April 2, 2017
“The Anointed One”
Luke 4:16-30
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. 23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” 24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
New International Version
We live in an age of rapid change. It seems everything in our lives is constantly changing—sometimes so fast we don’t even notice it. In the process, things that once were necessities to us become sort of quaint, obsolete, even ridiculous. Remember unfolding an actual paper map to find your way? Or using a rotary telephone? Or adjusting a TV antenna?
Even fairly recent technologies and routines are gone now.
Such as getting film developed …
Popping a VHS tape in the VCR …
Untangling a telephone cord …
Storing information on a floppy disk …
Cassette tapes …
Encyclopedia sets …
If you hand a ten-year-old a vinyl record or a sheet of carbon paper, they’d probably have no idea what to do with it. Those things once had a purpose that everyone understood, but somewhere, somehow, things changed.
The same thing happens to human life. When we were young, life was all about playing and having fun. Then it became all about learning and getting an education. Then it became about working, “getting ahead” and raising kids. And then retirement is about something else like staying out of the hospital. Even our purpose in life keeps changing as we age. What is your main purpose in life right now? Can you write it down and articulate it?
In this series we’re trying to answer Jesus’ question to His disciples: “who do you say I am.” Some say He was a great teacher or a great moral example or a radical visionary. But what was Jesus’ purpose in life? That seems kind of obvious, doesn’t it? The Son of God came to die for our sins. Right? It rolls right off the tongue. So is that it? Was that the purpose for the Son of God and if so is that what He said was His purpose?
So one day Jesus went into a synagogue. As was the usual case volunteer men in attendance would be invited to read a select passage from a schedule of readings called the haphtarah. Jesus either volunteered or was asked to read the Scripture that day. But instead of following the schedule of readings He chose another passage, this one from Isaiah 61:1-2. We read what He read in Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Those words would have been understood, by every Jew listening that day, as applying to the Messiah, the Anointed One, and to something called the year of Jubilee. The year of Jubilee was a custom the Jews that not only would every seventh day of the week be a Sabbath, a day of rest, but every seventh year the entire year would also be a Sabbath, when the land wouldn’t be farmed, and so on. After every seventh Sabbath year (that is, every fiftieth year) there would be what was called a “year of Jubilee.” In the year of Jubilee all slaves would be set free, all those whose poverty had forced them to sell their lands would receive them back, and those who had lost family members into slavery or imprisonment would be reunited with them.
This Jubilee concept is foreign to us. We can’t even imagine doing this every fifty years. But the Jubilee defines what Jesus said His mission was; to bring good news to the poor, bring broken families together, bind up the brokenhearted, and heal the hurting! He came to free the slaves, to open the doors of darkness, to untie people’s hands, and to unfold their wings! He came to proclaim the year of Jubilee which they would have thought was every fifty years.
But here’s the radical thing about Jesus’ purpose. Not just one year every fifty because Jubilee was already supposed to be happening in Israel every fifty years. No, Jesus came to bring a worldwide Jubilee every day, that would speak good news to the poor, give liberty to the captives, healing to the brokenhearted, forgiveness for the guilty, freedom for those who feel controlled, release for those who feel trapped, deliverance, laughter, relief, and joy.
Realize Jesus could have picked a lot of other passages besides this one from Isaiah for His first sermon … texts that actually applied to Him as Messiah. But He chose Isaiah 61:1 because of all the texts Jesus could have chosen, He chose a passage about sharing good news, proclaiming freedom, bringing healing, releasing prisoners, about compassionately meeting people’s needs. Because that was His purpose.
You see, Jesus’ fellow Jews in His day knew they were called by God to be a light to the Gentiles. But they really didn’t like Gentiles. They also didn’t like Samaritans or Romans or tax collectors. For that matter, they didn’t even like women or children. They were failing miserably in their calling.
A good while after Jesus announced His mission at the synagogue in Nazareth, something interesting happened. Turn just a page or two in Luke’s Gospel to Luke 7:18—20, and verse 22 in the New Living Translation:
“John the Baptist … called for two of his disciples, and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’
John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”….
[Jesus] told John’s disciples, ‘Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.’” Luke 7:18–20, 22; NLT
Notice what Jesus said to John. He referred to His mission statement! We don’t know if John was in that synagogue when Jesus read from Isaiah—he may have been, the two men were cousins, after all—but when John asked, “Are you really the Messiah, or do we keep looking?” Jesus said, “Look at the measure of the Messiah, John—the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the Good News is preached to the poor.
