The King’s Message - Luke 4:16-21

“...all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.”

Those are some of the most famous words to one of America’s most famous documents: The Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves in 1863 during the Civil War. Maybe you caught one of the more interesting facts about the Emancipation Proclamation is that it was not a universal declaration of freedom for all slaves in the United States, however it only applied to the “rebellious states” - the Confederate States.

But the Emancipation Proclamation did accomplish its intended purpose which was to be a symbolic message of freedom.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at different components that Jesus fulfilled and accomplished as a king. Last week we looked at the king’s arrival, this week we’ll be looking at the king’s message, next week, we’ll look at the king’s mission, and we’ll conclude on Christmas Eve with the king’s kingdom.

And so this morning we’re focusing on the king’s message.

And similar to the Emancipation Proclamation, King Jesus made a proclamation of freedom, except his freedom isn’t merely symbolic - it’s real. Jesus grants eternal freedom from the tyranny, oppression, and slavery of sin and Satan. He breaks the bonds of sin and sets you free!

We’re going to look primarily at two aspects of his message: first, we’ll look at its content and then we’ll look at its timing.

The Setting of the King’s Message (vv. 16-17)

You’d expect messages of freedom to be positive ones, right? Have you ever heard of anyone being granted freedom from slavery only for that person to say, “no thanks, I’d prefer to be enslaved?”

It would make absolutely no sense! If you’re a prisoner the thing that occupies all of your thoughts is what you’re going to do when you’re finally free.

In our passage, Jesus is in his hometown of Nazareth to proclaim wonderful news of freedom. And notice where he went to proclaim his glorious message: he went to the Synagogue on the Sabbath day as was his custom.

Isn’t it interesting that God in the flesh made weekly worship a priority? It was his weekly custom to go to church.

But Jesus didn’t break any of the Jewish customs although he could have. The people there would have heard from God if Jesus had just decided to give a sermon completely divorced from the Scriptures, but that’s not what he does. He followed the liturgy of the Synagogue which was centered on the Word of God, and providentially read from Isaiah 61.

I’ve told this story before, but it’s one of my favorite stories that really drives this point home. At our previous church in South Carolina we had a small ministry to the local college there, Francis Marion in Florence, South Carolina. And every now and again, I’d get some students to join us for worship on Sunday mornings and I was always curious about their assessment of our worship service.

And one Sunday, there was a young woman who joined us for worship and after the service I asked her, “what did you think?” And she said to me, “it was good, but y’all read the Bible and pray a lot.” And I said, “shouldn’t church be the place where you read the Bible and pray a lot?”

In the same way, the whole worship service in the Synagogue was centered around the Word of God and its exposition.

And the reason we go to church and churches’ should prioritize the reading and preaching of God's Word is because it is through the reading and preaching that people get saved. It is God’s ordained means for saving sinners.

Westminster Larger Catechism 155 makes this exact point:

How is the Word made effectual to salvation?

“The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of enlightening, convincing, and humbling sinners; of driving them out of themselves, and drawing them unto Christ…”

Fundamentally, we hear from the Lord through the reading and preaching of his Word! Which is why attending weekly worship should be a priority for all of us! Do we want to hear from the Lord? Do we have a hunger for the Word of God?

Everyone at the Synagogue in Nazareth on that particular Sabbath day heard from the Lord, didn’t they?

The Content of the King’s Message (vv. 18-19)

At this point, Jesus was a respected teacher, because the people in the Synagogue brought him the scroll of Isaiah to read and preach from. And it just so happened that the reading was from Isaiah 61.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

Isn’t that such a powerfully optimistic portion of Scripture. Notice too, that this particular passage is from the lips of the Messiah. It’s the Messiah who said that the “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me…”

The four gospels of the New Testament are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But often Isaiah is referred to as the fifth gospel and after reading from Isaiah 61 - it’s easy to see why. What Isaiah wrote some 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, sounds like something Jesus would have said in one of his sermons!

Isaiah 61 really does sound like something Jesus said. And of course, the reality is - Jesus did say it! Isaiah puts these words in the mouth of the Messianic future king, Jesus is the Messianic king, and he reads Isaiah 61 and affirms every word of it!

After all, the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus, which was visibly affirmed at his baptism when the Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove. And the Spirit gave Jesus a very specific task: to proclaim good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for prisoners, perform miracles, release the oppressed, and announce the year of the Lord’s favor.

And in order to better understand exactly the glorious good news that Jesus proclaimed, it’s worth exploring each of these elements from Isaiah 61 in a little more detail. The first thing mentioned is good news to the poor.

