4:16-22, 28-30
The PREACHING of the Gospel
Luke makes it clear that this event occurred at the beginning of Jesus ministry.
If you read what is ahead of our text, you will see that it records Jesus’ fast
and His temptation by Satan. The gospel writers make it clear that happened as
Jesus begin His ministry.
The text \\#16\\ tells us that Jesus in Nazareth, the city where Jesus was
reared.
So at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He goes back to His hometown. They—no
doubt —had heard of His miracle in Cana of Galilee, which was not too far from
Nazareth, and were curious about Him. Obviously, Jesus went to the city because
He was concerned for them and wanted to give them the truth. Perhaps Nazareth
was the city our Lord had selected to launch His public ministry from.
So Jesus goes into the synagogue, asks for Isaiah’s scroll, and turns to what we
call Isaiah 61:1-2. Jesus then told the people that this passage was about Him.
That He was fulfilling it right then.
Now that would be amazing! To be sitting in front of God and have Him read to
you a prophecy and then tell you that the prophecy was being fulfilled at that
instant.
Let me explain what that passage is about. It tells what Messiah will do on the
earth when He comes. Jesus is reading a prophecy which described what He would
do when He came to earth, then He told them He is about to start doing it.
How much more real can a sermon get?
Let’s see what Jesus came to do.
I. Jesus is saying that there was one task before Him.
A. Notice \\#18\\ - HE HATH ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL.
1. Jesus had one thing to do at this point in His ministry. It was
to preach the gospel.
2. Now remember, this is at the beginning of His ministry.
3. Toward the end, He will have another task before Him; namely,
to die on the cross.
4. But this was not the time to die. It is time to preach.
B. Please notice exactly what Jesus was going to do.
1. Jesus was going to preach.
a. To preach means to proclaim with boldness.
b. There are a lot of ways to speak.
(1) You can carry on a conversation with someone.
(2) You can teach someone.
(3) Both are good tools for witnessing.
c. However, Jesus came to PREACH.
(1) I heard a definition of preaching some time ago that
I think is accurate.
(2) Preaching is moving people to the place of action.
d. That is what Jesus came to do, to move people to do something.
(1) Granted, preaching does not always move people to the
right action.
(2) Sometimes when Jesus preached, people were moved to the
wrong action.
(3) However, the goal of preaching is always to move people.
e. The worst reaction you can have to a sermon is to do nothing.
(1) To do nothing insults the preacher who is preaching but
even worse, it insults the Word that is being preached.
(2) Jesus said, He had come to preach. He intended to
move people one way or the other—and He did.
2. Jesus was going to preach the gospel.
a. The word GOSPEL in the Greek means THE GOOD NEWS.
(1) There is only one message in all the world that is
important enough to simply be called, THE GOOD NEWS.
(2) That is the story of Jesus coming to this world and dying
for our sins.
b. So Jesus was about to start proclaiming a message. The message
of His own death.
C. Note that something happens when these two things are put together.
1. When you take the Good News message, that Jesus is God’s Son and
that He came to die for our sins.
2. And you begin to proclaim that message with boldness, intending
that it move people to some kind of action.
3. What happens? Some will get saved.
1Cor 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
Rom 1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that
are at Rome also.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God
unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the
Greek.
D. Might I say, that is what this church is all about.
1. I am standing up here preaching the message of Jesus this morning,
praying that God will move you to get saved.
2. But it is not only me. Every Sunday School teacher is putting out
that same message.
3. But it is not only them. Our Children’s Church workers are putting
out that same message.
4. But it is not only church. Our whole VBS is geared to put out
that message.
5. We want to see what God will do when the Good News is preached to
a lost and dying world!
a. If you have not trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, I am
praying you would quit resisting God today and let the message
of God move you!
b. Young or old, I tell you God loves you and sent His Son to die
for your sins.
c. Trust Him today.
d. In fact, trust Him right now!
II. Jesus is saying there was one Spirit that had anointed Him to preach the
message.
A. NOTICE \\#18\\ - THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME.
1. Just as there is only one message important enough to be called
THE GOOD NEWS, so there is only one Power strong enough to be
called THE SPIRIT.
2. Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit.
B. The Holy Spirit is God.
1. Understanding God’s nature is somewhat difficult because He is
nothing like we are.
a. God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
b. Not three gods but One.
2. Suffice it to say that the member of the Trinity that pulls at
your heart toward God when someone preaches about Jesus is the
Holy spirit.
3. Isn’t it amazing that all three members of the Trinity would
love you so much that They would all get involved in trying
to save your soul?
III. Jesus is saying that there was one group of people He came to preach to.
A. \\#18\\ "because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
POOR; he hath sent me to heal the BROKENHEARTED, to preach
deliverance to the CAPTIVES, and recovering of sight to the BLIND, to
set at liberty them that are BRUISED…."
