Great Commission Series
THE ESSENCE OF JESUS’ MINISTRY
Read: Luke 4:16-21
Intro: Imagine if you were invited to preach your very first sermon in your hometown—at your childhood congregation—with all your childhood friends and neighbors in attendance. That’s where we find Jesus in Luke 4. And He doesn’t play it safe. He doesn’t share a cute story or a personal memory. He reads a provocative prophecy, stops short of the vengeance part, sits down, and essentially says, “This is about Me.”
In the synagogue, Jesus didn’t just happen to read this passage. Synagogue readings were often assigned, but here, Luke notes that Jesus "found the place"—He chose this passage. This wasn’t accidental. It was intentional. He selected Isaiah 61 as His inaugural message, a bold, prophetic announcement of His mission and identity.
Here’s the opening question: If you had to define your life in one paragraph, what would you say?
Jesus does just that in Luke 4:16–21. And in that single paragraph, He gives us the essence of His ministry.
- What Kind of News Did Jesus Come to Share?
Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me... to preach good news to the poor... to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
Jesus came to share life-altering, hope-restoring, soul-freeing news. Not tips for a better week. Not “here’s how to behave.”
He came to declare that God's Kingdom is breaking into the world. Rescue is here, and He’s the Rescuer.
It’s not a message about how we can climb to God; it’s about how God came down to us.
Think about it: every religion in the world, from ancient temples to modern philosophies, has one thing in common—it’s man trying to reach up to God.
You can see it in the endless ladders of works, rituals, sacrifices, meditation—do this, climb higher, maybe someday you’ll get close.
John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God didn’t shout instructions from heaven; He stepped into the mess.
Martin Luther compared it this way: religion is like a man in a pit digging for a ladder; the gospel is the Son of God jumping into the pit to carry you out.
Every other system says, “Reach higher, try harder, clean yourself up.” But the gospel says, “God bent low, stretched out His hand, and pulled you up by grace.”
The news is: you don’t have to stay the same. Help has arrived. Heaven has opened.
If you feel poor in spirit, empty inside, or desperate for more, this news has your name on it.
Mark paints the same picture.
Mark 1:14-15 “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’”
That’s a royal announcement, not a religious one. He’s saying, “The wait is over. God’s reign is here. Change course and believe the good news.” This is a declaration, not a discussion.
Jesus didn’t come to win arguments or just improve lives—He came to proclaim a brand-new reality: God is stepping in.
When Jesus said He came to proclaim “the acceptable year of the Lord,” His audience didn’t just hear “a nice time of favor.”
They heard Jubilee—a once-in-a-generation economic, spiritual, and social reset straight from Leviticus 25.
Jubilee meant that every 50th year, slaves were released. Debts were canceled. Land returned to original owners.
It was God’s way of saying: “No matter how far you’ve fallen, I won’t let you stay stuck forever.”
Imagine being neck-deep in debt. You’ve lost your home, your land, maybe even your freedom. Then one day, someone blows the ram’s horn across the land and announces, “You’re free. Your record is cleared. Your life starts over—today.”
That’s what Jesus was declaring.
But here’s the twist: He wasn’t announcing a date on the calendar. He was announcing Himself.
Jesus didn’t just say, “Jubilee is here.” He said, “I am Jubilee. Everything the Old Testament promised—release, restoration, and reset—it’s all fulfilled in Me.”
“Your sin? Forgiven. Your shame? Lifted. Your soul? Released. You don’t have to wait for a special year—you just have to come to Me.”
John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
- Who Does Jesus Want to Set Free?
Luke 4:18 "He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed..."
Jesus came for the stuck, the scarred, and the spiritually bankrupt. The ones who can’t break free on their own.
He came for the woman battling addiction, the man crushed under guilt, the teenager drowning in anxiety, the parent burned out and barely holding on.
His first targets are not the people who think they’ve got it together—He came for those humble enough to admit they don’t.
If you feel bound, blinded, or beat up, Jesus isn’t waiting for you to get cleaned up. He’s walking into your prison cell with the keys.
Michael Horton – God doesn't just send a message—He sends Himself.
But who is this message for? The poor.
And in Isaiah’s usage, that doesn’t just mean broke. It means broken. Not just financially poor but spiritually needy.
The "poor" here are those crushed by life, by injustice, by sin.
