5 weeks from today it will be Easter. So, I thought that I would use the month of March to talk in detail about our Lord Jesus—my favorite subject. Today, I thought I would start from the beginning of Jesus's ministry. Just what was His mission? Of course, we know what that mission was for us today. But in that day, the people had no idea what was about to happen. Prayer.
In today's world of Internet shopping and same day free shipping, we have taken the waiting factor out of our lives. Waiting is hard. But the Bible is full of commands for us to wait and trust in God's timing, because God's timing is always perfect.
When the Apostle John began his ministry in the Judean wilderness, God's people had been waiting. In fact, from the end of Malachi's writings in the last book of the OT until the beginning of Matthew's writings in the first book of the NT, there was a span of about 400 years. 400 years of waiting.
God had spoken through the OT prophets to the people that someone was coming to save them. Throughout the OT, we read about different leaders, prophets, kings, judges, and priests. But the right person never came. Then there was silence. After the prophet Micah spoke of a coming day of judgment and healing, God stopped speaking through His prophets. But then, at just the right time, God's Word came to John.
Luke 3:2 – “during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”
So Luke begins the writing of this chapter by mentioning John. I was never one that was particularly interested in studying history while in school, high school, and college. Doesn't God have a sense of humor? Today, my life and study revolves around history. I still tend to kind of gloss over lists of names like the ones that Luke mentions in the first verse of this chapter, but Luke, inspired by the Holy Spirit, included these names for a reason. In the first chapter of this book of Luke's writings, Luke explained why he wanted to write his own account of Jesus's life. He assured his readers:
Luke 1:3-4 – “So it also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.”
As Luke gives us this list of political and religious leaders, he is providing a clear setting in history for Jesus's ministry. God sent Jesus as a specific and well-planned time. God knew exactly what He was doing and when He was doing it. Even though God doesn't have a beginning or an ending, He has placed us in a well-ordered time with events that unfold according to His timing. By providing these details, Luke placed his writings in the context of history, showing his concern for historical accuracy.
But if we read between the lines, we can see that another thing Luke does in these verses is remind us of how temporary these political and religious leaders are in contrast to the permanent nature of God.
The first person on this list, Tiberius Caesar, was the ruler of the Roman empire. From there the list moves to Pontius Pilate, who is remembered almost exclusively because of his role in the death of Jesus. If you look up the others that are listed, you can find different levels of information on their lives. These people were holding positions as rulers and priests at the time of Jesus's ministry. But Jesus surpasses them all.
In our world today, there are political leaders as well as religious leaders that have the power to condemn a person to execution. But as we think about the power that these individuals have, even though these people hold positions as rulers and priests, Jesus surpasses them all. His power is above them all. So, we begin talking about the mission of Jesus and specifically where in history it all began.
Luke 3:3-6 – “He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
********A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight! 5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low; the crooked will become straight, the rough ways smooth, 6 and everyone will see the salvation of God.”
So, Luke tells us that God's word came to John. And we see from these verses that the ministry and mission of Jesus was predicted by the profit Isaiah some 600 to 700 years before Jesus was even born. (predicting me being pastor before Columbus
In biblical times, travel was slow and difficult. When a king was planning to visit, the people would prepare the roads to make travel easier. They would smooth out the roads and make a smooth ride for the coming king. But the king that John is speaking of, didn't need people to make the roads easy for Him. This king could fill the valleys and level the hills Himself. So, what was John calling on the people to do? He was announcing the arrival of this Messiah who Himself would be their salvation. The people didn't need to prepare the roads. They needed to prepare their hearts, because salvation was coming.
We just talked about how Luke placed his writings in human history by listing the leaders of the time. Now we see how Luke is centering Jesus's arrival in divine history. When he emphasizes John's connection to Isaiah's prophecy, Luke was helping us to understand that John the Baptist was ushering in a new era in salvation history.
This new era has always been part of God's plan. But many had failed to anticipate that God's plan of salvation would be for all people, Jews and Gentiles. When Isaiah, and then John, prophesied that everyone will see the salvation of God, they didn't mean that every person would trust God for their salvation. Instead, God was promising to make His salvation available to all, because He isn't just the God of Israel, but the God of all creation. Salvation wasn't for a specific group of people but for all who would turn away from sin and turn to God.
When John baptized the people, he wasn't just asking them to admit their sin. John's baptism was meant to be an outward sign that pointed to an inward change of heart. (Martin’s baptism) When John saw people coming to be baptized but not acting in accordance with their repentance, he rebuked them.
Luke 3:7-8 – “He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.”
Then John gave the people specific examples of what this new way of life would look like:
Luke 3:10-14 – “What then should we do?” the crowds were asking him. 11 He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
********13 He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.” 14 Some soldiers also questioned him, “What should we do?”
He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
But John's baptism couldn't change their hearts or save the people. John was just preparing them.
Then in the 2nd chapter of Luke's writings we read about a faithful Jewish man named Simeon. He was waiting for the promised Savior who would deliver and comfort Israel. The Holy Spirit had promised Simeon he wouldn't die until he had seen this Savior, the Messiah. When Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple to be circumcised, Simeon saw the infant Jesus and he praised God because he had seen God's salvation. Salvation had come and that salvation was a person - Jesus Christ. Time passes and we read in:
Luke 4:14-16 – “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 praised 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.”
So now Jesus has grown up and His ministry has begun. These verses are considered to be the beginning of Jesus's ministry. John had baptized Jesus by now, and Jesus had spent 40 days in the wilderness where He was tempted by the devil. Notice in verse 14 that Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. If you have been in some of our studies in the books of Genesis and John, you would know that the Holy Spirit had been with Jesus from the very beginning when He created the earth, and the Holy Spirit was with Jesus when He came to redeem the earth. Let's look at that for just a moment
The book of Luke records the presence of the Holy Spirit at key moments in the beginning of Jesus's mission:
At Jesus's baptism. In Luke 3:22 we are told that the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a physical appearance like a dove.
