Sunday: The Life and Ministry of Jesus
Early in Jesus’ public ministry, He traveled to Nazareth, in the region of Galilee. This was His hometown, and the local people already had heard of His work and miracles. As His custom was, Jesus attended Sabbath services in the synagogue. Though Jesus was not the officiating rabbi, the attendant handed Him the Isaiah scroll and asked Him to give the Scripture reading. Jesus read Isaiah 61:1-2.
Read Luke 4:16-19 and compare it with Isaiah 61:1-2, (see also Luke 7:19-23). Why do you think Jesus chose this specific Scripture? Why would these verses in Isaiah be deemed as Messianic? What did they reveal about the work of the Messiah?
Image © The Classic Bible Art Collection – Formerly Standard Publishing at Goodsalt.com
Because the religious leaders apparently had overlooked the prophecies that spoke of a suffering Messiah and had misapplied those that pointed to the glory of His Second Coming (which should serve as a reminder to us of how important understanding prophecy really is), most of the people believed the false idea that the Messiah’s mission was to free Israel from its conquerors and oppressors, the Romans. To think that the Messiah’s mission statement came from Isaiah 61:1-2, must have been a real shock.
The poor usually were looked down upon by unscrupulous officials such as tax collectors, those in business, and even their own neighbors. It commonly was thought that poverty was the curse of God and that their unfortunate condition must have been their own fault. With this mindset, few people had any concern for the poor and their unhappy plight.
Yet Jesus’ love for the poor was one of the greatest evidences of His Messiahship, as seen by how Jesus answered John the Baptist’s question about Him as the Messiah (see Matthew 11:1-6). “Like the Saviour’s disciples, John the Baptist did not understand the nature of Christ’s kingdom. He expected Jesus to take the throne of David; and as time passed, and the Saviour made no claim to kingly authority, John became perplexed and troubled.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 215.
| “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27, NKJV). How should this verse help us set our religious priorities? |
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We like the notion of "poor and needy" to be expressed in financial terms because that is easy to quantify. We can then measure a person's or institution's generosity in numbers that can be put into spreadsheets where we can do analyses like "Our church gives an average of $81.23 (example only)per financial member last year. What such analysis does not show is that two members gave big donations because it gave them a tax break, and a lot of members did not give anything at all.
The really important thing that we should learn from Christ's ministry is that he operated outside the almsgiving of the day to give of himself. I don't recall Jesus ever giving money to a charity. He gave of himself. And some of his giving was simply interacting and listening. It was personal. The woman at the well, Nicodemus, the woman taken in adultery, and the little children.
Jesus did not have a lot of money to give, but he gave of himself unstintingly.
When we think of helping the poor and needy in our own communities, how far do we go beyond giving money to a worthy cause? Do we listen to their prayers? How much of ourselves are we willing to give? And if you think that I am arguing for us to give less money to charity, you have missed the point. I am arguing that we have to give much more than just money.
A few colleagues and I do some works of benevolence at an orphanage close to our church. Praise God 14 of them got baptized late last year.
Whereas church members would support financially towards needs at the orphanage, to get them to go there and spend time with the orphans has been quiet a bit of a challenge. And you make the point quite succinctly, we ought to give of ourselves over and above the money.
I love this gospel reading in Luke 4:16-19, when Jesus stands up and boldly, from Scripture, states his mission statement. And no one gets it. And when they do get it, they’re very angry.
Reminds me of a parallel account in Mark 1:21-28. Another Sabbath day in the Capernaum synagogue. Jesus read again and He made the Scriptures come alive.
When Jesus read, the texts struck to the heart and the core of their being. His teaching unsettled and unseated their preconceived notions of religion and lifted God up. He taught with power and authority! Someone probably scribbled a note on the bulletin to the person next to them – “Who IS this guy?” Amazing. He wasn’t one of the approved leaders and He was allowed to speak from the pulpit.
And just then there was a disturbance.. some shouting in the back of the synagogue. What the unwelcomed man in the back said was not what anyone else was thinking. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, you are the Holy One of God.” This was more of a challenge than it was an actual question. And also, demons sometimes understand what Jesus is about more than church goers do.
The worshippers were shocked and stunned in silence. The teacher stood back up and confronted the man with a spirit. He commanded it to come out of him...and...it did.
Jesus is always ready to give a worshiping crowd a lot more than bargained for. It seems people like to hear a Bible reading and an authorized person offer an interpretation of how they should live in light of those texts. In my experience , SDA churches, in particular, have put a lion’s share of emphasis, in some way, on reproducing the first act that Jesus performed in the synagogue: teaching and explaining the Scriptures for better understanding.
But somewhere along the line maybe someone decided to button things up, to close it off, to make worship respectable and predictable? To demand conformity at the price of squelching a healing from Jesus. To insist on interpreting God for us. Because what about when someone is getting close enough to Jesus to raise their voice, and a fear spreads that something in us all might just become unseated and unsettled? Set loose and set free.
And yet, many of us sit, like the man in the synagogue, desperately in need of freedom and transformation. As Sunday's lesson so aptly points out, is it possible for religious leaders today to spread a false idea of what the Messiah‘s mission is? Do leaders force their interpretations and misapply prophecy, focusing so much on conformity under the guise of “peace and unity” that they prevent the Holy Spirit from revealing what our Savior is really trying to do for us? “Jesus’ love for people was one of the greatest evidence of his Messiahship,” says our lesson. I so agree! 1 Corinthians 13 says that we may have all knowledge and all understanding, as great as the angels’, but if that causes us to quarrel with each other and fight and shun people from worshipping with us then it is a noisy gong and clanging cymbal (Babel), and not from our Messiah.