Jesus is saying, "If you know you need God, this message is for you."
Isaiah 58:6 echoes this heart of God: “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free…?”
It’s as if God says, “You want to worship Me? Then help people get free.” This isn’t about religious rituals—it’s about real people being released from real pain.
This isn’t a temporary fix. Jesus isn’t applying a band-aid—He’s offering genuine freedom. That’s why He says…
John 8:36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
And Psalm 146:7–8 reminds us, “The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners… The Lord opens the eyes of the blind…”
Jesus isn’t just offering political deliverance or fixing external circumstances—He’s freeing people from internal prisons: shame, rejection, anxiety, addiction.
Christ is not only about proclamation. He’s about transformation.
He comes to the spiritually blind, the emotionally bruised, and the morally bankrupt and says, "You don’t have to live stuck anymore."
This isn’t abstract theology. This is Jesus saying, "Your over-scheduled, over-stressed, overwhelmed life? I came for that."
The gospel is not just the promise of heaven one day, but the promise of help right now.
- What If Jesus Refused to Play the Role You Assigned Him?
Luke 4:21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Even by Galilean standards, Nazareth was a poor, backwater village.
Jesus wasn’t just "Joseph’s son"—He was a Nazareth kid, the boy from down the street. They watched Him grow up.
So when He stood up and said, essentially, “I’m the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy,” it wasn’t just scandalous—it was unsettling. He torn down the picture they had of the Messiah. He bulldozed their storyline.
Jesus didn’t come to fit our expectations either—He came to fulfill God’s mission.
The people in Nazareth wanted a Messiah who would bless them and blast their enemies. But Jesus refused to be their puppet.
He offered grace, not revenge—and they couldn’t handle it.
The truth is, Jesus will confront your prejudices. He will challenge your assumptions. He will call out your pride. That’s how the gospel works. It doesn’t flatter—it fixes what’s wrong.
If you’ve been trying to box Jesus into places you feel comfortable, He may offend you—but only because He wants to set you free.
Jesus was quoting Isaiah but deliberately stopped short in Isaiah 61 before the line: "...and the day of vengeance of our God."
That wasn't random. It was on purpose. The Lord was erasing assumptions: not fire from heaven, but favor from God.
This would have shocked everyone listening.
They expected a hometown hero who would speak blessing over them and curses over everyone else. But Jesus offered grace to outsiders, and the room went cold.
The Lord starts with mercy, not militancy. And that offends the religious mindset.
People love justice when it corrects others. But they only love mercy when it's for themselves.
illus: John Knox, the fiery reformer of Scotland, was so bold in prayer that Mary Queen of Scots admitted, “I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the armies of Europe.” When Mary summoned him, angry over his sermons, she asked how he dared rebuke her. Knox looked her in the eye and said, “I must obey Him who is King of kings. If princes offend, they must be told so.” Knox refused to flatter the powerful.
Like Jesus in Nazareth, he wouldn’t play the role people wanted—he spoke God’s truth, no matter the cost.
Truth wasn’t just for the poor—it was for the powerful, too.
CONCLUSION: What Do You Expect Jesus to Do For You?
Jesus' first sermon announces: "I’m not here to just fix your life. I’m here to give you a new one."
You know, years ago in England, there was a mighty revival under a man named George Jeffreys. He used to sum up the gospel in just four simple statements—so clear a child could remember them.
He said: Jesus is our Savior, our Healer, our Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and our Coming King.
That’s the whole sweep of the good news in Luke 4. Not just forgiveness for your past, but healing for your hurts, power for today, and hope for tomorrow. That’s the Jesus who stood up in Nazareth, and that’s the Jesus who still stands among us today.”
His ministry is good news, freedom, healing, and mercy—for those humble enough to admit they need it.
For Prayer Ministry:
- "I Feel Poor" — You’re spiritually dry, emotionally tired, or just worn out. This is the place to bring your exhaustion to God and ask Him to renew you.
- "I Feel Stuck" — Maybe you’re bound by fear, addiction, sin, or pressure. This is the place to trade chains for His release.
- "I Need Mercy" — You’ve been angry, bitter, or judgmental. This is where you stop demanding vengeance and start receiving grace.
