The Unveiling of Jesus’ Mission (Luke 4:14-30)
Sermon Series: Journeying with Jesus: Experiencing the Gospel of Luke
February 25, 2024
Luke 4:14-15 (NIV)
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
1. Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out His mission.
We should desire and seek the Holy Spirit to empower our lives as well.
Luke 4:16-21 (NIV)
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. 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.”
2. Jesus’ mission statement proclaims that a new kingdom of grace and freedom has dawned.
Isaiah 61:1-2a (NIV)
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
Isaiah 58:6 (NIV)
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
- Proclaim good news to the poor
- Proclaim freedom for the prisoners
- Recovery of sight for the blind
- Set the oppressed free
- Proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
We are called to join the mission of Jesus of proclaiming Good News and redeeming all things.
Luke 4:22-30 (NIV)
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.
3. Jesus was rejected as the Messiah because of familiarity, self-centeredness, and self-righteousness.
We need to be careful of being hindered by the false ways we view Jesus and view ourselves.
Discussion Question
What profound insights are you gaining about the nature and character of Jesus during this season, and how do you sense He is calling you to respond?