Whenever we read about the poor, our minds, or at least my mind immediately thinks of those in poverty. Those who have no financial means - the homeless, those that are destitute - that’s where my mind immediately goes whenever I hear about the poor. That’s not completely out of line, but it’s not entirely what Isaiah 61 has in view.

The speaker in Isaiah 61 has a certain type of poor in mind, which are the poor in spirit. That’s who Jesus mentions in the beatitudes: “blessed are those who are poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The poor here are broader here than just those suffering from financial poverty. It’s a reference to those who are totally hopeless and destitute. Those who are on the brink of giving up altogether. Those who are at their wit’s end.

If you actually flip over to Isaiah 61:1-2 and compare it to what we have before us in Luke 4, you’d probably notice that there is a slight variation between the two. And that’s because Luke is paraphrasing what Isaiah recorded in chapter 61.

But what Isaiah actually records in chapter 61 is really helpful for understanding why Jesus’ message will be good news to the poor. Isaiah says he’ll “bind up the brokenhearted.” Those who are poor in spirit will receive good news that will bind up their shattered hearts.

In other words, the Messiah is going to preach good news to those who are overwhelmed by grief and disappointment. One of the challenges of ministry is feeling pressure to have an encouraging word for every circumstance. And the reality is, you can’t. There are some circumstances, the loss of a loved one, the disintegration of relationships and marriages - there really isn’t a whole lot that can be said in those situations.

The only worthwhile hope that can break through those devastating circumstances is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because only the gospel can promise an end to the pain, suffering, and grief that so many of you carry. The good news for the brokenhearted is that your pain will not last forever. Because of Jesus it will one day end.

Next Isaiah 61 says that Jesus will, “proclaim liberty to the captives.”

One of the most popular movies and soundtracks in my house right now is the Sound of Music. And because of that, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of familiarizing myself with every song. And there is one song that I find particularly moving from the soundtrack called Edelweiss (ay-duhl-vise).

And if you remember von Trapp’s story - they’re Austrians and eventually Austria is annexed by Nazi Germany. And Captain von Trapp was a decorated Austrian Naval Officer who was going to be forced to serve Nazi navy. And so his entire family decided to flee Austria in order to avoid having to serve in the Nazi navy. Apparently, the Edelweiss is a type of flower specific to the Alps, but the song called Edelweiss is an expression of sadness over fleeing his country of origin. And as they’re preparing to slip away they sing Edelweiss and the final lyric of the song is, “Bless my homeland forever.” They want the best for Austria even as they were being exiled from it.

When Isaiah 61 says the Messiah will “proclaim liberty to the captives,” it’s really speaking of exiles. Which is a significant portion of Israel’s history - living as exiles under the rule of foreign governments, nations, and empires. And so the idea is, the Messiah is going to proclaim freedom and liberty to those living as captives under duress in foreign lands.

Which again, is precisely what the good news of Jesus Christ does! Jesus frees his people from the captivity, slavery, and prison of sin and Satan.

There is great confusion in our world and even among those who profess faith in Christ as to what exactly is freedom. What does it mean to be truly free?

There is a foundational belief that freedom is the ability to do whatever you want whenever you want - especially when it comes to things that the Bible calls sin. The ability to sin whenever you feel like it is what many people truly believe to be freedom.

But isn’t freedom, it’s actually captivity. It’s like going across enemy lines and asking them to put you in shackles and take you into their darkest dungeon. Why would you do that?

For so many, the sin that they believe is the ultimate expression of autonomy, independence, and freedom is the very thing that will enslave them. And oftentimes, the same people who believe sin is freedom believe that Christianity is captivity and slavery.

When in reality, the pursuit of holiness and righteousness that comes from a sincere love of Christ is where true freedom lies. Satan wants you to be enslaved to your sinful desires, but Jesus Christ wants to set you free from them!

Jesus Christ came to set people free from their sin!

We’re also told in the quote from Isaiah 61 that the Messiah will grant “recover[y] of sight to the blind…” Again there is some variation between Luke’s quotation of Isaiah and what most of you will find Isaiah 61.

Because many translate Isaiah 61:1 to say, “the opening of the prison to those who are bound…” but a better translation is, “and to those bound opening of eyes.”

When Isaiah 61 is translated in that way, suddenly Luke’s quotation makes more sense! Because it is true that the gospel of Jesus Christ “recovers the sight of the blind” or “opens [the eyes] to those who are blind.” Those were certainly miracles that took place over the course of Jesus’ ministry. He miraculously restored the sight of blind men.