The Apostles’ Creed (Modern English)
We believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day He rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
one holy Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
---------------------------
Transcript
This is part five of a six part series that we just call the Great Commission series. And I've chosen as my text for the next two weeks Luke chapter four beginning in verse 16 and it will end at verse 30. But we're going to go through verse 21 today. If you're new. We believe that the Scriptures are God's word and that they are true.
And so I stand over this word today to preach, knowing that what I'm about to read to you is from God. God breathed and is true and right.
Luke chapter 4, verses 16 through 21. So he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Then he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Brothers and sisters, the word of the Lord. Let's pray together.
Father, we need your truth. We need to hear from you.
We need the cleansing agent of the Word of God to come and tidy us back up after a week of walking in this world. Open our hearts, O Lord, and give us ears to hear.
Set aside all the distractions around us that might keep us from the truth today. Help me to say it right. In Jesus name and Father, the Faith Filled Church said, today is the essence of Jesus ministry. The second part of this text next week will be the essence of Jesus Kingdom. Imagine if you were invited to preach your very first sermon in your hometown.
Now that happened to me back in 1991 and I have a photo and you shall not see it today cause I forgot. But look, I had just gotten my basketball haircut without my mother's permission. And I got white walls right here before they turned white. And I had lines and stripes done because it was cool back in 1991 until I got home and Then it wasn't cool. But imagine you were invited to preach your very first sermon in your hometown at your childhood congregation.
All your childhood friends and your neighbors were in attendance. And that's where we find Jesus in Luke 4. Because he grew up in Nazareth and he doesn't play it safe in his first sermon there. He doesn't share a cute story. He doesn't add a personal memory.
Hey, remember that time we all did that thing? Instead, he reads a provocative prophecy. He stops short of the vengeance part, he sits down and essentially he tells the whole group, this is about me.
In the synagogue. Jesus didn't just happen to read this passage. Synagogue readings were often assigned. But here, if you remember from what I read, Luke notes that Jesus found the place. He hunted this one out.
He chose this passage. It means this was no accident, it was intentional. And he selected Isaiah 60:1 with our chapter and verse divisions. Isaiah has 66 chapters. Isaiah 60, 61 would be his inaugural text message.
It was a bold prophetic announcement of his mission and his identity. Let me just get you to thinking about this with an opening question. If you had to define your life in one paragraph, what would you say?
Because Jesus does just that in Luke 4, 16:21, and my brothers and my sisters in that single paragraph, he gives us the essence of his ministry. Now, I'm always going to give you a sermon outline because the guys who taught me how to speak in public says that if you can't outline it, you shouldn't say it. And so my outline today is three questions I'm going to ask from the text. Number one, what kind of news did Jesus come to share?
Let me just give you a couple of phrases from Luke 4, 18 and 19. The spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the good news to the poor. And at the end he says to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Hey, would it be fair to say or accurate of me to say that Jesus came to share life altering hope restoring soul freeing news? Is that accurate?
He didn't come to give you tips for a better week or not. Hey, here's how to behave and act right. Not even how to win friends and influence people. Jesus, he came to declare that God's kingdom is breaking into the world.
Rescue is here and he's the rescuer. It's not a message about how we can climb up to God. You may have come to church today going, I'm going to go there. I'm going to find God there. They're going to show me how I can get to him.
They're going to tell me what I can do to be a better me. But Jesus message has never been how we can climb up to God. It's always been about how God came down to us. So I want you to think about it with one notable exception. Every religion in the world, from ancient temples far away to modern philosophies in your classroom, they all have one thing in common.
It's man trying to reach up to God.
Now you know what the notable exception is, right? It's biblical Christianity. You can see this man reaching up to God in the endless ladders of. Of works and rituals and meditations and prayer books. Do this.
Climb higher. Maybe someday you'll get close. That's what the world's religions teach you. But you know what the Bible Sundays. In John 1:14, the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Jesus is the word. Jesus. God put on an earth suit and moved into the neighborhood. He didn't shout instructions from heaven. He stepped into our mess.
And I don't know what your prayer lines were like today, but I know what mine was like. Every one of those things I read. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to bring liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind. All of that was in my prayer line because the Bible is as current as right now. Amen.
Right now. And so Martin Luther compared it this way. Religion is like a man in a pit digging for a ladder. The Gospel is the Son of God jumping into the pit to carry you out.
Every other system says, reach higher, try harder, and don't forget to clean yourself up. But the Gospel says that God condescended and he stretched out his hand to pull you up by grace.
