WWUTT 2296 The Spirit of the Lord Is Upon Me (Luke 4:14-21)

Jesus came into the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth, and he read from Isaiah 61, which says,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. And that's about Jesus, when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Luke, we continue in Chapter 4, having finished up the exchange that Jesus had with Satan in the wilderness, resisting the devil's temptations.

He now begins his ministry in Galilee. So that's where we pick up in verse 14 through verse 30, is where I'm reading from today.

Hear the word of the Lord. And Jesus returned in the power of the

Spirit to Galilee. And a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

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. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.

He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. 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, to proclaim the year of the

Lord's favor. 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. And he began to say to them,

Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. 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? 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.

And he said, Truly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth

I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land.

And Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only

Naaman the Syrian. When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.

And they rose up and drove him out of the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.

But passing through their midst, he went away. Now this is more detail about Jesus' visit to his hometown of Nazareth than we got from the previous two

Gospels, from Matthew's account or Mark's. Luke has chosen Jesus' hometown of Nazareth to be the place where he would begin teaching about Jesus' earthly ministry.

All four Gospels begin different in this way. They choose to pick up Jesus' earthly ministry in a different spot.

In Matthew chapter 4, it talks about Jesus going throughout Galilee, but really the beginning of the narrative concerning Jesus' teaching is him calling his first disciples.

In the Gospel of Mark, there's the baptism of Jesus, the temptation of Jesus, which are very short compared to what we have in Matthew and in Luke.

But then Jesus begins his earthly ministry, also calling his first disciples, and then casting out unclean spirits.

Here in Luke's Gospel, Luke begins by talking about Jesus' teaching, his first teaching at least, of what we have of Jesus' earthly ministry.

His first teaching is in the town where he grew up. Now in this section that we're looking at today, it's divided up into three parts.

You have a very general statement concerning Jesus' teaching in Galilee, without a lot of details.

That's in verses 14 and 15. Then Jesus coming into Nazareth, and he's teaching in the synagogue, reading from the scroll of Isaiah, specifically from Isaiah 61.

And we have that from verses 16 through 21, where he says that this has been fulfilled in your hearing.

But then the people want him to do something. And Jesus even sort of reads their minds, knows their hearts, exactly what it is that they want him to do.

But he says that he will not be accepted among them, and then teaches them again from the

Old Testament, and they want to kill him for it. And that's that last section that goes from verses 22 to the end, verse 30.

So let's come back up to verses 14 and 15 here, where it says that Jesus returned in the power of the

Spirit to Galilee. This is much like we started this particular chapter. When Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, it said in verse 1,

Jesus full of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit that had descended upon him at his baptism. He returned from the

Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by the devil.

So Jesus in the power of the Spirit there, at the start of the chapter, and then here as he comes out of the wilderness to begin his teaching ministry, it is said again,

Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.

Now where Jesus would have been in the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, that would have been in the Judean wilderness, so further to the south.

He comes back up into the northern area to Galilee, and this is where he begins his teaching.

And it says that a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. Now how is it that this report of Jesus spread so far and wide, so rapidly in all these communities?

Well, remember we read about his baptism in chapter 3, that there were many who were there who were witnesses to it.

And they saw Jesus come up out of the water and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descend upon him.

And they heard the voice from heaven say, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

Now word about this would have spread far and wide, but Jesus basically kind of disappears for a while.

They're expecting to hear more from this guy. How is this that a voice from heaven speaks of him, and what does it mean to say, this is my beloved son in whom

I'm well pleased? So they want to know more. They want to hear from Jesus, but he's nowhere to be found, because where does he go?

He goes to the wilderness to fast and pray for 40 days and to resist the temptations of Satan as he's being perfected for this ministry that he is about to do.

So now as he comes out of the wilderness and he comes back into Galilee to teach, that report is already spreading out about him.

People have already known who this is because of the stories that have been shared concerning his baptism by John.

And so he's got fame that precedes him when he comes into these places to teach. It's why he's able to just go into a synagogue and teach.

