Grace to the Oppressed Luke 4v1-44

to the nations. The Spirit signified the presence and the power of God.

And the very servant that God spoke about would say this himself.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

And so for years the people waited in expectation for the power and the presence of God to come.

Now the promise has become a reality.

Look back to Luke chapter 3 verse 21, which is really the start or the beginning of Jesus' public ministry.

Luke 3:21

Chapter 3 verse 21, when all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.

And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove.

Look at chapter 4 verse 1, Jesus full of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 14, Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.

God is on the move.

Jesus, the Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered King has finally come.

And God is about to do something in the world through Jesus.

Three things we're going to see about this Spirit-filled King.

Who he is, what he has come to do, and why this is good news.

Who he is, what he's come to do, and why this is good news.

So first, who Jesus is.

Isaiah 4:1

Chapter 4 verse 1,

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, was led by the Spirit in the desert,

where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil.

Tempted by the devil.

Now where else in the Bible story have we ever come across that?

Well, right at the very start of the Bible story, way back in Genesis chapter 1 and 2,

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

we are introduced to the first man, Adam.

Now Luke, significantly, has just told us something about Adam.

If you look back to the very end of chapter 3,

in fact, if you go to verse 23,

you get this long genealogy,

tracing the line of Jesus.

So we read in verse 23,

now Jesus himself was about 30 years old when he began his ministry.

He was the son.

So it was thought of Joseph.

Of course, Joseph wasn't the biological father of Jesus.

Luke has already told us back in chapter 135,

that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

However, the point is of this genealogy, for us anyway,

is where it finishes.

Look at verse 38 at the very end of chapter 3.

So it goes through all these lists of names,

where it says the son of Enosh,

the son of Seth,

the son of Adam,

the son of God.

Adam was the son of God.

He didn't have a biological father like you or I,

but God had created Adam out of the earth.

And he had created Adam in his image.

So Adam was to reflect God

and to be some ways God's representative on the earth.

And as God's son,

Adam was to show the whole world

what it was like to live under God's rule.

But then there was the temptation in the garden.

And Adam failed.

Rather than reflect God,

he rebelled against God.

Instead of being God's representative,

Adam wanted to be God.

Adam, the son of God,

failed.

Now the thing is,

we are all sons of Adam.

We can all trace our family line

right the way back to the first man,

Adam.

And we are just like him.

We've all failed.

We all want to be God.

We want to be the centre of the universe.

We want to do things our way.

That's why the world is the way it is.

It's why Stephen Paddock

shot and murdered all those people.

It's why Trump and Kim

are threatening to blow each other up.

It's why our relationships break

and our friendships fall apart.

We want to be God.

We want to rule our own lives

and live as we please.

As sons of Adam,

we have all failed.

Now, with all that in mind,

and I think that's why Luke finishes

chapter 3 with the son of Adam,

the son of God,

and jumps straight in with

chapter 4, verse 1,

verse 1,

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit,

returned from the Jordan

and was led by the Spirit in the desert

where for 40 days

he was tempted by the devil.

Verse 3,

the devil said to him,

if you are the son of God,

tell this stone to become bread.

Every temptation,

there were three specific temptations

that Jesus faced in the desert,

was ultimately a temptation

to take the place of God.

If you are the son of God,

go on, Jesus,

take things into your own hands.

Don't be bothered about

what God's word says.

Do what you think.

Well, what would Jesus do?

Well, where Adam failed,

Jesus was faithful.

You see,

Jesus came as the true

son of God.

The obedient,

sinless,

and faithful son

where every other person

in the history of the world

has failed

and crumbled under temptation.

Jesus has been faithful.

Here is one

that we can count on.

Here is one

who we can trust.

By passing the test

of temptation,

Jesus proves

that he alone

is qualified

to be God's

spirit-empowered

king.

Everything that broke

through Adam's failure

can now be put right

through Jesus'

faithfulness.

God is on the move

and he is now at work

through his faithful,

obedient,

sinless son,

Jesus Christ.

So,

what has this

Jesus

come to do?

Well,

following the temptation,

look down

at verse 16.

Jesus went to Nazareth

where he had been

brought up

and on the Sabbath day

he went into the synagogue

as was his custom

and he stood up

to read.

Now,

the synagogue

in some ways

was like your local church.

Yes,

there was the temple

up in Jerusalem

but not everybody

could get to the temple

so they met in these

what were called

synagogues,

these small buildings.

And the usual practice,

similar in some ways

to what we have done

this morning,

there would have been

singing,

but the singing of Psalms.

And then at some point

somebody would read

something from

the books of Moses,

the first five books,

and then a little bit

later on there would be

a reading from

the Old Testament.

