I am a Man United fan. A suffering one you may say. A question often said by people on tv – what is United’s identity when they play. What are Man United trying to do?
Well, here we learn more about what Jesus is wanting to do.
And Jesus is about, is what we should be about…
This is important for each of us – you see being a Christian, is more than simply believing who he is.
Jesus in his gospels shows us that he doesn’t just call us to believe in him, or to repent of our sins and believe in him, he also show us, it is about following him – it is about being a disciple of him. Discipleship can be described as being an apprentice – you learn from the master, you want to imitate the master, you become like him. So it is important to think what was he wanting to do…
Nazareth Manifesto
Jesus comes home to Nazareth. He goes to the synagogue.
Jesus is given the scroll. He chooses the place in Isaiah and he reads out, what has become known as the Nazareth Manifesto.
Most of these words are from Isaiah 61 but one line is from Isaiah 58.
It is an important addition we will come to.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has 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 favor.”
The Spirit of the Lord is on me.
Right from the start Luke is clear, that Jesus ministry will show the presence and power of the Spirit. We have seen the Spirit’s activity at his baptism, in the temptation and of course, at his conception.
We live in the days of post Pentecost where every believer has the Holy Spirit living within us. Yet in Jesus’ day, the image of the Holy Spirit was – he was given to, or rested upon, certain people at certain times for certain tasks.
So Jesus is saying – the Spirit rests on him – he claims to be someone directed by God to minister, to preach, and for the God’s power to work through.
But why is the Spirit given to him?
He says, it is not for his own personal encouragement.
It is for the work of God. It is for the benefit of others.
It is for ‘the purpose of bringing good news to the poor, to bring release to those imprisoned or oppressed, to bring sight to the blind, and to proclaim that the favour of God has come.
Good news to the Poor.
‘Who are the poor?’
Sometimes in Isaiah and other places, the poor, refers to Israel as she suffers and is in need as a people.
In the general, however, in the OT, the poor are those who are ‘’economically weak and vulnerable, but who live in utter dependence upon God and look to him for help, ’’ (Vinoth Ramachandra, Mission, Bible Speaks Today, p.159.
In Luke’s gospel, the word for the poor, is often used as a collective term for all who are disadvantaged. When he gives a list of those who suffer, he puts the poor at the start or at the end.
However, this is more than being, economically destitute. Joel Green, a NT scholar, points out, that this is also about social standing in a community. A person’s social standing did not only rely on someone’s economic status. A person could be poor, economically, but still hold high social status. A contemporary example, may be Gandhi – as a man he was poor, yet in social terms, he was not – he was very highly regarded.
In the days of Jesus, human worth was determined a lot by – your education, your gender, your occupation, your family connections, your ethnicity, your religious purity and activities – these, whether you had high income or not – decided if you had status, worth in the culture.
So, to hear the word ‘poor’, pointed to low status, not just economically destitute but also what we would call, looked down upon, devalued because of the other things we just mentioned.
Vinoth Ramachandra, a missiologist says, with these words, ‘good news for the poor’, we learn:
‘’ Jesus mission embraces all those who for, whatever cultural or religious reasons, are marginalized, relegated to a place outside the boundaries … He [Jesus] categorically states God’s intention to break down those boundaries.’’ (Vinoth Ramachandra, BST, p.160).
Jesus is saying, while some people may be seen as outside of God’s interest or plans, God is providing a way for them, and for all, to belong in God’s family and to experience good news and freedom.
Release.
Proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.
Freedom can be translated – release.’
So twice this word is mentioned – release.
Release for the prisoners. Release for the oppressed.
The final phrase ‘’Year of the Lord’s Favour’’ points to the year of the Jubilee – we come back to that in a moment. The word ‘’Jubilee’’ we translate – actually means ‘release.
Three times, Jesus is repeatedly pointing to release, to freedom, to liberation. His is a ministry of freedom.
What release does Jesus bring?
- It is clear, in the gospel, the primary release Jesus brings, is the release from sin.
We heard at Christmas the angelic proclamation ‘Today, in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you.’ Jesus is Saviour. Jesus is the one who can forgive sins.
He said to paralyzed man – your sins are forgiven – and he is the one who will enable our forgiveness through the cross. Before his Ascension he sent his disciples out: ‘’This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness will be preached in his name to all nations.’’ Luke 24:46-47.
There is a clear link between forgiveness and release in Greek.
The word for forgiveness and for release is the same – ‘aphesis (af-fes-is)’.
This suggests Jesus ministry matters for eternity and makes a difference in the here and now.
Forgiveness means liberation/ release for us, personally.
- But
We also release others,
through forgiveness of them.
We set people free, as we lift from their shoulders, the burden of our anger, (whether rightly or wrongly deserved).
- I said that a sentence from Isaiah 58 is added. ‘’to release the oppressed’’.
When we read the quote:
To preach good news…
To proclaim freedom…
Proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour…
Preach / proclaim said three times.
Jesus adds into it – to release the oppressed.
By doing so, it tells us Jesus ministry is one where he
Jesus says and does
He is words and actions
He talks about freedom and release
And he does it…
That Greek word – to release – can mean ‘to let go, to loose, set free, acquit, dismiss, remit.’
This word is reflected in Jesus own ministry of healing and of demons being cast out.
People were released physically,
freed from demonic powers,
and free to return to community – as illnesses like leprosy or internal bleeding had excluded them.
Jesus brings freedom is his message.
