Fulfilled Scripture, Unacceptable Prophet

Well, please have a seat and let's pray together.

Father God, thank you for this day.

Thank you that we can be together.

Thank you that you accept our praise and our worship in and through your son, Jesus.

And so, Lord, we ask that you would send your spirit now to teach us by your words.

Father, glorify yourself in this time and warm our hearts.

Kindle them with affection for you.

We pray this in Jesus' name and for his sake.

Amen.

Can I extend my welcome to you to add to phrases.

You joined us in week three of our journey with Jesus around Galilee.

These chapters at the beginning of Luke's gospel.

So far, week one, we saw John the Baptist as the great preparer.

Kind of Jesus' entourage, getting everything ready for him to appear.

And then last week, we saw Jesus' messianic credentials.

Jesus being fully God and fully man and one who obeyed God and resisted temptation.

Today, we see Jesus launching his messianic manifesto.

Jesus launching his messianic manifesto.

Now, a manifesto, if you don't know, is the beliefs and aims and policies and promises

of an organization or an individual taking up office.

It is about what they will do, what will happen when they do,

and what they'll do for you if you vote for them to do what they're going to do.

So I thought we'd have a little game this morning.

If you've got your sermon outline, that'll be helpful.

That's where you're going to write your answers.

The game is imaginatively called, Whose Manifesto Is It Anyway?

And you're going to write down your answers, and we'll see who got what.

Right, I'm going to read five manifesto promises,

and I want you to try and tell me whose manifesto it is.

Here's number one.

Eyes down, look in.

Five manifesto promises.

Heavily tax goods imported from China and Mexico.

Repeal every aspect of Obamacare.

Bomb and take oil from ISIS.

Ban all Muslims from entering the country.

Build a wall to the south and make Mexico pay for it.

Whose manifesto is it anyway?

The Trump, the Donalds.

Question two.

Eyes down, look in.

Whose manifesto is it anyway?

The repeal of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Only a member of the true German race can be a citizen.

Excess land for the colonization and sustenance of our people to be given and taken.

The abolition of all mercenary forces and the formation of a national army.

The formation of a strong central power in the Reich.

Whose manifesto is it anyway?

It's not Hillary's.

It is, of course, the National Socialist Party in 1933.

Question three and then we're done.

See if anyone can get 100%.

We will report the Welsh Dragon to the Monopolies Commission.

We will make Swansea Airport the hub for the Welsh space program.

We will set up huge factories in the valleys of South Wales producing noodles and fortune cookies.

And then flood the Chinese markets with them to take revenge for what they did to us steal.

We will give the letter K a sound of its own.

Anyone over five years old who can hold a crayon will be eligible to vote.

Whose manifesto is it anyway?

The Monster Raving Loony Party.

Their 2014 manifesto for the Welsh Assembly.

In our passage in Luke this morning we see Jesus launch his Messianic manifesto.

And we'll see it is radically different from all those that are listed.

Thank goodness.

So please turn with me to Luke chapter 4 and verse 14.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Luke writes this.

Jesus returned to Galilee and the power of the Spirit and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside.

He was teaching in their synagogues and everyone praised him.

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 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.

Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written.

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 from the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord's favour.

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.

He began by saying to them,

Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

All spoke well of him and they wondered at his gracious words that came from his lips.

Isn't this Joseph's son?

They asked.

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 you did in Capernaum.

Truly I tell you, he continued,

No prophet is accepted in his hometown.

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.

Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them,

but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.

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.

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard him.

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.

But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Between the tempting at the beginning of chapter 4

and this episode here in Nazareth,

there is perhaps a whole year that has gone by.

In this time, we learn from John that Jesus did his first miracle,

the water into wine at the wedding in Cana.

He's called some of his disciples,

and he's been based roughly around the town of Capernaum.

If the temptation in the wilderness was Jesus declaring everything

that he hasn't come to do,

he hasn't come to perform tricks,

he hasn't come to gain authority without the cross,

he hasn't come to defy God.

If the temptation was everything Jesus hasn't come to do,

then what we're looking at today is everything that he has come to do.

His teaching was well received in Capernaum.

4.15, everybody spoke well of him,

and the news was rippling out all around Galilee.

Now, 4.16, Jesus rolls into his hometown,

the local celebrity coming back to his neighborhood,

and he goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath.

This is Jesus' first public recorded sermon,

and he is going to use the occasion to launch his manifesto.

Now, synagogue worship followed a standard form.

There would be two sets of prayers at the start,

a reading from the Torah next,

then a reading from the prophets,

and following those four elements,

somebody would stand up and give a sermon.

They would explain what has been read.

