INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• We are closing in on Easter Sunday, the time we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!
• As we enter this wonderful time of celebration today I want take us into the Synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath.
• Jesus is going to handed to scroll that contained the book of Isaiah and from this Jesus was going to read from Isaiah 61:1-2, which was regarded to be a Messianic passage by the Jewish scholars.
• Now since Jesus’ public ministry opened with His baptism by John, He had been very busy.
• He spent 40 days a nights in the wilderness to be tempted, He later picks up His first followers, turns water into wine at the wedding of Cana of Galilee. He cleanses the temple for the first time, and has an interview with Nicodemus.
• Jesus is doing a lot of things in the beginning of His ministry, but in the passage we will look at today, Jesus is going to give The Inaugural Address!
• But in the midst of His busy schedule, when Jesus enters the Synagogue, He is going to read a passage that spells out the mission of His ministry.
• He missions was not to just perform miracles, to heal everyone from their diseases or even rid the world of poverty, but rather His mission would be to deal with a much deep issue that has plagued mankind since the fall in the garden.
• As important as His resurrection is, if we do not understand WHY He came, WHY He died, and WHY this should be important for us, Easter just becomes another holiday featuring a big rabbit.
• SLIDE #2
• Let’s begin turning to Luke 4:14-21
• SLIDE #3
• Luke 4:14–21 (HCSB) 14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread throughout the entire vicinity. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, being acclaimed by everyone. 16 He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As usual, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and unrolling the scroll, He found the place where it was written: 18 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 to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. 20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”
• SLIDE #4
• Jesus came to…
SERMON
I. Preach to the poor.
• There are a couple of different ways we can take this to mean.
• When Jesus says that He came to preach to the poor, He could have been talking about the physically or materially poor.
• This thought fits in with the rest of the gospel of Luke where he frequently speaks of the poor.
• The religious leaders of the day would have nothing to do with the poor, they despised the poor.
• We need to try to reach the poor as we need to reach the middle-class and the wealthy!
• Jesus reached out to the poor; however, He did not cure their poverty. Poverty was not their real problem, SIN was the problem that Jesus dealt with.
• On one hand, Jesus told us to give to the poor in Matthew 6:1-5, but on the other hand Jesus reminds us…
• SLIDE #5
• Matthew 26:11 (HCSB) 11 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.
• To limit this to the poor only short-changes why Jesus came, He does not JUST want to reach the physically or materially poor.
• If we misunderstand this part of the mission we will do what many churches do, we will only focus our energies on a social gospel were we only focus on ridding the world of poverty which will never happen in this world.
• God desires all to be saved!
• The real mission here is the second option, the SPIRITUALLY poor!
• As we look at each part of the mission we can see that Jesus came to deal with the root of our problems, sin!
• Sin does have devastating effects on each of us.
• Sin may seem fun, but it is not good for us.
• It is like a person who loves to gamble or do drugs.
• These things in truth make us poor. Any addiction what we have does nothing but drain us of our strength and resources.
• Sin makes us spiritually poor. Sin bankrupts our spiritual bank accounts.
• In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says…
• SLIDE #6
• Matthew 5:3 (HCSB) “The poor in spirit are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
• Many times riches fill the mind with pride and self-complacency, we tell ourselves that we do not need the gospel.
• When we take the gospel to people who are lost in their sins, we are taking them out of spiritual poverty.
• How many people do you know that you just look at their life and you are heartbroken for them? You can see the path they are on and you know what will happen to them.
• Jesus tells us where on investment is, there our heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21.
• Have you ever known a person who was going to make a very bad financial investment? If you had the chance would you try to help them to not make mistake?
• People who are lost are poor because they are investing their lives in the wrong things. If you had a large bank account, but handled it poorly, you would eventually be poor.
• Sin makes people spiritually poor. When we share Jesus with them, we have a chance to break them out of their poverty.
• Next we see that Jesus says He came to…
• SLIDE #7
II. Proclaim freedom to the captives.
• The word captives denotes one who has been taken as a prisoner of war.
• Have you been around a person who was addicted to something? Does that person have the freedom or are they held captive to what they are addicted to?
• They are prisoners of their own vices. People in the USA today think that freedom is doing whatever you want to do.
• Many times this thinking leads us to being enslaved to what we think we are free to do.
• Jesus is literally saying in this passage that His mission is to offer forgiveness and freedom to those who were taken prisoner by sin. Jesus and Paul remind us…
• SLIDE #8
• John 8:34 (HCSB) Jesus responded, “I assure you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
• Romans 6:16 (HCSB) Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey —either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?
• Sin enslaves people! What would you do if a person you loved were sold into slavery? Would you do what you had to so that you could free them?
• We have friends and family who are in slavery to sin, and we can try to do something about it.
• What can Jesus do for me now? He can set me free!
• SLIDE #9
• John 8:36 (HCSB) Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.
• Next we see that Jesus will…
• SLIDE #10
III. Give sight to the blind.
• Sin blinds us. Can you imagine see a person in chains, but they do not know they are enslaved?
• We have a world full of people who are in that exact position.
• If you are a parent, have you ever had your son or daughter date a person that you knew was bad for them, you tried everything you could think of to get them to see that, but nothing seemed to get through.
• Why does that happen, why is it so obvious to everyone that your child is dating the wrong person except him or her? They are blinded to the truth.
• SLIDE #11
• 2 Corinthians 4:3–4 (HCSB) But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
• Sin blinds us to reality.
• In reality we think that sin is all right. We think that sin is good, but it is not.
• WE have it backwards today, we are lauding people as hero’s who are really enslaved to sin, while we condemn those who are trying to promote God’s truth.
• What can the gospel do for people? It can give them sight. They will be able to see. Remember the song Amazing Grace, “I once was blind now I see.” This is what people will say once Jesus has come into their life.
• People will see life in a whole new way!
• Next we see that Jesus promised to…
• SLIDE #12
IV. Set free the oppressed.
• What He is literally saying is that He wants to set free those who are bruised by sin
• The pressure of sin in a person’s life weighs them down. Sin puts undo burden on our lives.
• Jesus does not want to us to be weighed down by sin.
• SLIDE #13
• Matthew 11:28 (HCSB) “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
• Have you ever been so weighed down by something that it kept you from doing what you needed to do?
• If you take a good long hard look around you at people, you will see a lot of unhappy people. Studies suggest that more people than ever are spiritually hungry. Why is that? They are bruised by sin, they are hurting and want relief.
• Jesus wanted to give this relief to people.
• You do not have to be locked in the cell of oppression, Jesus has unlocked the door; you need to step out of the cell!
• What can Jesus do for you now? He can set you free from the oppression of sin. Satan uses people, he does not love them or care for them, and he is oppressing them.
• Jesus also said He came to…
• SLIDE #14
V. Proclaim the blessings of the Kingdom of God!
• 21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”
• Jesus was telling the folks that the Kingdom is HERE!
• People would not long have to suffer in sin with its devastating effects.
• Jesus' claim was audacious. He was saying the messianic age had come and was implying that he himself fulfilled the messianic expectation!
• The favorable year of the Lord is this. Jesus wants to receive sinners. Jesus wants to fix our sin problem. Jesus fixed it with nails!
• We are so blessed!
CONCLUSION
• Jesus did not come to just end poverty, disease, and social injustices, He came to free us from the effects and bondage of SIN!
• Many people are in chains and cannot even see it.
• MATRIX CLIP!
• Are you ready to take the RED PILL OF THE SHED BLOOD OF JESUS so you can enjoy real life?
• That is why He came!