In the wilderness. In Luke 4:1-2 we are told that Jesus left the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the devil.
As he began his ministry. In Luke 4:14 it tells us that then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.
So Jesus's ministry and mission had begun. Luke emphasizes the teaching aspect of Jesus's ministry. Jesus was a great teacher, and His followers often referred to Him as Teacher or Rabbi. A good teacher helps us understand the truth about something. Jesus doesn't just know the truth, Jesus is the truth.
No wonder the people were amazed by His teaching. People are still amazed by His teaching today if they take the time to read His words. But, there are also people today who want to praise Jesus as a great teacher but don't want to submit completely to His authority. It is these people who fail to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, or the anointed Messiah, or at least they don't treat Him like He is. We're going to see later on in this series of messages that Jesus will declare Himself the Messiah. It's wrong for us to think that we can trust Jesus's teaching without trusting who He says He is.
Luke 4:17-19 – “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 release 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.”
Jesus knew exactly what He wanted to share when He stood up to read. He unrolled the scroll and located the specific verses. He knew the Scripture, and He knew how the Scripture applied to Him. So, Jesus chooses Isaiah 61. These verses aren't Isaiah speaking about himself as a prophet but are about the Messiah, God's anointed One, speaking about His mission. And that was precisely Jesus's mission: preaching good news to the poor, proclaiming release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, setting free the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor.
So now we are seeing Jesus's mission clarified. God sent Jesus to deal with our sin problem. Jesus highlighted four groups of people: poor, captives, blind, and oppressed. But Jesus wasn't only talking about monetary poverty, or cultural oppression, or physical blindness. Jesus was talking about spiritual poverty, spiritual oppression, enslavement to sin, and spiritual blindness that keeps people from seeing the truth about Jesus.
Maybe you know someone like that right now. You might know someone who is poor, in bondage, sick, hurting, or oppressed - spiritually or physically. Jesus came to set these people free. If you know someone like that right now, or maybe it is you, pray for them and pray for yourself because that was Jesus's mission to free us from all of this.
We know that Jesus healed many, even raised some people from the dead, but that was only the beginning. The good news is that Jesus offers healing and restoration both now and for eternity, both physical and spiritual. Jesus's good news goes far beyond the temporary and the physical. Jesus had come to cancel our sin debts and free us from slavery to sin. The time had come; the year of the Lord's favor had arrived. Jesus clarified His mission even more so in Luke 4:43.
Luke 4:43 – “But he said to them, “It is necessary for me to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.”
Jesus was setting in motion God's Kingdom on Earth as in heaven. But that Kingdom won't be fully realized until Jesus returns to rule forever. That day is yet to come.
Luke 4:20-21 – “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.”
Just as it was Jesus’s custom to go to the synagogue regularly, I imagine many of the people listening to Him had been coming to the synagogue all their lives. News had spread about Jesus. Some were wondering if this man was the promised One they've been waiting for. So, when Jesus selected this particular Scripture to read, the people must have been on the edge of their seats. What was He going to say about these verses? Would He confirm their hopes? So, we are told that the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
Luke says that Jesus began by saying. This tells us that it was the beginning of a speech or a sermon. But all Luke recorded was this one sentence. Maybe Jesus did give a sermon, but this one sentence was what Luke considered to be the essence of what He said. “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled. The year of the Lord's favor had arrived.” The Messiah, the One anointed by the Holy Spirit, the One sent by God had brought the message. Jesus declared He was the Messiah. It was as though after Jesus read what Isaiah had prophesied, that Jesus looked the people in their eyes and said, “Hey guys, this passage is describing Me.”
Remember what I said earlier. Luke had stated in Luke 1:4 that his purpose for writing this gospel account of Jesus's life was to give his readers certainty of the things about which you have been instructed. One of the ways that Luke wanted to provide certainty was my highlighting the fulfillment of prophecy.
This fulfillment of prophecy not only provides assurance that Jesus is who He claims to be. The fulfillment also provides assurance of God's control over history. By showing how all the significant events of Jesus's life, death, and Resurrection had been prophesied beforehand, Luke assured his readers that God is always in control, even when the plan isn't going as we expected.
The fact is God is sovereign. No matter what happens, God is still in control. So, we do what the apostle Paul said in:
Ephesians 1:11 - "Trust in the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will."
Let me back up just a moment before I close and mention that when Luke wrote that “the eyes of everyone were fixed on Jesus”, he was not only explaining just how attentive the audience was in the synagogue that day, but he was also calling for his readers attention. That includes us.
Jesus was declaring that He was the One all the prophets had been speaking about. He was the One all of history had been leading to. He was the One God had always planned to send to redeem and restore us. He was the Messiah. He was the One they've been waiting for. And now, the wait was over.
So this was the beginning of Jesus's ministry. It was the beginning of His mission. And at this point, everything was going as God planned. So, in a sense, when Jesus told them that the Scripture had been fulfilled, He was essentially asking them to trust in what He was saying. Trust in God's plan.
That leads me to asking how good are you at trusting God's plan, especially when it doesn't go as you expect? On that note, God's plan is for everyone to come to Him.
Are you trusting in God's plan? Have you come to Him through Jesus Christ?
If not, why not accept Christ as your very own today and help in God's plan? We give you that opportunity to know Jesus in a personal way. Just come during our time of response and I will help lead you to Jesus.
