Insights
Rev Gav
What was the mission of Jesus?
Luke 4.14-21
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Reflect
Setting the scene
Jesus is worshipping in the synagogue on the Sabbath – as was his custom. A typical synagogue service would have been very similar to a Christian church service today. There would have been a confession (called the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4-9):
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
There would also be set and open prayers, two readings, one from the Torah (law) and one from the prophets, then there would have been an exposition tying the two readings together, followed by a closing prayer.
Jesus, reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Now, it is highly likely that this passage from Isaiah would have been part of the set reading for that Sabbath. And it is a reading that speaks about the Messiah. Isn’t just the most amazing coincidence that Jesus happens to be the Rabbi who is reading and speaking in that synagogue on that day! And what a reading!
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 favour.
And after he reads, he preaches the shortest Bible exposition ever made.
Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
In fact, in all probability Jesus went on to talk further because Luke points out that that is how Jesus began his sermon and then afterwards people were amazed at Jesus’ gracious words. However, Luke includes only this opening line because of the significance and importance of these immortal words.
Jesus is describing his mission. This is the Jesus manifesto.
Who are the poor?
Who are these poor who Jesus is speaking about? Certainly, many people argue, and it is totally consistent with the nature of God in the Bible that God has a heart for the physically poor. And when you are physically poor you are physically open to receiving from others. However, in this context, the poor are also those who are spiritually poor. And when you are spiritually poor you are spiritually open to receiving from others.
Many philosophers and social analysts of our day are predicting that we are moving into an era where people are spiritually poor. Our world-view is changing. We are moving from what is called modernity to something called post-modernity. And despite there being a great deal of discussion as to what this means and how and when it is taking place, we can discern that there are definite shifts in thinking. Modernity can be defined as being a scientific world-view, where everything can be broken down into smaller chunks and analysed and defined. Through this scientific method the human race will conquer the world and there will be no more pain or suffering. However, there is a growing distrust, that science cannot and has not delivered the goods. The future is not so certain. Truth is whatever you want it to be. There is absolutely no absolute truth.
A couple of analysts, Walsh and Middleton sum it up like this:
“Just as God the Father sent the Son to effect our salvation, and the Holy Spirit now dwells with us to apply that salvation to our lives in the here and now, so it is in the redemptive history of secularism.
When the disciples of the new religion gathered at the industrial revolution, the spirit of capitalism was outpoured. And now in these last days we are filled with this spirit and empowered to do mighty acts of production and consumption, looking for and hastening the day when the invisible hand will cause the blessings of the economistic age to trickle down to all nations. And in that day everyone, great and small, will have prosperity. From the beginning of time never has such a day been, wealth will cover the earth, and weeping and toil will be no more!
How the vision is shattered! The age of unlimited economic expansion is coming to an abrupt close. We are coming up against the limits of creation itself. God’s covenantal curses are raining on our heads for our idolatrous disobedience. The secular gods have not delivered. When a culture’s gods fail, the time is ripe for serious world view reconsideration.”
Sadly, the church has become marginalised and worse-still, a producer of goods to be consumed. People talk of going to church. People go to the services that they like and do not attend otherwise, because after-all, church is just something you attend. To those outside the church we offer marriage, baptism and funerals as a right. We dispense a product rather like the filling station dispenses petrol down the road.
And yet, it is the spiritually poor who will hear and be touched by the message, and although we, here, might not be physically poor, there is no doubt that we are in very spiritually poor times indeed.
The mission of Jesus is our mission
Three things I want to point out to you about the Jesus manifesto.
- Jesus is anointed by the Spirit to perform a specific ministry
- Jesus is a prophetic figure who declares the arrival of a new era
- Jesus will bring about the release that he proclaims
But here’s a thing. Every aspect of Jesus’ message and ministry is relevant to us. Jesus is teaching in the synagogue about the nature of his mission and the church’s call is an extension of this mission. The fulfillment that he proclaims is the fulfilment that the church proclaims.
- We are anointed by the Spirit to perform a specific ministry
- We are a prophetic movement who declares the arrival of a new era
- We will bring about the release that we proclaim
And so, Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 describes the church. The church is a group of people that are engaged in the ongoing mission and purpose of God in the world. And note that in the same way that Jesus is baptised and receives the Spirit, so we are baptised into this group of people. And as Jesus is anointed in the Holy Spirit, so we are anointed in the Holy Spirit.
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body.
Each one of you, initiated into this mission community, led by the Holy Spirit is called to a specific ministry – not in the church, but as part of the church – with the express purpose of:
- preaching good news to the poor
- proclaiming freedom for the prisoners
- recovery of sight for the blind
- releasing the oppressed
- proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favour
In other words, our mission is to bless the wider community such that they will come to know that God is God.
Jesus’ mission is not just about powerful words, but powerful action. His message of love is supported by his ministry of compassion. We need to love people with both words and actions. We are not in the business of changing society but hearts, and when hearts are changed, compassion emerges and society is changed. People not only heard the message of Jesus but also experienced his compassion and love for them.
I wonder if so many of our church meetings are about the church. I wonder if we look for ways to use the gifts that God gives us in the church. No, we are to be an outward-looking people. It won’t be easy. It is worth noting that right after Jesus makes this incredible pronouncement, where people are amazed by his teaching, they do not flock to him. Some couldn’t get past Jesus’ background. They knew him growing up, knew his brothers. Could the message of hope for the world really come through Jesus? I wonder, when we are called to proclaim with our words and action that very same hope for the world, whether people will flock to us? Aren’t they the people in Uplyme church? I mean, have you seen them?
Let us become the church that God has called us to be – a group of people who identify themselves with the mission and purpose of Jesus Christ.
The Spirit of the Lord is on us,
because he has anointed us
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent us 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 favour.
Today this scripture is fulfilled in our hearing.
and then