Now, we're not quite sure why Jesus is chosen

to read from the prophets and give the sermon.

We don't know if the Nazareth rabbi is at his holiday home down near Judea.

We don't know if it's just because the famous preacher has come to town

and they thought, well, he's better than the guy we usually have.

Let's give him a shot.

But what definitely happens is that Jesus opens the enormous scroll of Isaiah,

and there isn't chapters and verses,

but he finds his way to Isaiah chapter 61, verse 1.

Isaiah 61:1

And he reads,

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,

to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord's favor.

These words are written 700 years before Jesus stands up.

Isaiah pens them in some of the darkest days of Israel's history.

And those words kind of are left hanging.

Left hanging for seven centuries.

And after Jesus hands back the scroll to the attendant

to go back in the cabinet where all the scriptures are housed,

he assumes the preaching position of the day,

which was to sit down.

Now I've torn my calf muscle,

so I kind of wish that we were in the first century in Near East.

You'd also all be standing.

Having done that,

Jesus preaches perhaps the shortest sermon ever.

Eight words.

Today,

this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

The anointed one that Isaiah foreshadowed

now assumes the role that he's been given from eternity past

and said,

these words,

they're my words,

and I'm telling them to you today for real.

Jesus says,

I am this anointed one.

I am this spirit-empowered,

anointed preacher,

and I come bringing the ultimate good news,

release,

healing,

and freedom.

The one who's ushering in the acceptable year of the Lord's favor.

Now when we read a manifesto,

the first thing we automatically do

is to work out what's in it for me.

So we read of tax break for families,

and immediately families think,

oh,

vote for them.

We read of help for retired people.

And anybody that's more seasoned goes,

they seem like a good choice for me.

Tuition fees spark interest from the students,

but most particularly their parents.

So I wonder what these people,

when they heard this,

thought about Jesus' manifesto.

I'm sure if you were there as a blind person,

you'd have gone,

oh.

If you were a prisoner,

you probably wouldn't have been at the synagogue on the Sabbath,

because you would have been in prison.

People have interpreted this passage in merely economic terms,

that Jesus brings actual good news for actually poor people.

People have done it in purely political terms,

that oppressed people suffering under the heel of occupying Rome,

would have the hope of being freed.

In actual physical terms,

the blind people would receive sight,

which would be unfortunate,

because the Paralympics would be over.

However,

this is clearly referenced to humanity's spiritual condition.

We are spiritually poor,

because of our sinful rebellion against God.

We are spiritually captive,

enslaved by sin and Satan and death and fear.

We are spiritually blind.

We cannot see God as he is,

or respond to him as we should.

We are oppressed by being fallen people in a fallen world.

This is what Jesus is saying.

And his message is appealing to all of us,

because all of us find ourselves in this position.

Notice as well that all these conditions are hopeless.

If you're blind,

you can't make yourself see,

doesn't matter how many carrots you eat.

If you're in prison,

you can't go for a nice walk out in the garden,

because you're in prison.

All these conditions are hopeless.

All of these require somebody else stepping into our situation

to bring healing hope,

freedom,

and acceptance.

And into this spiritual hopelessness,

into our spiritual hopelessness,

Jesus says,

I'm here.

I am here.

And I'm here to help,

and to get you out of your hopelessness.

See though,

if you know Isaiah 61 well,

that the quotation is cut short.

Jesus doesn't keep on reading to the end of the verse,

because it finishes,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God.

That Isaiah said,

with the coming of Messiah,

there will be two things.

There will be favor proclaimed,

but also vengeance brought.

And this is where Jesus is so appealing,

because he comes the first time

to make us acceptable to God,

but he will come again

to rain down God's wrath

on account of our sin.

He gives us a chance,

a space for grace,

to respond to this good news,

to say yes to this manifesto,

because a day will come when it's too late.

I was on a plane yesterday

to a wedding in Northern Ireland,

and the plane back was delayed.

And we got on the plane,

and we were on the runway for a long time,

and the captain comes on and says,

sorry for the delay,

we had a technical failure,

we think we fixed it.

I'll tell you,

everybody's listening to the safety briefing,

everybody.

Everybody.

Jesus here is saying,

we all have a technical failure,

our sin.

Will you listen to me

as the only hope

and the only help

to get you through it?

The passage is explicit today.

Today this is fulfilled in your hearing.

Now is the time to respond.

Will you respond?

Because the time will come

when the vengeance will be here

and the grace will be over.

Failure to respond

will mean that time will decide for you.

Yesterday my plane was supposed to leave at 8.

If I wasn't sure

whether I was going to get back on that plane

because Northern Ireland was so brilliant,

if I was weighing up that decision

once the plane's left,

the decision's made for me.

