil devil are liberated and saved through Christ Jesus.