And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
Luke 4:16-23
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’”
Jesus often upset the apple cart, or rather the money changers’ tables…and the apple cart. In this passage, Jesus returned to his childhood home town after some initial ministry outside of town. Everybody knew him. Nazareth was a small town. You might call it a village. He lived there for approximately 28 years or so. He was the nice carpenter’s son. He had made furniture for many of them, I am sure. He may have helped some build houses. So, now he comes home and upsets the applecart.
This hometown boy is invited to read the Scripture for the day in the synagogue. That would have been fine until he said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
They were confused. They heard his gracious words and were pleased with that. But then the big question pops into their minds, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” How can this be?
Jesus went on to tell two stories about how God helped non-Jews and overlooked Jews in his gracious action. Whoa! That did it. They tried to run him out of town and throw him off a cliff to his death. Not so fast. It is not Jesus’ hour. He just walked through them and went on his way. They had no power to stop him.
By quoting this passage from Isaiah 61 and saying that this day it is fulfilled in their hearing, he declared himself to be the Messiah. Unfortunately, his childhood hometown couldn’t accept that.
What was it that Jesus was promising in his quote? The Holy Spirit had anointed him for some specific purposes:
- To proclaim the good news to the poor
- To proclaim liberty to the captives
- To proclaim the recovery of sight to the blind
- and to set at liberty those who are oppressed
- To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
Now maybe I can shake you up a bit too. That same Spirit that was upon Jesus to do all these wonderful things is upon/within every follower of Jesus. That’s the big deal about the New Covenant. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer, including you and me. We are Ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). We speak for him with his authority (Matthew 28:18-20). So, I believe Scripture is saying that we are “little Christs” (Christians) and carry the same ministry Jesus did. We too, in the power of the Spirit, are sent to:
- To proclaim the good news to the poor
- To proclaim liberty to the captives
- To proclaim the recovery of sight to the blind
- and to set at liberty those who are oppressed
- To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
Did you realize that this is your ministry? Yep! This ministry belongs to everyday ordinary believers in Jesus. Nope, no MDiv necessary, no special ordination necessary, just simple faith in the gospel we declare, and a humble life of walking in the Spirit.
Go ahead and walk in the Spirit and proclaim the good news. I am willing to believe that you too will shake up your hometown where you live. Hopefully, they won’t try to throw you off of a cliff to your death, but they might. If they do, just know that it is worth it to give your very life for the gospel. Don’t settle for the quiet hometown religion of the Pharisees. Be a world changer through the gospel. Be a disciple-maker and multiply disciples everywhere. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you (Romans 8:9,11). Believe it and obey Jesus and see what happens.