When Jesus spoke, there was enlightenment and illumination. But that was not his whole ministry. Jesus also offers exorcism and transformation. We are to become new creatures in Christ. Are we willing to let Jesus offer His complete ministry in our churches and through us? Or when someone in our church is trying to come to Jesus for healing, are our church leaders and members yelling, like the man in the back of the synagogue, “What are you doing Jesus, have you come to destroy us?!”
Maurice gm, I have to respond to the comments you posted on Sunday's lesson study I must hasten on to say I find your comments helpful as I put some of them in a platform the moment I get to facilitate the Sabbath school study.
I jumped to the 2nd paragraph where you made mention of Jesus was not involving in 'almsgiving' He gave of Himself, and with that said it shined a light on me, because too often it's etched in our thinking that blessings only applies to money.
So my question how can the notion of Jesus's teachings of giving can be used while not neglect giving?
Hi Ronald, greetings from PNG. I believe sharing a 10mins of your time with a lonely person. Or just being in the presence of someone mourning. Or carrying his bags of groceries to his car etc. May it material things only.
Thanks Robert Kom I'll from KNG
Ellen G White, The Ministry of Healing, p 17.
Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this world as the unwearied servant of man's necessity.....It was His mission to bring to men complete restoration; He came to give them health and peace and perfection of character."
She continued saying this....
Patriarchs and Prophet,pa. 535, (emphasis supplied)
"Christ has said that we shall have the poor always with us, and He unites His interests with that of His suffesing people. The heart of our Redeemer sympathizes with the poorest and lowliest of His earthly children. He tells us that they are His representatives on easth. He has placed them among us to awaken in our hearts the love that He feels toward the suffering and oppressed.".
Let us take note this ,
" 'let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven' "(Matt. 5:16, NIV).
The Golden Rule, states " 'So in everything, do to others what you would have them to do to you' " (Matt. 7:12 ,NIV).
Today's lesson invites us to compare Luke 4:16-19 and Isaiah 61:1-2. In comparing these two verses, it is apparent that Jesus stopped short in his reading of Isaiah - omitting the part that refers to proclaiming "the day of vengeance of our God". Why did Jesus leave this out? Surely if He had included it He would have had more people get on board because wasn't this precisely the kind of Messiah many were looking for - one who would exercise 'vengeance' to reinstate the dominance of the Jews over the Romans?
Or could including this portion of Isaiah 61:2 unfortunately have played right into the unfortunate misunderstanding of Jesus's (and therefore God's) nature, character and mission that the lesson notes many unfortunately held - even amongst his closest followers? And further, did Jesus manifest the type of vengeance that we humans understand by our use of that term during His time on earth - or was He reserving this for when He returns a second time? If so, did Jesus fully reveal all aspects of God's nature and character whilst He was on earth, or only part or most of it? (see John 17:4-6; 25-26)
Just something to reflect upon for those who are interested...
As a young man growing up in the church the understanding I had was that faithfulness in Tithing was given high priority when considering a person for office in the church. I would never deny that it is a crucial factor. However, as I began to understand the concept that stewardship embraces the 4 "Ts", it has made a great impact on my service to God. Giving of our Time, Talent and taking care of our Temple are equally important if we are going to be Managing for the Master and especially if we are to follow His example.
"...And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Luke 7:23)
I'd say that sometimes the obvious is right in front of me and I don't get it. I think that when Jesus read Isaiah's passage about Himself, because He was fully there, in person, truly, whoever heard Him reading must have felt something! Because if there is power in the word, imagine the Word being read by the One Who's text is referring to! Jesus was (is) the Word Himself.
Theology alone is not religion. Religion is practice! A result of a rational understanding of Who God really is!
Yes I do believe Christ chose Isaiah 61:1-2 to expose the misconceptions of the Messiah with thus saith the Lord, and to put trust back in prophecy. He came not to condemn but to save by example and by the One who is to come after Him.
John 12:46.
John 15:26.
It pays to believe the Prophets of God, and accept the promises for following through on our belief. Just think all of us need to overcome. What is instore for us if we allow Him to give us His power for us to be victorous? Answer:
Not only will He be our God and we be His son but we will also sit with God on His throne. Seems more feasible for us and the multitude when we realize in Ezekial how vast God's throne is.
Revelation 21:7.
Revelation 3:21.
Ezekiel 1:26.
Paul gives us a little more insight of Christ mission.
Galatians 1:10. What was that insight? Answer: John 5:30.
I am convinced that our church mission statements should always be based on that of Jesus recorded on Isaiah 61:1-3.
In Matthew 25 Jesus tells about the final judgement that those who did help “to one of the the least of these..” they did it to Him. In fact, one of the reasons the Lord invite those on His right, is clearly stated in verses 34-36. “,‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world… For I was hungry, and you fed Me, I was thirsty, and you gave Me a drink, I was a stranger, and you invited Me in your home. I was naked and you gave Me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for Me. I was in prison and you visited Me!’”
Isaiah 62:2 is so clear that God would eventually, (And this came to fulfillment in the book of Acts 11:26,) the "New Name," for God's people: "Christians," A name that would fit all, Jews and Geniles alike, who would take Jesus' name for their own and for their Salvation and Eternal Life in Him (Jesus.)