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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain Luke 4:16:
Luke 4:16-19
Excerpted from: The Fourth Commandment (Part 2)Jesus did things right! So it is to Him (as to how He kept the Sabbath) that we must look for the examples of these principles that I mentioned just a little while ago. In order to use the Sabbath time properly, one must first understand its purpose. Do you understand what the purpose of the Sabbath is? I think that most of us do understand, at least, part of it. But I hope that, as we go through this, we will begin to see more clearly and more specifically what Jesus said—by what He did, by His example, by what He spoke about on that day—and what He sees the purpose of the Sabbath being.
This is the beginning of Jesus' public ministry—His inaugural address. I don't know whether you ever stop to think about it; but it is pointedly pointed out here, and attention is drawn to it, that Jesus began His ministry on a Sabbath. I don't know whether you realize it; but once I tell you this, you are going to recognize that it is true—His ministry ended on a preparation day. That is, Passover.
So He completed the cycle (you might say); and His ministry ended on the Passover—a preparation day; and He was resurrected on a Sabbath. Major things happened to Christ on the Sabbath. We are going to find that major things occurred in the history of Israel on the Sabbath as well. And those things all draw attention to one supreme purpose for the Sabbath. You'll begin to see it, as this goes along.
Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 and one verse out of Isaiah 58 (verse 7). "The acceptable year" is not a time when God is acceptable to us, but when God—in His sovereign mercy—moves to make men acceptable to Him. In other words, it is an appointed extension of His grace, of His calling of men, to make them acceptable to Him. It is a time when He moves to deliver people.
More specifically, "an acceptable year" is referring to two Old Testament institutions—which these people would have undoubtedly recognized. He is referring here specifically either (1) to the seventh year land Sabbath or (2) to the Jubilee year—one or the other. If it was the sabbatical year, think about the purpose of the sabbatical year. It was given to give the land rest. That is, to relieve it of the responsibility of growing food. The land was to lie fallow and to produce food voluntarily for the poor, for the dispossessed, and for animals. Also in the seventh year, slaves were freed and debts were remitted.
An additional thing occurred in the Jubilee year; and that is, the restoration of property to the original owners. They may have lost it many, many years before that. But they were, then, relieved of the burden of their indebtedness. And the ability and power, therefore, to earn money once again (because all wealth comes out of the land) was given back to the original owners, so that they could be free of the burden that they very likely put upon themselves.
Here we can begin to see, in what is Christ's inaugural address, that He is stating His mission; and, in each case, it involves setting at liberty. Let's look at that again.
Remember that I have told you in the past that the word poor does not necessarily mean that somebody is in absolute, abject poverty. It can mean only that the people are weak. They are powerless. And so, here, He is going to free them from poverty, or weakness. If we look at this in a spiritual sense, it applies to every one of us. We all have been spiritually powerless.
Christ is clearly identifying His mission with redemption, and He is tying it to the liberating intent of the Sabbath, or Sabbaths—both weekly and annual.
Luke 4:16-19
Excerpted from: Freedom and Unleavened BreadWe will finish on this scripture in Luke 4; because we have what I think in one sense is Jesus Christ's specific purpose statement for His ministry.
Every one of those things has to do with words. Everything that came out of Him came out of an absolutely pure heart. He said, "I'm going to preach the gospel to the poor." The poor are those deprived or powerless, and the reason for this was to give them vision, to give them hope. That's the first thing Moses told the Israelites—"We're going to go to our own land. We're going to be free."
Then Christ said, "We're going to heal the brokenhearted." He means those whose hearts are broken in terms of repentance. So He says, "I'm going to take care of all the past mistakes. I'm going to heal you. I'm going to give you comfort so you start out the journey in good condition, spiritually."
He said, "We're going to preach deliverance to the captives." He's going to inspire enthusiasm and give hope for a bright future. He's going to give recovery of the sight to the blind. He's going to give truth, and therefore direction, and clear thinking to people. He's going to set them at liberty. He's going to forgive them their sins and keep them free. He's going to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, so the time is now, and instill them with urgency—every one of them working on our mind.
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The Fourth Commandment (Part Two): Christ's Attitude Toward the Sabbath
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