And it says in verse 15, he's glorified by all. Now this doesn't mean that he was worshiped by all.

That's not what's meant by that. The word glorified can simply mean that people have a high opinion of him.

He's celebrated. They're awed and amazed by the things that he is teaching. And indeed, as it said in Matthew, that he taught with one having authority and not as their scribes.

Luke doesn't phrase it quite that way, but he relays the reaction from the people that they're, they're impressed.

They want to hear from, they want to hear more from him. You get the sense that they've not heard teaching like this before.

And so that he is glorified by all. Now I've had some level of experience in this where I receive a lot of popularity or praise or accolades at the very start.

But then once they hear my teaching, as it goes on, it begins to lose favor.

People will become a little bit more hostile to it. There are things about it that they don't like. So when

I first became a pastor, I received all kinds of praise, all kinds of flattery, but praise the

Lord, I had been experienced in this enough up to that point that I didn't let it get to me.

As it says in Proverbs, one who flatters spreads a net for someone's feet. So it would be easy for me and my ego to get caught up in that.

Or it could be upon those people that they expect something from me and then are going to be greatly disappointed when they don't get from me what they were expecting to get from me.

Here with Jesus, we have the same sort of thing that's set up here at the beginning of his ministry. He's preaching and the people love it and they're coming and they want to hear about it.

And even in his hometown, they want to see, they want to see him do something miraculous. Do what we heard about you doing in Capernaum.

But then when they really hear what it is that he is teaching, when he teaches something to them that is convicting to their hearts, penetrates their souls, and is not going to give them in their flesh what it is that they desire, well, now they hate him.

So at first they're impressed with his charismaticism, his authority and his teaching.

Of course, the miracles that he was performing. But once he says something to them that is convicting of heart, that is even knowing of their heart for that matter, well, then they don't like that very much.

And they even attempt to kill Jesus because of the way that he would say this to them.

But in the meantime, here in this early portion of this section, he's glorified by all and he even comes to Nazareth where people are impressed with him there.

So picking up now in verse 16, 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. Now, how is it that he gets this teaching position all of a sudden?

Well, notice that it says it was his custom to go into the Sabbath on or sorry, go into the synagogue on the

Sabbath on Saturday. He goes into the synagogue as he was known to do, as the people in his hometown had known that he would do.

He would have been going into that synagogue there from the age of five. And by the time a young man is the age of 13, well, then at that point, his attendance in the synagogue is mandatory.

He has to be attending in the synagogue. So it was a custom for him to always go in the synagogue on a

Saturday. They knew him. They were familiar with him. And here he is standing up to read, as would have been appointed to different people at different times that they would read from a scroll.

So an attendant, somebody who was in charge of all the scriptures that are there, hands him a scroll of the prophet

Isaiah and he unrolled the scroll and he found the place where it is written.

And then we have this reference from Isaiah 61, 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 to proclaim the year of the

Lord's favor. There was somebody online not that long ago that I saw was harping on Christians and saying, see, you don't really believe the words of the

Bible. Like you say, you don't take the Bible literally because Jesus says that he's come to bring the good news to the poor.

He's supposed to set the captives free. He's supposed to recover sight to the blind.

So if you were really Christians, well, you'd be letting the prisoners out of jail. You would be taking care of the poor.

You would set free the oppressed. But you Christians don't do that. Is that what that literally means in Isaiah 61 and what

Jesus is saying that his coming is going to accomplish, that he's going to set actual prisoners free?

Well, if that was the case, then why weren't all the prisoners set free in the time of Jesus?

John the Baptist was thrown in prison and he wasn't set free. He was beheaded there. Furthermore, Jesus doesn't ever even heal everybody.

So even though he says that he's come to recover the sight to the blind, he doesn't actually give all who are blind in Judah or in Galilee sight.

He certainly does heal them, but not everybody receives sight. So what is the meaning of this?