Failure to decide

means that time will decide for you,

and Jesus says,

today is the opportunity to respond.

Now is the opportunity to respond.

So from manifesto launched,

we move to candidate questioned.

Initially,

Jesus seems to be favorably received.

All spoke well of him.

They wondered at his gracious words.

Then they start to look

at his background.

They start to want evidence

to back up his claim.

And see what they say.

Isn't this Joseph's son,

verse 22?

Didn't he used to kick around

in the playground with our children?

Isn't he just so normal?

Wasn't he the guy

who fitted those shelves in our house

or fixed the coffee table?

Is he not having ideas

above his station?

You're saying today

this has been fulfilled,

but you look remarkably normal to us.

So Jesus responds with a proverb,

Physician, heal yourself,

verse 23.

It's not particularly familiar to us,

but it basically says,

prove it.

Show us.

You claim to be this person,

show us.

Do something.

Show us your messianic credentials

to back up your messianic manifesto.

Do what you did in Capernaum.

Perhaps a little healing.

Perhaps an exorcism.

We could go and find someone

who was toment it.

Do you know what?

Perhaps some water into wine.

We're all a little bit thirsty.

That would be great.

Go on,

turn this water into wine

and we can toast your Messiahship.

Come on, Jesus.

Do it,

do it,

do it.

However,

Jesus wouldn't perform

for the devil when he said,

and he won't perform

for the baying crowd in Nazareth.

People say,

I want evidence.

But their evidence,

ask,

is only to cover,

it's a smokescreen

for their hard-heartedness.

They have absolutely everything

they need to respond

to Jesus' manifesto.

They've heard the rumors

of Capernaum.

He stood up

and amazed them

with his words.

He's spoken with authority.

They have everything

they need to come

to the right decision.

And so many of us

will put off

making a decision

on account of evidence

when really

we don't want to

bow the knee to Jesus

and get on board

with his manifesto.

I wonder if that's you

this morning

putting off making a decision

when you have

all the evidence you need.

Then Jesus defines

his constituency.

Jesus goes on the offensive.

Verse 24.

No prophet is accepted

in his hometown.

The history of Israel

is one where prophets

don't do very well.

It's not a popular career choice.

Jeremiah is a prophet

and nobody listened to him.

Jesus is saying,

you're just like them.

I'm here declaring

God's word as God's king,

but you have no time for me.

You're just like

your ancestors.

They didn't believe

God's word then

and they won't listen

to God's word made flesh now.

Their unreceptive attitude

to Jesus

is not due to lack of evidence,

it's due to their

hard-heartedness.

They will not

humble themselves.

They don't think

that they're poor

and blind

and captive.

And therefore

they don't realize

their absolute need

of Jesus Christ.

Jesus goes on

to explain

that their rejection

of him

will lead

and overflow

to grace for others.

And so he talks

about the two great

prophets of old,

Elijah and Elisha,

the poster boys

of the Israelite

prophet

history.

And he talks

about Elijah

during the time

of Ahab

when there's three

and a half years

without rain

and everybody's struggling.

Widows struggling

the most.

And yet it's not

to the Israelite widows

that Elijah has sent

but to the widow

of Zarephath

who receives blessing.

Similarly,

Elisha,

in his time

there's leprosy

everywhere.

And yet it's not

an Israelite leper

who's cleansed,

it's a Syrian

general.

Jesus says to them,

don't think

that my kingdom

is just confined

to the borders

of Israel.

My kingdom

is for the whole world.

Good news

will go to the poor

on this continent

and every continent.

Captives

will be released

here but also

everywhere in my name.

The year of

acceptability

to the Lord

is an offer

to you

but it's an offer

to them

as well.

This good news

will go global.

People will be restored

because of me

and responding

to me.

If you shut

the door

in my face

it will result

in your eternal loss

but there'll be

many others

in many other places

that will open

the door to me.

This offer

is open to anyone.

This good news

is not a pep talk

for a nation state

but it is good news

to the entire world.

Jesus is the Messiah

he's been installed

by God

he will rule

and reign forever

and the biggest decision

we will ever make

in any of our lives

is to respond to him

and join his team

or suffer the vengeance

of the Lord

in the end.

Now

is the time

to vote

says Jesus.

He says it to them

in Nazareth

and he says it to us

this morning

it's decision time.

It is time

to decide

whether you're

poor

who needs good news

whether you're

a prisoner

who needs it free

whether you're

blind requiring sight

oppressed

needing freedom

and alienated

from God

and need to be restored.

And Jesus says

if that's you

respond to me.