And then they would

sit down

and as was their custom,

different to us,

I stand,

but they sat

and they gave

a little mini sermon

about what they

had just read.

And on this particular day

Jesus has come

to the synagogue

to worship

and Jesus has been

asked to do

the reading.

verse 17.

The scroll

of the prophet Isaiah

was handed him

so they didn't have

neatly bound books

like we do,

but these great big scrolls

and maybe divided up

different parts of Isaiah.

And we can imagine

Jesus unrolling

this great big scroll

and searching.

There's no numbers,

no chapters,

no verses,

but he knows his Bible

and he specifically

has turned

to this section

in Isaiah.

Isaiah 61:1

Chapter 61,

verses 1 and 2

and unrolling it,

verse 17,

he found the place

where it is written.

He reads from Isaiah,

The Spirit of the Lord

is on me

because he has anointed me

to preach good news

to the poor.

He sent me to proclaim

freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight

for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year

of the Lord's favour.

Well, you could imagine

everyone nodding their heads

in agreement.

Good choice of reading.

Ah, yes.

The promise of God

to send his spirit-filled servant.

That's going to be someday

when that happens.

We can even hear

the little boy

asking his father,

when's this going

to happen, Dad?

Well, it's been

several hundred years

since Isaiah wrote this.

We hope

sometime soon.

Well, they're in

for the shock

of their lives.

Verse 20,

Jesus rolled up

the scroll,

gave it back

to his attendant,

who would have put it

back into the cupboard

at the back,

and Jesus sat down

to give the mini-sermon.

The eyes of everyone

in the synagogue

were fastened on him

and he began

by saying to them,

today,

this scripture

is fulfilled

in your hearing.

I am the one.

I am the spirit-filled,

spirit-empowered,

promised king,

the one that you

have been waiting for

down through the centuries.

It's me.

I'm the Messiah.

What you've longed for

has now become a reality.

I am the one.

Well, the text

that Jesus reads

explains to us

what he had come to do.

You won't notice it

at first.

Well, maybe you do,

but I certainly didn't.

I needed a very clever

commentator

to point it out to me.

But when you read

what is written

in Isaiah 61,

Isaiah 61:1–2

verses 1 to 2,

we had it read earlier

by Chris,

if you compared that

with the quotation

that we have in Luke,

Luke 4:18

chapter 4,

verses 18 and 19,

you'll notice that

there was something different.

Something is added

and something is missing.

What's added

is found at the very end

of verse 18

of chapter 4,

where it says,

to release the oppressed.

So Jesus is reading,

but he adds in this line,

to release the oppressed.

It comes from another part

in Isaiah.

And I don't think

Jesus is adding to Scripture.

It seems to be

more of an interpretation.

Everything that this quote

is saying

can be summed up

in the phrase,

to release the oppressed.

That's my mission.

The oppressed are,

as we see at the end

in the middle of verse 18,

the poor,

the prisoner,

and the blind.

They are the hopeless

and the helpless.

Now as we begin

to read through Luke's Gospel,

we'll discover that

the oppressed

become a model

or a symbol

for Christian faith.

Physically and materially,

the oppressed,

well,

they have nothing.

They're people

who are dependent

on outside help.

If it weren't

for other people,

they would die.

And that becomes

a model for how

we should come

to God spiritually.

We come as hopeless

and helpless people,

dependent

and completely reliant

upon God's grace.

So Jesus adds something

to explain something

of his mission,

but there's also

something missing.

If you were to read

Isaiah 61,

Isaiah 61:1–2

verses 1 to 2,

it finishes like this.

You may remember

what it said.

To proclaim the year

of the Lord's favour

and the day of vengeance

of our God.

Now when Jesus

starts quoting Isaiah here,

it finishes like this,

verse 19.

to proclaim the year

of the Lord's favour.

Full stop.

There's no mentions

of vengeance.

There's no judgment here.

Again,

I don't think

Jesus is changing

scripture.

He's simply

wanting to emphasize

that his coming,

his mission

into this world

is a time of grace,

not judgment.

There is a judgment

to come,

but for now

it is salvation,

not condemnation.

The year of the Lord's favour

is jam-packed

with meaning.

It comes from

one of the laws

that God had given

to his people

right back in the Old Testament.

A law that God

had given to his people

about cancelling

debts.

It was a law

that said

at the end

of every seven years,

everybody who had a debt

was released

from having to pay.

Now,

could you imagine that?

All the money

that you owe,

after seven years,

that debt

could be written off,

all cancelled.

If your bank statement

said minus,

it would be made

a zero.

Wow!

But better than that,

in the 50th year,

so get your maths

into order here,

after seven cycles

of seven years,

which is

49,

well done,

you're still with me.

So in the 50th year,

so after seven cycles

of seven years,

anything that you owned

and you had had to sell

because of debt problems

would all be given

back to you.