So the news is, friends, you don't have to stay the same.
Help from heaven has arrived and God has come down to sinners. I wonder if you believe that. If you feel wrecked in your spirit, if you feel empty inside, or maybe just desperate for more of what you've seen here, then I want to tell you that this news that Jesus came to proclaim has your name on it.
Mark in his gospel paints the same picture. Mark, chapter one, verses 14 and 15. Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.
That's a royal announcement. It's not a religious announcement. A king wants you to know that the wait is over. That God's reign is here and now. So change course and believe the good news.
This is a declaration. It's not a discussion. I want you to know that Jesus didn't come to Earth to win arguments. Isn't that right? I meant to start with this.
Let me say it now. I'm grateful for the ministry and the legacy of Charlie Kirk. We mentioned it last week. I went to a prayer vigil in his honor and name last Sunday night in. I call it Collierville.
If you're from there, it's Collierville. Right? And on the Collierville Square, and there was just a bunch of people in all directions. And one of the girls from Memphis that started a Turning Point USA chapter at the University of Memphis was there. She had turned just a few minutes to speak because TP USA was putting her on a plane to Phoenix because she's like a regional director and they were going to minister to their people.
Here's what she said. On a good month, Turning Point USA, when it was really hopping, would get 1,000 leads from high school and college students around the nation, 1000amonth to maybe start a Turning Point USA group in their school. From his martyrdom last Wednesday to that Sunday, they had received 30,000 leads saying, start a group that preaches the gospel and shows what American patriotism is. So today they're going to have his memorial service and millions will watch. So I'm grateful for the faithfulness of Charlie Kirk.
I even heard the leading Christian historian in the nation say that as far as he could tell, he owns some of the primary source material from the Founding Fathers. I heard him say on his podcast on Thursday, I believe it was Thursday, he says, best we can tell, Charlie Kirk's the first ever Christian martyr in American history. Let me qualify that. There have been lots of Christians killed for things that they said. There have been lots of Christians killed by evil people.
Others died from politics, others died for other leadership. But Charlie's voice was silenced because he preached the gospel to the next generation and they were listening. And so I don't know whether all that is completely accurate. I want to honor him. I didn't want to just give him one Sunday.
I'm thankful for the move of God. There's a spiritual awakening happening because of this, and I'm grateful for that. But Jesus didn't just come to win debates or just to improve lives. He came to proclaim a brand new reality. And that new reality is God is stepping into earth human flesh.
It's the acceptable year of The Lord and his audience didn't just hear, oh, the acceptable year of the Lord. I was hoping for one of those years. They weren't thinking, oh, really? It's just going to be an enjoyable season and we're going to have a happy time. When they heard him say that he's fulfilling the acceptable year of the Lord, they heard a Bible word called Jubilee.
Jubilee was a once in a generation economic, spiritual and social reset. Comes straight out of Leviticus 25 in your Bibles. You can go look at it later. Jubilee meant that every 50th year, if you were in indentured slavery, you were released from that. Slaves were released, debts were canceled.
In the Jubilee, if you owned land, somebody else got it because you couldn't pay for it anymore. Land was returned to the original owners. You just hope you could live through the next Jubilee year to experience this. It was God's way of saying, no matter how far you've fallen, I won't let you stay stuck forever. Isn't God good?
Imagine being neck deep in debt, maybe for two or three decades. You've lost your home, you have surrendered your land, maybe you've even lost your freedom. And now you're in debtor's prison or indentured servitude. And then one day someone blows the ram's horn across all the land and announces, you're free. Your record's clear, your debts are erased, your life starts over today.
Do you understand that? That's what Jesus was declaring in Luke 4. But here's the surprise. He wasn't announcing a date on the calendar. He didn't say, I don't know if you guys have been marking it, but today was that day.
He wasn't announcing a date on the calendar, he was announcing himself. Jesus doesn't say, jubilee is here. He said, I am Jubilee. Everything the Old Testament promised, from release to restoration to reset, he says, it's all fulfilled in me. That's quite the statement for someone to make.
You better be God if you want to say it and it be true. Your sin forgiven, your shame lifted, your soul released from bondage.
You don't have to wait for a special year, friends. Jesus says, you just have to come to me. What's the most famous verse in the Bible? It's John 3. What?
