Jesus’ Mission

Luke 4:16-30 KJB  And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.  (17)  And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,  (18)  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,  (19)  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.  (20)  And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.  (21)  And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.  (22)  And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?  (23)  And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.  (24)  And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.  (25)  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;  (26)  But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.  (27)  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.  (28)  And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,  (29)  And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.  (30)  But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

INTRODUCTION:  Jesus as we would suspect was a faithful church goer.  I tell us it was His custom.

              When a Godly young man who grew up in that church showed up, it was a custom of theirs to invite him to read scriptures and preach.

              Jesus came to the platform and read the scriptures of Isaiah

Isaiah 49:8-9  Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;  (9)  That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

and

Isaiah 60:1-2  Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.  (2)  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

              We see in these verses that Jesus read prophesy concerning Himself.  We see God’s task for Jesus.

              1.           To preach the Gospel (evangelize)

                             i.            To the poor

                                           a.           Monetary           

                                           b.           Poor in Spirit

              2.           To encourage the broken hearted

                             i.            a.           He mends broken hearts

              3.           To preach deliverance

                             i.            a.           Forgiveness

              4.           To enlighten

                             i.            To give sight to the blind

                                           a.           Spiritual blindness

              5.           To set a liberty

                             i.            The captives to sin

                             ii.           Those of broken lives

              6.           To preach the acceptable day of The LORD

                             i.            That day of freedom

With all this in mind, we step into Jesus’ sermon:

I.            THIS DAY IS THE SCRIPTURE FULFILLED.    (vv 21-22)

              A.           They Eagerly Listened

                             1.           Jesus told them in effect

                                           i.            I Am He

                                                          a.           That Isaiah referred to

(Matthew 16:15-17)  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?  16  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

                             2.           He had The Spirit

                             3.           He was appointed to preach

                             4.           He was the one who healed

                             5.           He was the one who gave sight

                             6.           He was the one who gave liberty

                             7.           He was the one to

                                           i.            Preach the acceptable Year of The                                                         Lord

                                                          a.           The Age of Salvation

(1 Timothy 1:15)  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

              B.           Jesus Came To Save Sinners

                             1.           From sin

                             2.           From the world

                                           i.            It is a faithful saying

II.           THE SYNAGOGUE REJECTED SALVATION.   (vv 24-27)

              A.           No Prophet Is Accepted In His Country.

                             1.           They did not hide their rejection

                                           i.            They allowed familiarity to breed

                                                          contempt.

(Mark 6:3-4)  Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.  4  But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

                                           ii.           Hey, I know your Father

                                                          a.           His worldly adopted

                                                                        Father

                                                          b.           This is a hometown boy

                                                                        i.            How can this be

                                                                                      true?

(Hebrews 3:12)  Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

              B.           God Will Reject Those

                             1.           Who reject His Son

(John 3:36)  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

                             2.           God sent Elijah to one widow of many

                                           i.            A Gentile woman

                                                          a.           Not a Jew

                             3.           God allowed one leper

                                           i.            Cleansed by Elisha

                                                          a.           Again a Gentile

                             4.           There were many

                                           i.            Jewish widows starving

                                           ii.           Jewish men with leprosy

                                                          a.           Yet God chose to help

                                                                        the Gentile

              C.           Salvation Requires More Than Profession

                            1.           It requires heart

                                           i.            Desire

                                           ii.           Conviction

(Hebrews 10:22)  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

              2.           To draw near

                             i.            Requires a true (sincere)

                                           a.           Convicted heart

                                           b.           A heart desiring The Lord Jesus

III.         THE SYNAGOGUE REJECTED JESUS.               (vv 28-30)

              A.           Their Rejection Was

                             1.           A shadow of Israel

                                           a.           Turning their backs on Jesus

                                           b.           A shadow of Christ turning to

                                                          the Gentiles

              B.           They rose up

                             1.           Filled with wrath

(Hebrews 3:12-14)  Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.  13  But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14  For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

                                           i.            Anger

                             2.           Led Him to the cliff

                                           i.            To cast Him over

                                                          a.           And heap stones upon Him

                             3.           They failed

                                           i.            He walked through them

                                                          a.           Went His way

CONCLUSION:  We see our world today is getting just like that synagogue.

              All the wrath and anger over anything to do with Jesus.

The world is out to silence Jesus and anybody who promotes Him.

(Luke 21:33)  Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

What I hope we see in this message is “What is our task?”

              You and I in effect are to seek and save (lead to the Lord) all the lost.

              Part of our problem is our city, (or our family), how could someone I know suddenly know all this.

              He didn’t finish high school, he barely graduated, he can’t read very good.  How?

              God doesn’t select us for our task because of good grades, or good reading ability.  It is because once we stated to God, “God, I am willing to be your servant.”

              Our problem again is the word “servant.”  “Lord, I will be your servant when I need you, otherwise, I will be on my own.”

              God has accepted us on His terms, not my terms.  It is a two-way street with only one lane.

              It is my communication with the Lord, and His communication with me.

              There are no given barriers.  There are “no passing” areas.

The only thing that gets in our way, the only barrier is our sin.

              When we steep ourselves in sin, we fail to communicate with God.                   Consequently, we fail to hear from God.

              As I have said before, it all comes down to us.  If you are not hearing from God, “Why?”  You are the only one who knows, God knows.  Your testimony may show it to the world.

              It is up to you to re-establish your communication with God.

(John 3:16)  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

(Romans 10:9)  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

(Romans 10:13)  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.