Freedom means a transformation of human life –
there is forgiveness of sin,
there is healing from sickness,
there is the creation / re-recreation / reconciliation of human community,
there is release from other forms of bondage.’
Jesus ministry is about liberation – freed from sin, in all its forms,
and freed to love of God and to love neighbour.
Day of Jubilee
The quotation ends with the phrase ‘year of the Lord’s favour’.
This would have brought to mind in Jesus’ day – memories of the Jubilee.
In Leviticus 25
‘And the Lord told Moses: ‘’Consecrate the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you.’’ Lev 25:10.
The slaves were to be released, the debts of every poor person cancelled, land to be left unsown, and land that had been taken away / sold, to be given back to the original families to whom it was given centuries before.
When Isaiah 61 was first heard, it was directed to those who had returned from exile.
They were mourning at all they had lost, in the past;
how they were not free now, and their land was devastated.
They were the poor, the prisoners, the blind, the oppressed.
Isaiah 61 promised a reversal, an act of grace, there would be a permanent Jubilee, Israel would recover.
So when Jesus says: ‘today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’,
he is saying now, in his ministry, has dawned God’s promised era – the kingdom –
God’s eschatological purpose – to bring release, and restoration for the marginalized – was now being put into effect in and through Jesus. The time of the Lord’s favour had come.
Gentiles.
Jesus says ‘year of the Lord’s favour’ but he chooses not to say, the next line from Isaiah ‘the day of the vengeance of our God’.
Isaiah 61 promised a time when the foreigners – the Gentiles – who dominated them, would be defeated and dominated by Israel. Jesus omits this judgement.
This suggests an openness to the Gentiles – shown by the stories about the Syrian general Naaman who was healed, and the Gentile widow in Sidon to whom Elijah was sent.
This time – Jesus time – the message, his ministry, the kingdom – the Lord’s favour – benefits the Gentiles too.
Those examples, Jesus quotes them – they show the Gentile received God’s blessings; they show ‘outsiders’ received God’s favour.
These words are the final straw for the listeners. They were working out Jesus message versus who they knew him to be. But these words of Gentiles being included, receiving God’s blessings. They are angry and so try to kill him.
Jesus message receives opposition– a theme which of course, will continue throughout Jesus ministry. It wasn’t only in the final weeks or months opposition occurred…
We began with discipleship… imitating him, learning from him, becoming like him. Things to think about…
- The Nazareth Manifesto creates a shape for the Church. This is what Jesus came to do. At the start of Acts, Luke says the Gospel was about all Jesus ‘began to do and teach’ suggesting, that through the Church Jesus still seeks, to teach and do. He continues to work out the Nazareth Manifesto. How can you become involved in the master’s work?
How can we bring good news of the kingdom to the poor – not just the economically destitute or struggling, but also to the marginalized, rejected, those who have no status in our society. When we began All Saints we talked about – being a blessing to our city – one way we act as a blessing, we bring the good news to the poor.
- Jesus pointed to the Gentiles. The Nations. How can we help bring the message of forgiveness to all nations? We have a weekly prayer email. This year we are praying each week for one of the nations in the continent of Europe, a continent called post Christian. Can you pray for the good news in those nations, for renewal in the church, revival in the land? But would you consider going as well? Organizations such as Operation Mobilisation – there are many others – run mission teams across Europe – could you offer 2-3 weeks of your summer – for example, this summer, OM are running teams in Albania, Moldova, working with refugees from Ukraine in Poland…
- Ask yourself – who do I need to release – to forgive?
- How can we help the release that Jesus demonstrated, be shared by others? What imprisons people today? What oppresses them? Jesus tackles sickness and demonic oppression which are still needs for today. There are other forms of oppression or captivity.
Consider these ministries.
We think of Compassion Netherlands – through child sponsorship, families and communities benefit through education and projects. Compassion International defines its objective as: exists as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty.
International Justice Mission – IJM – a Christian human rights organization – who are involved in helping, those individuals in areas of the world where the legal system is corrupt or failing, where there is no protection from the mechanisms of justice, policing, law, that we take for granted.
IJM’s mission, as they say: is to protect people in poverty from violence by rescuing victims, bringing criminals to justice, restoring survivors to safety and strength, and helping local law enforcement build a safe future that lasts. To free the captives.
Dutch – https://www.ijmnl.org/ English – https://www.ijmuk.org/
- The Holy Spirit is on you.
Jesus explained further the work of the Holy Spirit. Is this a time for you grow further in your understanding of who he is and how he works? Our Life Groups will begin in the coming weeks, a new series on the Spirit – it covers topics like: Spirit and Creation, Spirit’s work in the OT esp with creativity and work; the work of the Spirit about filling, praise, gifts, speaking and listening and transformation personally and of a society. Is that the next step for you?
Conclusion.
How can you be involved in his Nazareth manifesto?
He has a manifesto – a plan – and he now calls people to get involved in making it happen…
and he still does today…
and we are to do this all anointed with the same Spirit that rested upon Jesus as he sat in that synagogue.
His Spirit is upon us, for he has anointed us to preach good news to the poor,
he has sent us to proclaim freedom to the captives, and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed and to proclaim to all the year of the Lord’s favour.
Shall we pray…
May you be filled afresh today
with the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord.
You have been anointed.
May you bring good news to the poor, the marginalized, the afflicted, the needy.
May he sent you to bind up the broken hearted.
May he use you to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
May he use you to bring release into the lives of others
may you share with others the favour of the Lord,
In Jesus name.
Amen.