You know that that's not where that chapter end.
There's a verse 17 where Jesus says that he didn't come into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world. And then There's a verse 18 that says, if you'll believe in him, you won't be condemned. And then there's verse 19. Would you listen to me just for a second? This won't be on your screens because I'm off my notes right now.
If you are alienated from God today, the problem is not what you know. The Bible says in Psalm 19 that in every language under heaven, God speaks through his creation so that you know there's a God. In Romans chapter 1, the apostle Paul wrote that God's invisible qualities and his spiritual power have been clearly seen by what he made. So that men are without excuse. Your problem is that you can't.
Your problem is not that you can't know God. Your problem's not what you know. Your problem is what you love. In John 3:19, and this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world. But men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.
So listen to me very carefully. Jesus will do all that the Jubilee says he'll do if you come to him. He looked at the religious leaders one day in John chapter five, and he says, you guys study the Bible, but you don't know me. How is that possible? Let me give you the quote you search the Scriptures for.
In them you think you have eternal life. And these are they which testify of me. Do you understand that? Right there, Jesus says the Bible is about him. Don't miss the last line, though.
But you are not willing to come to me that you may have life. Your problem's not what you know, it's what you love. Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. And you've been refusing to come to Jesus for life. And I'm telling you today that when I give you his first sermon in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth, I have to say to you that when he said, these are fulfilled in me, he's saying, come to me to have life or you miss and lose it all.
Jesus is the only way to know God. Biblical Christianity is the only true religion. It is faith alone in Christ alone, by the glory of God alone, do we believe this.
That's what the Bible teaches. So what kind of news did Jesus come to share? Question number two. Who does Jesus want to set free? Well, in Luke 18, he gave us a list.
He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. When he says, recovery of sight to the blind, don't spiritualize that. You know, when you're spiritually blind, he wants to open your eyes. There was a lady we were praying for at the Warrior center on Thursday night. She was coming to Christ.
She prays to receive the Lord and be saved. Right in front of us, me and Brooke, wherever Brooke is, who may be in his second service, we were praying for her. And here's what she told me. She said, I started methamphetamine when I was 13 years old. I said, well, how old are you now?
She said, 47. And so as we're praying with her and she's just a total wreck, she starts squinting at me. I'm this far from her, praying for her. I said, well, what's wrong with your eyes? She said, all my meth addiction has given me diabetes.
She's real skinny. And she says, I'm losing my eyesight. Well, I hope this doesn't offend you. But you know what I said to her? I said, jesus can fix your eyes.
You're repenting tonight. You're giving him all your whole life, your old life, and he's putting that to death. He's giving you a new life. Why wouldn't he? If you go look in the Gospels, he would heal people because he's merciful and he's good.
I said, you want to pray for your eyes? She said, I sure would. So we began to pray, and she began to shake. And I said, can you see any better? She says, a little bit.
I said, well, you prayed one prayer. Do you think that's enough? She said, no. I said, I want you to get your friends to pray every day that God would heal your eyes today, because the scriptures have declared it, and that's not hard for God. And the enemy had so tried to destroy this young woman that she's now a trophy of his grace.
I like that kind of stuff. Jesus came for the stuck and the scarred and the spiritually bankrupt, the ones who can't break free on their own. He came for the woman battling addiction. He came for the man crushed under guilt. He came for the teenager drowning in anxiety because of they're just immersed in social media and all the standards they think they gotta reach.
He came for the burned out parent who says, I'm supposed to love my kids, but it's so tiring and I got nothing left, but I can't tell anybody. He came for the single adult who's lonely and barely holding on. Christ's first targets are not people who think they've got it all together. He came for those who are humble enough to know they don't. So listen to me if you Feel bound today.
If you feel blinded, if you feel beat up, Jesus is not waiting for you to get cleaned up, to come to him. He's walking into your prison cell with the keys. Am I right? Is this what the Bible teaches? Am I bearing true witness to our Lord and Savior?
Michael Horton said, God didn't just send a message, He. He sends himself. But who's the message for? The verse says the poor. Now remember, this is a quote from Isaiah.
How does Isaiah use the word poor in all 66 of his chapters, over and over again? Well, Isaiah uses the word poor, and he doesn't just mean broke, he means broken. Not just financially lacking. Poor also means spiritually empty. Jesus is saying, if you know you need God, this message is for you.