1. It kind of looks like Jesus is going to be preaching to five
different groups of people.
2. However, what the Bible is doing is giving five different
descriptions of the same kind of people.
B. Notice the description.
1. To be POOR speaks of being NEEDY.
a. God must love the poor because He made so many of them.
b. The gospel resonates within the poor because at last Someone
came not to ignore or tolerate them, but to win them!
c. However, although Jesus did come to the poor, you do not have
to be poor for Him to love you.
(1) The word POOR can refer to POOR IN SPIRIT.
(2) Anyone who acknowledges that they need Jesus, that they
cannot do without Him, is poor in spirit.
(3) Anyone who knows who Jesus is and refuses Him, whether
you mean to or not, is saying that you either don’t need
Jesus or don’t want Him.
(a) Saying the first one makes you proud.
(b) Saying the second makes you foolish.
d. Jesus came to preach the good news to those who would realize
they need him.
2. To be BLIND means you do not see things as they are.
a. A few are blind physically but many are blind spiritually.
John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they
should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be
converted, and I should heal them.
2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of
them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who
is the image of God, should shine unto them.
1 John 2:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in
darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath
blinded his eyes.
b. Preaching gives sight to the blind.
c. It gives people the ability to see themselves, their sin, and
their need.
(1) How do you see yourself today?
(2) A pretty good person? moral? as good as the next
fellow?
(3) I have to tell you that you are not seeing yourself
correctly. That is not you at all.
(4) You are blind.
3. To be a CAPTIVE speaks of being in bondage.
a. You ask, "What kind of condition am I in?"
b. You are a slave to sin and
Satan.
c. You are doing what they want even when you think you are doing
what you want.
(1) You don’t think so?
(2) Then walk away from sin and trust Jesus Christ as your
Savior.
d. You can’t, can you. But why wouldn’t you?
(1) Jesus offers you freedom from bad habits, love, purpose,
a new life, an eternity of freedom and power.
(2) Sin and Satan want you to do things you are ashamed of
and regret; they want you to waste you talents and your
life.
(3) Yet, right now, you can’t see it.
e. Sin and Satan have you just where they want you. You are their
captive.
4. To be BROKENHEARTED speaks of hurt or wounded.
a. Sin promises so much and give so little.
(1) You thought liquor and drugs would make you happy.
(2) You thought having sex would guarantee you pleasure and
friends.
(3) You thought giving your life to make money would guarantee
success.
b. But all sin ever does is lie and cheat you.
c. How many more days do you want to walk around depressed and
how many more nights do want to cry yourself asleep?
5. To be BRUISED means to be shattered.
a. It means you have been ruined, that there is no life left for
you.
b. The image is of something delicate that has been broken.
c. You don’t have to wait until your life is shattered into a
million pieces to come to Christ.
d. When an expensive glass is knocked off the table toward a
concrete floor, what it is the best time to attempt to save
it? After it hits the floor or before?
e. You are already on the way to ruin and damnation. Why wait
until there the damage is so great there is no hope of putting
anything back together again?
C. Remember, this is not five different groups but five descriptions of
the same group.
1. What group is Jesus describing?
2. The lost.
3. Every unsaved person is needy, blind, brokenhearted, sin’s captive,
and ruined.
4. Yet, Jesus came for you!
a. When Jesus was on this earth, He spent the earlier part of His
ministry doing nothing but seeking people like you out and
trying to move them toward God.
b. The only break He took was to go to the cross to die for you.
c. Once He did that, He created the church to go and preach the
same message to the same kind of people.
d. And now, 2,000 years later, here is you and here is me.
e. You are the one God has sent me to preach the gospel to!
f. Doesn’t that move you to want to come to God? Then COME!
IV. Jesus was saying there is one time that is the right time to be saved.
A. \\#19\\ To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
1. Jesus does not tell us here when the acceptable time of the Lord
was.
2. But when do you think Jesus told the people that they needed to
repent?
a. Do you think Jesus told the woman at the well that she needed
to be saved before she died?
b. Do you think that Jesus told Nicodemus that he should repent
of his sins when it was convenient?
c. Do you think Jesus told the thief on the cross that he should
get right with God someday?
3. I can’t imagine Jesus ever telling anyone to put off until later
what they knew they needed to do right then.
B. NOW is the acceptable time for God to work.
2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in
the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.)
1. You can not make up for past delays but you can keep from wasting
more of your future.
2. Would you accept Jesus today?
One last thing. You should notice that the crowd in Nazareth was moved but not
in the right direction.
Luke 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were
filled with wrath,
29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the
hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
These folks were moved with wrath and they rejected Jesus.
Don’t think you are doing any better by just sitting there. At least these people
responded.
How will you respond today?
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