Let's come back again to Isaiah 61. I'm reading from that chapter, not the quotation of it here in Luke, because in Luke it would have been quoted from the

Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Let me read to you from Isaiah 61, which is more directly translated from the

Hebrew. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord, Yahweh specifically, has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the

Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the

Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins. They shall raise up the former devastations.

They shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

Now Jesus is doing something spiritually that is the fulfillment of everything that is said here in Christ, the

Spirit of the Lord being upon him. And how many times have we seen that here so far in chapter four, the

Spirit is upon him when he goes into the wilderness. The Spirit has given him power as he goes throughout

Galilee. He comes to Nazareth and reads from the Isaiah scroll, the Spirit of the

Lord is upon me. God is with him because he is

God. And so Jesus is not just reading a scripture to the people there in the synagogue.

He is saying, this is about me. He is reading it in the first person because it is the

Lord who said it. And it is the Lord who is saying it to them in their presence. The Spirit of the

Lord is upon me because he has anointed me. Going back to the baptism in chapter three, the father anointed the son with the

Holy Spirit that had come upon him, anointed also meaning that he is the Messiah.

He is the chosen one, the one set apart to fulfill all that God has willed.

So he has anointed me, chosen me, appointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

Now certainly those who are poor, who are destitute, who have little, it is to them that the message of the gospel comes and gospel, by the way, meaning good news.

And so to proclaim the gospel to the poor, it will be to those who are destitute that they will hear the gospel and many of them will believe.

But specifically what Jesus means by this are the poor in spirit. Those who believe that they do not need the gospel, that they have everything that they need.

What do I need to repent of? Why do I need a savior? They are not poor. They think that they are rich.

They think that they don't need anything, that they have everything. I don't even need God to be good.

I can be good on my own. Well, it is not to them that the savior has come. The good news is only good news to those who know that they have nothing and God gives everything through his son,

Jesus Christ. He has sent me, Jesus goes on to say, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to set the captives free.

And we have been enslaved to our sin. We are held captive by the wages of sin, which is death.

We are even, as said in 2nd Timothy 2 .25, ensnared by Satan to do his will.

That's where all of us are before we come to Jesus Christ. And he sets us free from the bondage of sin and death.

We have liberty proclaimed to us through the message of the gospel and we who are formerly captive are free in Christ.

There is the recovering of sight to the blind. We previously could not see. We did not know our own sin.

We did not know that Jesus was savior and he has opened our eyes to see

God and our need for him and that our way to him has been made through the son whom he gave.

The anointed one that the spirit of the Lord is upon. And then lastly, in verse 19, to proclaim the year of the

Lord's favor. And that's now this time and period in which the sun has come and the message of the gospel is going throughout the world.

And so to make the point plain to all who are listening, he rolls up the scroll. He gave it back to the attendant and he sat down all the eyes of everybody in the synagogue are fixed on him.

And he began to say to them, today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

In other words, Jesus saying the one that this passage talked about, the one whom

Isaiah was referring to is me. And indeed, my friends in Christ, we have heard the good news that has been delivered to us poor sinners.

We have the message of Liberty that sets us free. We who were once blind can now see that's in the song, amazing grace.

I once was blind, but now I see we have been set free. We who were oppressed by sin and legalism and the schemes of Satan in the world.

We are now set free in Christ to proclaim the year of the

Lord's favor. That now is the favorable time. Today is the day of salvation.

And so, as we have heard the gospel, we must take it to others that they may hear and believe as well.

We'll pick up reading on this particular passage tomorrow. Heavenly father, I thank you for what we have read here.

And I pray that it does convict our hearts. May we not react like those who hated

Jesus and resisted what it was that he taught. But when we hear in the scriptures about our sin and need for a savior and the judgment of God that is upon all those who sin, we would turn from our wickedness to the

Lord Jesus Christ. We would be forgiven our sin and clothed in his righteousness. And we would live holy, upright, and godly lives in the present age.

It is in Jesus' name that we pray, amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website, www .wutt

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