And I wanted you to know that this is no temporary fix. Jesus isn't sticking a band aid on a cancer. He's bringing genuine freedom. That's why he says in John 8:36, Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you'll be free indeed. Everybody say free indeed.
Look, not fake free, not a week of it. A whole new life and eternity's worth and make you free.
Jesus isn't offering political triumph, and for that I'm glad that'll be at the very end. Neither is he fixing external circumstances. He said. He said, you don't want to be one of those men that's whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones.
He's freeing people from their internal prisons like shame and rejection and depression and addiction. He's saying, you don't have to live stuck anymore. And this isn't just abstract theology. Jesus is saying, hey, you know that over scheduled, overstressed, overwhelmed life that you have? I came for that.
The gospel is not just the promise of heaven one day. It's the promise of new life right now.
So who does Jesus want to set free? Question number three. What if Jesus refused to play the role that you assigned him?
I stopped reading verse 21. And he began to say to them, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Now, if I had started my sermon today and picked a place in Isaiah, read it and said, I want you to know everybody's been waiting for this, and I just did it. I would expect you to get up and walk out and go find a new church. The only person who could ever say that with authority and with truth is the Lord Jesus.
But they didn't like it when he said it. Even by Galilean standards, Nazareth was a poor backwater village. And Jesus in that town wasn't just Joseph, the carpenter's son, He. He was a Nazareth kid. He's the boy from down the street.
We pay his father to build things for us. They watched him grow up.
So when he stood up and said, essentially, I'm the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, that wasn't just scandalous to them, it was unsettling. He tore down the picture that they had in their minds of the Messiah. He bulldozed their storyline. And can I be so bold as to say that Jesus didn't come to fit our expectations either. He came to fulfill God's mission.
The people in Nazareth wanted a Messiah who would bless them and blast their enemies. But here in Luke 4, Jesus refuses to be their puppet.
He offered grace to their enemies, not revenge. And they couldn't handle it. The room went silent. It went cold. And may I say to us again, the truth is that Jesus will confront your prejudices too.
He will challenge your assumptions.
He will call out our pride. That's how the Gospel works. It doesn't flatter, it fixes what's wrong. If you've been trying to box Jesus in into places where you feel comfortable, I can guarantee you he will offend you, but only because he wants to set you free.
Jesus was quoting Isaiah 61 deliberately, but he didn't quote the whole thing. He stopped reading before their favorite part of the verse, and I'm going to unpack this next week. He stopped before the line and the day of vengeance of our God. You see, they were expecting their deliverer to come and whip their enemies and elevate them. Jesus left that out.
It wasn't random. It was on purpose. The Lord was erasing assumptions. They assumed fire from heaven. They didn't expect favor from God on their enemies.
And that's what Jesus said he was bringing. I want you to know this would have shocked everyone listening. They would have stopped taking notes. In fact, we know that they did. The Lord starts with mercy, not militancy.
And that always offends the religious mindset because, listen to me. People love justice when it corrects others, but they only love mercy when it's for themselves. Let me say that again. People love justice when it corrects others, but they only love mercy when it's for themselves. Let me tell you a true story about John Knox.
John Knox was the fiery reformer of Scotland. And he was so bold in prayer that Mary Queen of Scots admitted, and I quote, I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the armies of Europe.
When Queen Mary summoned John Knox because she was angry over his Sermons. And she asked him, how dare you rebuke me in your sermons? John Knox looked her in the eye, and here's what he said. I must obey him who is king of kings. If princes offend, they must be told.
So John Knox refused to flatter the powerful. What if Jesus refused to play the role you assigned him? Like Jesus in Nazareth, John Knox wouldn't play the role that the people wanted. He spoke God's truth, no matter the cost. And now we learned that truth wasn't just for the poor.
It was also for the powerful.
What if Jesus refused to play the role you assigned him? In conclusion today, what do you expect Jesus to do for you? His first sermon announces, I'm not here to fix your life. I'm here to give you a new one.
You know, years ago in England, there was a mighty revival under a man named George Jeffreys. And George Jeffries used to sum up the gospel about who Jesus was in four simple statements, so easy he thought a child could remember them. He said, jesus is our Savior, our healer, our baptizer with the spirit and our coming king. You know, that's the whole sweep of the good news and the identity of Jesus in Luke 4.