So not only were

your debts

written off,

but all the property

and land

that you had had to sell

was all restored

back to you again.

What an amazing,

good and gracious

law from God

to the people.

It was,

verse 19,

the year of the Lord's

favour,

a year of grace.

Now,

as one writer

pointed out to me,

in all the history

of Israel,

how many times

do you think

the 50th year

of cancelling

all debts

happened?

Do you think

of all the history

that we have,

the hundreds and thousands

of years

of Israel's history,

how many times

did they celebrate

that 50th year?

None.

There is not

one record

of this ever

happening in the Bible

because God's

people

failed

to obey

God's good law.

They could not

deal with each other

in grace.

They were too

greedy.

If people owed

debts,

they demanded

those debts.

If they had property,

they kept that property.

They could not

deal with others

in grace.

Now Jesus

comes

and stands up

before this

small gathering

and says,

it's me.

I am the year

of the Lord's

favour.

I have come

to give grace

to the oppressed.

Yes,

Jesus is concerned

for those

who are oppressed

economically,

politically

and physically.

We didn't have time

to read it,

but read it at home

the rest of chapter 4

and we'll see

that there

Jesus released

those with an evil

spirit

and he restored

those who were sick.

But he wasn't

coming in a sense

to kind of

write off people's

bank accounts

and put money

into their account.

It wasn't

that kind

of prosperity.

The cancellation

of debt

was not material

but spiritual.

Jesus had come

to cancel

the debt

of our sin

to release us

from the coming

judgment

and to restore

to life.

Jesus has come

to give grace

to the oppressed

to cancel

the debt

of sin.

God

is on the move

and he is

working through

his son

Jesus Christ.

Now this is

good news

for people

like you

and me.

You see

as Jesus

talked

to the crowd

and began

to give his

mini sermon

verse 22

all spoke

well of him

and were

amazed

at the

gracious

words

that came

from his

lips.

But by the

time Jesus

had finished

his little

mini sermon

look at

verse 29

they got

up

drove him

out of the

town

and took him

to the brow

and the hill

of which the

town was built

in order to

throw him

down the

cliff.

What a way

to start

your preaching

career.

I can remember

my very first

sermon.

I don't think

I even got

beyond five

minutes.

I got all

in a tizz

and a panic

and just

had to sit

down.

Thankfully

one very

kind person

said well

at least

you didn't

waffle.

Nobody

came gunning

for me

or trying

to kill

me.

But here's

Jesus

his first

sermon

from stunning

amazement

to seething

anger

trying to

kill him.

What did

Jesus say?

Why did

the crowd

change?

Why are

they so

angry?

Well look

at verse

22

the end.

They asked

isn't this

Joseph's

son?

Well

everybody

knew

Joseph

in Nazareth

it was a

small town

and well

Joseph was

the town

carpenter.

He was

that simple

character.

And now

his son

who had

taken over

the business

is claiming

to be

the Messiah.

God's

spirit

empowered

king.

Well he

doesn't look

much.

He's a bit

ordinary.

I think

he should

just get

back to

cutting wood

and stop

dreaming

dreams.

Jesus

it seems

knows their

hearts.

Verse 23

Jesus

said to

them

surely

you will

quote

this

proverb

to me

physician

heal

yourself.

Do

here in

your

hometown

what we

have

heard

that

you

did

at

Capernaum.

Well you

see they

want a

Messiah

who are

going to

do miracles

who's

going to

do miracles

on demand

and get

people

excited.

You know

all those

healings

you did

over there

do them

here

right now.

they want

Jesus to

do spectacular

things and

get all the

people excited

so he has a

big crowd

following him.

They want a

king who at

least looks

like a

king or

sounds like

a king

and who's

going to

kind of

march into

Jerusalem

and get

rid of

those dirty

Romans who

are taking

our land

and everything

that we

own.

Who's

going to

follow a

simple

carpenter?

verse 24

I tell you

the truth

he continued

no prophet

is accepted

in his

hometown.

It's a

damning

statement

about their

own hearts.

Nobody likes

anyone getting

ahead of

themselves.

We certainly

know that in

our culture

don't we?

We don't

like to

congratulate

people and

say oh

well done

you know

we like

saying

and that's

what they're

doing with

Jesus.

Who does

he think

he is

coming into

our

synagogue

claiming to

be the

Messiah.

We want

a real

king not

some

upstart

with

nonsense

ideas.

Well if

Jesus had

shut up at

this point

and gotten

the hint

he would

have just

sat down

and saved

face and

maybe would

have kept

a few

friends.

But no

Jesus is

on a

mission.

He can't

stay silent.

Knowing that

rejection

lay in

their

hearts

Jesus

shows them

who he

has come

to welcome.

