Building Our Lives on His Mission Luke 4:14-30
Introduction Jesus Christ was not fuzzy on His mission. He was entirely focused. He knew what He had to be about. Our lives will be the more successful as we learn from Him what directed and dictated His mission.
I. Was It His Love for Fellowship ( vv. 14-16)? A. Tests often make us stronger instead of weaker. Jesus returned from his devil encounter in the power of the Holy Spirit. He was popular, He taught, and the Gospel that celebrates messianic joy recounts that everyone praised Him. B. Bible study and prayer in a context of fellowship make us stronger instead of weaker as well. Jesus went to synagogue “as was His custom.” If I had been the regular rabbi I would have wanted Him to read Scripture and exhort as well. What could you say that He didn’t already know? II. Was It His Love for the Written Word ( vv. 16-22)? A. Jesus was at home with the Bible. Without the aid of chapter divisions Jesus turned immediately to Isaiah 61 and read. Jesus found the personal application of the text to His life. Every part of the text spoke to Him and about Him. B. Out of the Bible came direction for His mission. He found His anointing, His message, His freedom, His power, His sensitivity, and His announcement. He claimed prophetic fulfillment—something only He could do. C. They liked it all, at least for the moment. III. Was It His Love for all Peoples ( vv. 23-30)? A. Jesus read His audience like a book. He knew that they wanted a miracle show, and He refused to cater to such. After helping them understand His prophetic role He chose two Old Testament illustrations that drove home the point that God’s care for A goes way beyond the limits of Israel. The Messiah is a missionary messiah. His care extends to the ends of the earth. B. Elijah cared for a woman outside of Israel, and Elisha even extended kindness to an enemy soldier of Israel. All of this was evidence of the grace of God.
Conclusion They got the point all too well. They wanted to throw Him off the hill, but He walked out through their midst. Nothing nor no one could thwart the mission of the Messiah.
Illustrations Say More. One mark of thorough conversion is that the Christian can rarely get enough Bible study and prayer in the context of Christian fellowship. Jesus went to the synagogue as was His custom. Good preaching should cause the people to want to go home and read the sermon text again. I wonder if any wanted to do that with Isaiah 61. It happened that way to some early missionaries. When Barnabas and Paul finished speaking in the Antioch of Pisidia synagogue the people wanted them to “say more” about these things (Acts 13:42). The God of the outsiders. Liberation theology would have never made it to first base had there not been a grain of truth in it. The fact is, God has a heart for the oppressed and wants to set them free. We must guard carefully against a small spirit. The Jewish belief went something like this, “God had created the Gentiles to be fuel for the fires of hell.” The only Gentile to write a life of Christ found great joy in his two volume set in the theme of God’s all-encompassing love. The Christ of Luke 4 shows us a wide-embrace.WE HAVE TO STAY FOCUS-AND DETERMINE-MOTIVATED-AND KEEP CONFIDENCE IN HIM WHO IS ABLE TO KEEP US AND DO THE EXCEEDINGLY AND ABUNDANTLY IN OUR LIVES-SO LEARN YOUR MISSION AND WALK IN IT TO GLORIFY GOD-TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF EXCELLENCE-AND GREATNESS-BE BLESS AGAPE!!!!
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