Not just forgiveness of your past. That's our Savior, not just healing your hurts. Our healer, not just power for today. Our baptizer with the spirit and not just hope for tomorrow. Our coming King Jesus is all of those.
That's the Jesus who stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth. And it's the same Jesus who stands up among us today.
So, Pastor, how do I apply this sermon to my life from this text of Scripture? Well, I'm going to give three confessions today. And you see if you're one, two or all three of these. Number one, I feel poor. You're spiritually dry.
You're emotionally tired. You're just worn out. This is the place to bring your exhaustion to God and ask him to renew you. So we're going to pray for people after the service. Number two, I feel stuck.
Maybe you're bound by fear or addiction or sin or some kind of internal or external pressure. Well, this is the place to trade your chains for his release. Number three, I need mercy. Maybe you've been bitter or angry or judgmental. This is where you stop demanding vengeance and start receiving grace.
I feel poor. I feel stuck. I need mercy. Let's stand together prayer ministry teams. If you're going to pray for people after the service, if you'll get in place.
I thought that since this text of scripture this week and next week is about who Jesus is, that we would end reading a confession of faith together. One of the oldest ones in the church is called the Apostles Creed. And I thought we'd read the Apostles Creed to end this message this week and next week. So you're going to read it along with me, and we're going to go line by line, and I'm going to go at a good slow pace, not a fast one. And our church is going to rally around the basics of the Christian faith.
You good?
We believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day, he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, one holy church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. To the mission field you go, Sam.
I haven't worked it out yet. I mean, it's not gonna be that long, I think. So. All I want to do is church.
Overcoming Temptation: Jesus' First Sermon and What It Means for Us
When we're running on empty, shortcuts start looking tempting. We often think Jesus' temptations were nothing like ours. We picture Him in the desert with the devil saying, "Turn these stones into bread," and think, "I've never been tempted to eat stones!"
But Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and was starving. The real temptation was this: when you're tired and hungry, take a shortcut. Get what you want right now. Isn't that the same pull we feel to choose comfort over character when we're exhausted?
Does Jesus Really Understand Our Struggles?
Hebrews 4:15 reminds us: "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin."
Jesus knows the pressure, loneliness, exhaustion, and temptation you face. He understands and is with you in your struggle. You're not alone, and His love is enough for every messy part of your life.
Jesus' First Sermon: The Essence of His Ministry
In Luke 4:16-21, we find Jesus giving His first sermon in His hometown of Nazareth. Instead of playing it safe with a cute story or personal memory, He reads a provocative prophecy from Isaiah, sits down, and essentially tells everyone, "This is about me."
Jesus didn't just happen to read this passage - Luke notes that Jesus "found the place." He hunted this passage out. It was intentional, a bold prophetic announcement of His mission and identity.
What Kind of News Did Jesus Come to Share?
Jesus came to share life-altering, hope-restoring, soul-freeing news. He didn't come to give tips for a better week or teach us how to behave. He came to declare that God's kingdom was breaking into the world - rescue is here, and He's the rescuer.
This isn't a message about how we can climb up to God. It's about how God came down to us.
With one notable exception, every religion in the world has one thing in common: man trying to reach up to God through endless ladders of works, rituals, meditations, and prayer books. The exception? Biblical Christianity.
John 1:14 tells us "the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." God put on an "earth suit" and moved into the neighborhood. He didn't shout instructions from heaven - He stepped into our mess.
What is the Jubilee and Why Does It Matter?
When Jesus announced "the acceptable year of the Lord," His audience heard a reference to Jubilee - a once-in-a-generation economic, spiritual, and social reset described in Leviticus 25.
During Jubilee, slaves were released, debts canceled, and land returned to original owners. It was God's way of saying, "No matter how far you've fallen, I won't let you stay stuck forever."
But Jesus wasn't announcing a date on the calendar. He was announcing Himself. He didn't say "Jubilee is here" - He essentially said, "I am Jubilee." Everything the Old Testament promised - from release to restoration to reset - is fulfilled in Him.
Who Does Jesus Want to Set Free?
Jesus came for:
- The captives
- The blind
- The oppressed
- The poor (which in Isaiah means not just financially lacking but spiritually empty)
He came for the stuck, the scarred, and the spiritually bankrupt - those who can't break free on their own:
- The woman battling addiction
- The man crushed under guilt
- The teenager drowning in anxiety
- The burned-out parent
- The lonely single adult
Christ's first targets are not people who think they've got it all together. He came for those humble enough to know they don't.