He said, in effect, “Am I fulfilling my mission or not?” Jesus was pointing back to Isaiah 61, the very passage He read as the measure of His success.
Years ago, churches used to award pins or badges for perfect attendance in Sunday School. There may be some of you who remember that … maybe some of you still have yours! And while we don’t do that here these days, we still kind of measure ourselves by whether we have daily devotions, how many Bible verses we know, how involved we are in church, what position we occupy, and so on.
But Jesus applies a different measurement. The real measure for Him is in the fulfillment of His mission. Am I spreading healing, hope, joy, and Jubilee everywhere I go? Are my friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers discovering the joy of the life I’ve discovered? Can I, like Jesus, point to the fruits of my efforts and ask, “Am I spreading Jubilee?” “Am I loving people closer to God?” “Has someone’s life changed for the better lately because I’m in their life?”
Those are hard questions. We know that all around us are people in bondage to things like drugs, alcohol, anger, anger turned inward which is depression, sexual deviation, fear, debt, the past and a whole host of other bondages. We can see it almost immediately in their faces. It’s hard to hide those things. That’s why many stay away from church, the very place where they might get some help.
Maybe you’re struggling with some type of bondage today. You close your eyes at night and hope it’ll go away but it seems to come alive even more at night. You get up in the morning and you’re more tired than when you went to bed. It’s with you all day long, rarely giving you even a little break. Wouldn’t it be nice, really nice if you could wake up one morning, the sun shining, birds singing, and you felt free of that which has held a grip on you? Jesus came to break that bondage. But as long as we remain in denial of it and don’t deal head on with it, our chains remain.
I’m here to encourage you to not be afraid to tackle your bondage with the help of a therapist, a pastor, or your Life Group or whatever positive influence you have in your life. Because the purpose of the Son of Man was to proclaim this year, this month, this week, even this very day a day of Jubilee to free us from all that holds us bondage. I pray it may be so in me and in you. And even if Jubilee hasn’t yet begun in you, it can begin right now, right here, by means of a simple prayer. I invite you to pray it silently in your own heart, as I say the words aloud. Pray:
“Lord Jesus, I want in on that. I want the freedom only you can give.
I need the mercy and grace you offer. I confess my sin to you; I bring my need to you. I turn away from all the sin of my past, and accept your sacrifice on the cross as payment for all the wrong things I’ve done.
I ask you to come into my heart, and take charge, and help me to follow you and spread the influence of your kingdom from this moment on, amen.”
Once you’ve been freed of your bondage then you’re going to be much more motivated to help others experience their freedom. That’s why many Alcoholics Anonymous graduates continue as sponsors helping others overcome their times of weakness when they want to return to bondage.
So think about this, if the Son of Man’s purpose is to free people from their bondages what’s our purpose as His followers? What are the names of the people we’re walking with now to help free them from destructive bondage. If you don’t have any specific names of people you’re working with then who are you really following?
LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE - Week Five
The Anointed One
Life Group Resource for the week of April 2, 2017
Connect
Go around the group and give everyone a chance to briefly answer this question: Which of the following holidays or celebrations were the most memorable and/or meaningful for your family as you were growing up?
Birthdays New Year’s Day Valentine’s Day Good Friday
Easter Summer vacations Halloween Thanksgiving
Christmas Other______
Go around the group and give everyone a chance to say what the most amazing thing they’ve ever seen.
Watch Video - The Crucifixion
Engage
1. Read John 19:17-30
● What sorts of thoughts or emotions arise in you as you watch the video clip and read or listened to the account of Jesus’ crucifixion?
Sorrow Disgust Gratitude Disbelief Revulsion Horror Wonder Regret Blessing Other______
● Why do you think John (the Gospel writer) specified that Jesus carried His own cross (in verse 17)?
● What, if any, significance do you see in the fact that Jesus was crucified in the midst of two presumably rightly condemned men?
What, if
● What, if any, significance do you see in Pilate’s “notice” ( a sign routinely placed at the place of execution announcing the condemned person’s name or the crime(s) for which he or she was convicted?
● Do you make anything of John’s mention of Jesus’ garment being seamless, made of one piece, and “woven from top to bottom?” If so, what?
Discuss
1.John the Baptist announced the beginning of Jesus’ ministry with the words, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). John the Beloved portrayed the fulfillment of Jesus’ mission with the words, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Can you think of any events between those two scenes that reveal Jesus as the Lamb of God?