And so the final thing

we see is votes

are submitted.

Well it's not gone great

you have to say

verse 28

because a manifesto

launch turns into

an assassination

attempt.

They

the crowd

the congregation

turn into a mob

and the mob

frog marks

Jesus to the

brow of a hill

the hometown

crowd turn

hostile

the ones who

were amazed

at his words

in verse 22

are furious

and ready to

throw him off

the cliff

in verse 29.

It's amazing.

Just like that.

When Jesus

starts to uncover

what they're really

like and their

need of him

people turn

in utter fury.

We see it today.

Have you ever

seen anything

provoke such

hostility

than the Lord

Jesus?

People just

go crazy

irrationably

crazy

because if

Jesus is

who he

says he

is

then we

cannot

escape

our

absolute

need

of him.

But Jesus

is in total

control.

See how it

ends.

But he

walked right

through the

crowd

and went

on his

way.

Just as

Moses parted

the sea

so Jesus

parts the

crowd

and he

walks

through

unscathed.

And I

think the

scariest bit

is the last

four words

he went

on his

way.

The

sadness is

Jesus will

do two

more years

of public

ministry in

this region

and as far

as we know

he never

returned to

Nazareth.

Their

rejection of

him led

to his

rejection of

them and

he never

went back.

You know

we all may

think that we

can put off

making a

decision for

as long as

we like.

The truth

is today

you've got an

opportunity to

respond.

Tomorrow

nobody knows.

The Puritans

like to say

that the

sun that

melts the

wax also

hardens the

clay.

That as we

hear the

good news

of Jesus

it will

either melt

our hearts

humble us

under grace

and get us

to proclaim

him our

king or

it will

harden our

hearts and

will become

ever more

impenetrable to

his grace.

Jesus launches

his manifesto

which is good

news to

hopeless humanity.

It's good

news to me

it's good

news to you.

Jesus is

questioned but

reveals the

hard-hearted

pride of the

Nazareth people.

Jesus defines

his constituency

and says this is

good news for

anyone and

everyone.

Jesus is

rejected in

Nazareth as

people vote

with their

feet and

try to throw

him off a

cliff.

What about

you?

Will you

respond today?

Will you

subscribe to

Jesus'

manifesto,

receive his

good news,

acknowledge him

as God's

promised king,

come to lead

you out of

hopelessness and

to give you

eternal life?

Will you

respond to

this Jesus?

But what if

you know

Jesus as

your king?

Well don't

be obstinate,

don't just

sit around,

get on the

canvassing trail

because this

good news is

for anyone

and everyone

and Jesus

invites you

to be on

his campaign

team to

make him

known on

campus,

at work,

amongst

your friends

and your

family?

Will you

be on the

campaign trail

with Jesus?

To do this

you need to

do three

things and

they all

begin with

P.

You need

prayer,

you need

people and

you need

a plan.

You need

to pray

for opportunity.

You need

people to

pray for in

order that

you might

take that

opportunity and

you need a

plan.

How can I

make this

good news

so attractive

and accessible

to these

people?

How can I

have confidence

in the

gospel and

share it

with clarity?

Pray,

pray for

people,

pray for

opportunity,

pray for

boldness,

pray for

clarity,

which was

incredibly

unclear.

People,

invest in

people,

spend time

with people,

get to know

people,

have

conversations

with people

and have

a plan.

what

windows of

opportunity

do I

have to

present this

manifesto

in a

clear and

compelling

way?

So,

final round

of whose

manifesto

is it

anyway?

Five

manifesto

promises,

good news

to the

poor,

freedom

for

captives,

sight for

the blind,

emancipation

for the

oppressed,

welcomed

by God

now and

forever.

whose

manifesto

promises

are those

that Jesus

Christ to

us and

to you.

Question is,

how will

you vote?

Let me

pray.

Father God,

we thank

you for

Jesus.

We thank

you for

who he

is.

We thank

you for

his perfect

life.

Father,

we thank

you that

he obeyed

you and

did everything

that you

called him

to do.

And that

now this

Jesus has

become our

hope,

our rescue,

our freedom.

He is

good news,

he is our

life.

He is the

only one in

all the world

who can help

us out of

the death

and sin

that we

naturally live

in.

So,

Lord,

may we be

on board

with him.

May we be

on team,

Jesus.

And may

we love

him and

serve him

and share

him through

all of our

lives,

for all of

our lives,

until we

see him.

Father,

we thank

you so

much for

your grace

and your

goodness to

us in

sending your

son,

Jesus.

So,

Lord,

help us to

respond to

him appropriately.

We pray

this in his

name and

for his

glory.

Amen.