What If Jesus Refuses to Play the Role You Assigned Him?
When Jesus stood up in Nazareth and said He was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, it wasn't just scandalous - it was unsettling. He tore down their mental picture of the Messiah and bulldozed their storyline.
The people in Nazareth wanted a Messiah who would bless them and blast their enemies. But Jesus refused to be their puppet. He offered grace to their enemies, not revenge.
Significantly, Jesus stopped reading Isaiah 61 before "the day of vengeance of our God." They expected their deliverer to come and whip their enemies. Jesus left that part out deliberately. He starts with mercy, not militancy.
This always offends the religious mindset because people love justice when it corrects others, but they only love mercy when it's for themselves.
What Do You Expect Jesus to Do for You?
His first sermon announces: "I'm not here to fix your life. I'm here to give you a new one."
George Jeffreys, an English revivalist, summed up the gospel about Jesus in four simple statements:
- Jesus is our Savior (forgiveness of our past)
- Jesus is our Healer (healing our hurts)
- Jesus is our Baptizer with the Spirit (power for today)
- Jesus is our Coming King (hope for tomorrow)
That's the Jesus who stood up in Nazareth, and it's the same Jesus who stands among us today.
Life Application
Which of these three confessions resonates with you today?
- I feel poor - spiritually dry, emotionally tired, worn out. Bring your exhaustion to God and ask Him to renew you.
- I feel stuck - bound by fear, addiction, sin, or some kind of pressure. Trade your chains for His release.
- I need mercy - perhaps you've been bitter, angry, or judgmental. Stop demanding vengeance and start receiving grace.
Ask yourself:
- Where am I trying to make Jesus fit my expectations rather than accepting His mission?
- What areas of my life do I need to surrender to His freedom and mercy?
- How can I extend the same grace to others that Jesus offers to me?
This week, identify one area where you feel poor, stuck, or in need of mercy. Bring it specifically to Jesus in prayer, and watch how He fulfills His mission in your life.
------------------------
Come and join us this Sunday at the Great Commission Church for a truly remarkable and uplifting experience. Great Commission Church is a family-friendly church in Olive Branch, MS. Great Commission Church is not just any ordinary place of worship; it's a vibrant community where faith comes alive, hearts are filled with love, and lives are transformed. Our doors are wide open, ready to welcome you into the warm embrace of our congregation, where you'll discover the true essence of fellowship and spirituality. At Great Commission Church, we are more than just a congregation; we are a family united by a common mission – to follow the teachings of Christ and spread His love to the world. As you step inside Great Commission Church, you'll find a sanctuary that nurtures your faith and encourages you to be part of something greater than yourself.
We believe in the power of coming together as a community to worship, learn, and serve. Whether you're a long-time believer or just starting your spiritual journey, Great Commission Church welcomes people from all walks of life. Our vibrant services are filled with inspiring messages, beautiful music, and heartfelt prayers that will uplift your soul. Every Sunday at Great Commission Church is an opportunity to deepen your relationship with God and connect with others who share your faith and values.
At Great Commission Church, we believe that faith is not just a solitary endeavor but a shared experience that strengthens and enriches us all. Our church is a place where you can find purpose, belonging, and the encouragement to live a life in accordance with Christ's teachings. Join us this Sunday at Great Commission Church and experience the transformative power of faith in action. Be part of a loving and supportive community that is committed to making a positive impact in our world. Together, we strive to fulfill the great commission to go forth and make disciples of all nations. We look forward to having you with us at Great Commission Church this Sunday, where faith, love, and community intersect in a truly amazing way.
Great Commission Church is a non-denominational, family-friendly Christian church located in Olive Branch, Mississippi. We are a short drive from Germantown, Southaven, Collierville, Horn Lake, Memphis, Fairhaven, Mineral Wells, Pleasant Hill, Handy Corner, Lewisburg and Byhalia. Great Commission Church is conveniently located, making it easy to find and attend. Many people have even called it their go-to “church near me” or the "Church nearby" because of how accessible it is and how quickly it feels like home.
See you Sunday at Great Commission Church in Olive Branch, Mississippi!