But of course, Isaiah is speaking of the spiritual realities of the gospel message. He’s making a reference to what Jesus said in John 9:39, “...I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

Jesus gives you and me spiritual eyes to see. Because once you become a Christian you really see the world in a whole new way! Things that used to be important to you are suddenly of little value, and things that used to be of little value are suddenly important.

Lives are transformed when they see the light of the gospel. And all of this proclaims the goodness and graciousness of God or as Isaiah 61 puts it, “the year of the Lord's favor.”

This short quotation from Isaiah is filled with all sorts of Biblical allusions. Because the year of the Lord’s favor is a reference to Leviticus 25, where it describes in detail the year of Jubilee. In Old Testament Israel, every seven years there was supposed to be a Sabbath year, where they were not to sow their field or prune their vineyards. But once every fifty years, was the year of Jubilee.

And this is significant because in Leviticus 25, there are specific instructions for what to do on the year of Jubilee and one of those things was to “proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.”

The year of Jubilee was in essence a reversal of the effects of sin. If you were imprisoned, on the year of Jubilee, you would be set free! Which is precisely what the gospel does: it reverses the effects of sin. The poor in spirit will be restored, those held captive to their sin will be set free, those who are spiritually blind will see.

The gospel is good news and King Jesus came to earth to bring it. The good news of freedom in Christ is precisely what he came to proclaim: “...if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

The Timing of the King’s Message (vv. 20-21)

Now remember our context: Jesus just read these glorious verses from Isaiah 61, and when he finished reading them “... the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.”

Jesus read the text and now he was going to preach it. What was he going to say? What was his approach going to be? Most importantly, how long was his sermon going to last?

Unfortunately, folks weren’t pleased with the content of his sermon, but I can’t help but think they had to be pleased with the length! Because his sermon was incredibly short! All he said after reading from Isaiah 61 was, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

In other words, these glorious promises of freedom that we just read about in Isaiah 61, it’s here. I am the Messiah. I am the one who will accomplish and fulfill all of those glorious promises.

And if you know the rest of this particular passage from Luke 4, Jesus faced quite a bite of resistance. People began to question him. Everyone there in Nazareth is like, we know Jesus, he’s Joseph’s son - he can’t be the Messiah. It’s later in this particular passage that Jesus famously says, “that a prophet is not welcome in his own hometown.”

You see, so many of them were looking into the future expecting deliverance from someone else. Because in their mind, Jesus didn’t fit the bill, that meant the Messiah was still to come.

But what does Jesus say to them? “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The glorious promises from Isaiah 61 weren’t something that would be fulfilled in the distant future, no those promises were being fulfilled right now - today.

If you want freedom from the tyranny and captivity of sin you don’t have to wait to experience it, you can experience it today. Today is the day of salvation. Don’t put off trusting in Jesus Christ. Take care of it today. Trust in Jesus Christ right now.

It’s interesting because it seems that the Jewish people were in this mode of thinking that the Messiah would one day come. The Messiah was something that would occur in the future.

Which is why it’s so shocking that they rejected him in Nazareth. He didn’t tell them, yeah, these glorious promises here in Isaiah 61, you’re going to have to keep waiting on them. No, he delivered the most glorious news ever, in one of the shortest sermons ever! The wonderful promises of having broken hearts mended, and freedom from captivity to sin - Jesus sets people free right now, in the present, today. It wasn’t a future reality, it was a present reality.

I think many professing believers can run into a similar problem.

And that is, they have an underrealized eschatology. That’s fancy theological terminology for something that has a very simple meaning: it means that you think all the glorious promises of the gospel only relate and impact your future. The gospel is nothing more than the vehicle that gets you to heaven, but has little to no bearing on the here and now. An underrealized eschatology believes the gospel is fire insurance, but has little to no effect on your day-to-day living.

And I see this kind of thing all the time among people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, but seem to always shrug their shoulders at their present circumstances. They act as if the chains of a sinful addiction cannot be broken. They live as if they’re permanently trapped in an unhealthy marriage. They don’t believe the gospel has the power to change their present circumstances despite the fact that Jesus read this glorious passage from Isaiah 61 about the poor having good news, and freedom from oppression, and all of those wonderful things being fulfilled.

Do you actually believe that the gospel can change you and those around you - today?

You and I must have a balanced view of the gospel message: there are of course magnificent future promises that come through faith in Jesus Christ that we won’t experience till we’re in heaven, but ladies and gentlemen there are wonderful promises for us for the here and now.

The Christian faith is not so cerebral or philosophical that it cannot affect our lives. The gospel message can transform lives today.

It’s what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4: “​​For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.”

It has the power to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, liberty to those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

That is the glorious gospel message of our King.

Amen. Let’s pray together.