Look at

verse 25.

I assure

you

Jesus

says there

were many

widows in

Israel.

Israel

God's

land

God's

special

people.

There were

many widows

in Israel

in Elijah's

time

God's

prophet

when the

sky was

shut for

three and

a half

years so

there was

no rain

and there

was a

severe famine

throughout

the land.

Lots of

poor widows

who didn't

have anything.

Yet Elijah

was not sent

to any of

them but

to a widow

in Zarephath

in the

region of

Sidon.

Elijah

went to

an outsider

a foreigner

of all

the people

who were

local.

He went

off somewhere

else.

Verse 27

And there

were many

in Israel

God's

land

God's

people

with

leprosy

in the

time of

Elijah

the prophet

yet not

one of

them

was

cleansed.

Only

Naaman

the Syrian

who if we

were to

go back

and read

a bit

about him

was general

of an

army not

only was

he an

outsider he

was an

enemy.

He fought

battles against

God's

people.

So everybody

who's listening

to Jesus'

sermon expects

that Elijah

and Elisha

oh well they

were great

prophets surely

they would go

to God's

people Israel.

After all

they're God's

specially chosen

people.

They deserve

God's favour.

God is on

their side.

But to

their absolute

shock and

disgust

Elijah and

Elisha go

to the

outsider.

You see

the widow

and Naaman

become for

us a

picture or

an example

of the

oppressed

that Jesus

has come

to release.

They are

the poor

the prisoner

the blind

they are

the humble

in heart.

They are

the hopeless

and helpless.

They cannot

help themselves.

They are

dependent and

completely reliant

upon God's

grace to

intervene in

their lives.

The widow

is a

foreigner.

Naaman is

an enemy.

And Jesus

is saying to

the gathering

in the

synagogue

I am the

Messiah and

I have come

to welcome

those with

humble hearts.

I have come

to welcome

outsiders in.

not to

those who

think of

themselves as

morally

respectable.

Not to

those who

have it all

together.

Not to

those who

feel they are

deserving.

No I have

come to

those who

see their

need of

absolute

help.

Now that's

good news

for people

like us.

For Jesus

comes to

those who

know they

fail and

fall.

he comes

to those

who are

desperate and

weak and

cannot help

themselves.

Let's ask

ourselves some

questions.

Would you

describe yourself

as having a

hard heart

or a

humble heart?

Have you

experienced

grace?

or are you

like the

crowd in

the synagogue

pushing it

away?

You see

those with a

humble heart

don't push

people away

because they

keep on

failing.

They don't

reject those

whose sexual

identity is

maybe different

to yours.

they don't

write off

those who

have hurt

you in

the past.

They don't

look down

on those

who have a

different skin

colour to

you.

They don't

distance

themselves from

those whose

life is broken

and messy.

They give

grace

because God

has been

gracious to

them and

they have

come to

experience

and understand

that well

God has

cancelled all

of my sin

debt and

no longer

holds it

over me

or against

me.

They welcome

the outsider

because God

has welcomed

them.

Or look

at it this

way.

Those who

have a

hard heart

pride

themselves in

their own

ability to

do well

in life.

They judge

other people

by their

own standards

and expectations

and nod

disapprovingly.

They're not

like me.

They won't

help the

broken because

well those

people need

to learn to

help themselves

first.

They condemn

the sinners

to hell

because they

can't see

their own

sin in

their own

hearts.

They

withhold

grace from

others because

well actually

it's all

about you

deserve what

you get

in life.

They can't

welcome

others

because they've

never ever

experienced

God's welcome

in their own

lives.

God is

on the

move.

He is

on a

mission.

He is

offering

grace to

the

oppressed.

He

welcomes

the

outsider.

He

welcomes

people like

you and

me who

will only

admit that

I am

helpless and

hopeless.

I cannot

help myself.

I cannot

change my

life.

I need

you to

change me.

And in

response

we are

incorporated

into the

great mission

of God

as we

go

and offer

grace

to those

who cannot

help

themselves.

Welcoming

the outsider

showing

them the

grace

that none

of us

deserve.

let's

pray

together.

Let's

pray together.

Father, we

are astonished

and amazed

at your

grace

towards us

that you

would reach

down even

though we

have

pushed you

away.

Thank you

that you

do not

treat us

as our

sins

deserve.

Thank you

that you

do not

look down

upon us

and say

help

yourself.

thank you

that you

have come

to help

us

through your

son the

Lord Jesus

and have

given us

a way

to life

and a

way to

be changed.

Father,

help us

that we

would have

humble

hearts

and any

hardness

of heart

that you

would deal

with by

your grace

right now.

Change us

so that we

become

welcomers

of all

who are in

need of

you.

We pray

this in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.