REVEALING JESUS’ MISSION-I—Luke 4:16-21
Attention:
My having to introduce myself to the people I worked with UPS hub in Raleigh, NC(seminary 1991-1994).
Need:
We all are searching for truth. Some knowingly & others appearing oblivious, resigning themselves to believing, ’it’ll all come out in the wash.’
Truth must be available. But where do I go to be certain of it?
Acts 26:26—Paul to Governor Festus, before King Agrippa—““For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.”
Luke recorded the public assignment of Messiah’s mission to Jesus.
Jesus’ mission is publicized/revealed.
But for whom is Jesus’ mission publicized/revealed?
10 considerations/dynamics/functions/observations in the public revelation of Jesus’ mission.
1—Jesus’ mission is revealed for the...
FAITHFUL(:16-17)
Explanation:
:16—“So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, & stood up to read.”
Jesus traveled to & arrived in Nazareth.
Jesus had been raised in Nazareth. No doubt everyone knew Him & vice-versa in Nazareth.
Jesus had a custom/habit of entering the “synagogue” on the Sabbath.
“The Sabbath” was always on a Saturday which was the 7th day of the week. It was a day originally commemorating of the cessation of God’s work & the perfection of His creation(Gen. 2:2-3).
The actual “Sabbath” was given to the Jews per the Mosaic Law & was intended to mimic God’s cessation thru a personal & corporate cessation from ‘work’ with a corresponding attention to worship.
Ex. 20:8—““Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
“The Sabbath was to remind the people of Israel that they had forfeited paradise, that man had forfeited paradise.”.....“to produce repentance, for the forfeiture of all that is right.”.....“this law is not moral, it’s symbolic.”..... “The Mosaic Sabbath, the symbol, the sign was a dim reflection of the true rest.”..... “There could be a rest from the endless struggle & the horrible burden of trying to earn your salvation. When Jesus came, He brought the rest, the true rest.”.....“Jesus literally did away with the Sabbath.”.....“God’s true rest didn’t come through Joshua. God’s true rest didn’t come through Moses. God’s true rest comes only through Jesus Christ.” [Heb. 3:10].....“The rest that the New Testament concerns itself with is not a day of the week, it is salvation.”.....“There is never a command in the New Testament to keep the Sabbath.”—John MacArthur
Jesus, on the other hand, came to abolish the Sabbath simply because it was a sign rather than the reality of eternal rest in Christ.
Mk. 2:27—“And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, & not man for the Sabbath.”
*Col. 2:16-17—“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”
Jesus “stood up to read” before the people in the synagogue. The reading consisted of a portion from the OT Scriptures(:17).
“Brought up”—trefw—1) To nourish, support; 2) Feed; 3) To give suck, to fatten; 4) To bring up, nurture. Strong—properly, To stiffen, i.e. Fatten by implication--To cherish[with food, etc.], pamper, rear). Used 8X.
“Custom”—eyw—1) To be accustomed, used, wont; 2) That which is wont; 3) Usage, custom. Strong—a primary verb; To be used(by habit or conventionality); neuter perfect participle usage. Used 4X.
“Sabbath”—sabbaton—1) The seventh day of each week which was a sacred festival on which the Israelites were required to abstain from all work. Strong—a day of weekly repose from secular avocations (also the observance or institution itself).
:17—“And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:” ”
“The attendant”(:20) handed Jesus “the book of the prophet Isaiah.”
“Apparently Isaiah was handed to Jesus without his asking for it.”—RWP
It may be that the reader(Jesus) was responsible for choosing the passage(s) to read. However, it may just as easily be true that Jesus’ could have read from a passage providentially(ordained of God) chosen by someone else—namely the ruler of the synagogue.
Thayer states of the “Ruler of the synagogue”—arcisunagwgov—It was his duty to select the readers or teachers in the synagogue, to examine the discourses of the public speakers, & to see that all things were done with decency & in accordance with ancestral usage.
*“On sabbath days some seven persons were asked to read small portions of the law. This was the first lesson or Parashah. This was followed by a reading from the prophets & a discourse, the second lesson or Haphtarah. This last is what Jesus did.”—RWP
It appears that Jesus opened or rather unrolled the scroll searching for a specific passage in Isaiah.
