Luke 4:16-30—Many
today are seeking self-identity. They are seeking to understand who they are and
what their purpose in life is. Many do not have a reason for living. They are
confused because they are aimless. They have no goals for life. As Christians
who follow Christ in all things, our purpose in life should be the same as
Jesus’ purpose. Luke tells us where Jesus came from – He came from God to
fulfill God’s promises. He tells us who Jesus is – He is the Messiah, God’s
servant – commissioned and called. He tells us what Jesus was to do – preach
the Good News.
It was on a Sabbath that Jesus arrived in Nazareth
(See also Matthew 13:54-55; Mark 6:6:1-2) Customarily, the synagogue worship
was divided into three parts. In the worship part, prayers were offered. The
reading of Scriptures consisted of lessons from the Law, usually read verse by
verse by seven persons, and lessons from the prophets read three verses at a
time. Teaching formed the third part of the service. On this occasion Jesus was
both reader and preacher.
The quotation from Isaiah 43 is a beautiful Messianic
prophecy. Jesus speaks of His endowment and of the purpose for which He came. “Because” He was anointed by God with the
Holy Spirit, He is filled with the Spirit and thus set apart for His holy
office.
The ancient synagogue regards Isaiah 61:1-2 as one of
three passages in which the mention of the Holy Spirit was connected with the
promised Messiah. “To the poor” those
in utter spiritual destitution, the consciousness that precedes entrance into
the kingdom of God and that cannot be relieved by one’s own efforts but only by
the free mercy of God. He preached the good news of that free mercy. We know
from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount his opening words, “blessed are the poor in spirit.”
“To the prisoners” properly, prisoners of war (see
Isaiah 42:7) to Israel both as captive and exile, as prisoners of Satan’s
spiritual bondage He proclaims release.
“To the
oppressed”, (literally those broken in pieces” see Isaiah 42:4 He proclaims
freedom. To one and all in spiritual bondage, blindness, poverty, and oppression
He announces the arrival of an era in
human history that God regards with favor and in which He grants His blessings
in abundance, when salvation and the free favor of God abounds. It is the first
day of the “year” of Jubilee, a fixed
period of time wherein liberty is proclaimed throughout the whole land.
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