Revealing Jesus’ Mission-1

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.