Jesus obviously found it & at least read from Isaiah 61:1-2( & possibly 58:6).
“Handed to/Delivered to”—epididwmi—1) To hand, give by hand; 2) To give over—2a) Give up to the power or will of one. Strong—To give over (by hand or surrender). Used 11X.
“Opened/Unrolling”—anaptussw—1) To unroll—1a) The books of the Hebrews were rolls fastened to [one or] two smooth rods & furnished with handles, so that they could be rolled up & unrolled. Used 1X.
“Book”(See :17)—biblion—1) A small book, a scroll, a written document; 2) A sheet on which something has been written—2a) A bill of divorcement. Strong—a diminutive of biblov; A roll.
“Found”—euriskw—1) To come upon, hit upon, to meet with; 2) To find by enquiry, thought, examination, scrutiny, observation, to find out by practice & experience; 3) To find out for one’s self, to acquire, get, obtain, procure. Strong—To find (literally or figuratively).
“Written” (See :21—grafh—“Scripture”)—grafw—V.—1) To write, with reference to the form of the letters; 2) To write, with reference to the contents of the writing; 3) To fill with writing; 4) To draw up in writing, compose. Strong—a primary verb; To "grave", especially--To write; figuratively--To describe.
Argumentation:
Jn. 1:10-13—“He was in the world, & the world was made through Him, & the world did not know Him. He came to His own, & His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
The problem is...
People can be publicly ‘faithful’ to a religion—whether its right or wrong.
They can be personally ‘faithful’ to their private interpretation of their religion—whether its right or wrong.
2Pet. 1:16-2:3—“For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power & coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor & glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns & the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, & bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, & their destruction does not slumber.”
Rom. 9:1-8—“I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow & continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, & the promises; of whom are the fathers & from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.”
Rom. 9:25-27—“As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.” Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved.”
Rom. 11:5-19—“Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, & the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day.” And David says: “Let their table become a snare & a trap, A stumbling block & a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, & bow down their back always.” I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, & their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh & save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; & if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, & you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, & with them became a partaker of the root & fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” “Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, & you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.”
Rev. 7:13-14—“Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, & where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, & washed their robes & made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
2Cor. 13:5—“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified.”
Acts 17:10-12—“Then the brethren immediately sent Paul & Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, & searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, & also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.”
Rev. 2:7 et al; 13:9—““He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says...”.....“If anyone has an ear, let him hear.”
Mat. 7:21—““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Mat. 9:2-7—“Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? “For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise & walk’? “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”--then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, & go to your house.” And he arose & departed to his house.”
Our sins are against God. They must be forgiven by God. Do you believe that your sins are forgiven...in Christ alone?
Guilt eating you up?
Rom. 3:20-26—“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law & the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all & on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned & fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just & the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
*Gal. 2:20—““I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; & the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me & gave Himself for me.”
Heb. 10:22-25—“let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience & our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love & good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, & so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Illustration:
The African Bullfrog(Pyxicephalus adspersus) 9 in. long X 2.5 lbs. & can live for upwards of 40yrs. in particular parts of Africa where the water dries up yearly/Certain areas of their range can be completely dry for years at a time, and can reach surface temperatures over 100 degrees F. & below freezing in winter/These frogs burrow into the mud as it begins to dry making a ’cocoon’ of sorts/They will remain buried until the rains return—They will not emerge if it is drizzling, but only when a torrential downpour comes filling its temporary pool!/Only then will they dig their way out of the ground to mate, giving their tadpoles a suitable environment/The frogs are there when the rains arrive & pools fill again/Persevering recipients of favor/FAITHFUL
Faithful spouses experience joys which others can only imagine/They are there when ‘the ship comes in’...They are there when it does not/FAITHFUL
Application:
?Does Jesus’ mission inform/energize your FAITHFULness?
?Has Jesus’ mission been revealed for you?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Introductions of my mission at UPS.
Action:
Jesus’ mission is revealed for the...
1. FAITHFUL(:16-17)
Presented 09/16/2012am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
