Jesus Teaches in the Synagogue at Nazarethby CBPepper
4:19Luke 4:19
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
The acceptable year is God's appointed time of favor, grace, deliverance, mercy and salvation proclaimed as part of the gospel. It announces the Spirit-anointed Messiah sent to preach good news to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim deliverance to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and liberty to the bruised and oppressed. Jesus declared that prophecy fulfilled in Himself that day, identifying Himself as the Anointed One and Redeemer, stopping short of the day of vengeance to show this was the time for mercy rather than condemnation. His mission was not to establish an earthly kingdom by force, but to relieve suffering, restore the fallen, press back Satan's power and reveal the Father, proving His character by healing the sick, raising the dead and comforting the sorrowful. That same work is the pattern His followers are commanded to continue, carrying salvation with practical mercy to the poor and afflicted of all nations and colors, while hardening the heart against it in unbelief and prejudice turns light to blindness and ruin.
Nazareth Synagogue Reading
On the Sabbath day Jesus stood up to read in the synagogue at Nazareth where He had been brought up and where He had worshiped as a child and youth, and the roll of the Hebrew Scriptures, the book of Isaiah, was handed to Him. He read from Isaiah the announcement of His anointed mission to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, and the bruised, and then closed the book and declared the scripture fulfilled that day in the hearing of friends and acquaintances. That declaration was fulfilled in His ministry of doing good in which the sick were healed, demoniacs restored, lepers and paralytics made whole, the dumb spoke, the ears of the deaf were opened, the dead were brought to life, and the poor had the gospel preached to them.
He read as the divine Interpreter of the Scripture He Himself had inspired holy men to write, and He expounded it with tenderness, simplicity, clarity, and fervor as a living reality. This was at the beginning of His public ministry after He returned to Galilee following the temptation in the wilderness, and it was His first sermon proclaiming Himself the Anointed One, the Messiah, the King of glory come in the form of a servant clothed in humanity. Divinity flashed through humanity as He spoke, and God spoke to hearts with power that stirred them so that at first they all witnessed that His gracious words were truth.
The proclamation of God's appointed time of favor is the closing declaration of that announcement of His work and mission. Joined to the promises to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, and the bruised, it proclaims God's time of grace and deliverance and fully outlines His mission, showing He is Saviour of the body as verily as Saviour of the soul. In this He repeated the mission already given to the prophet Isaiah, and His entire life fulfilling it was one of self-denial and self-sacrifice culminating in giving Himself as the propitiation for a lost world.
Meaning of Acceptable Year
The acceptable year of the Lord is God's appointed time of favor, grace, deliverance, mercy and salvation, proclaimed as part of the gospel. It belongs with preaching good news to the poor and meek, healing the brokenhearted, proclaiming deliverance to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and liberty and release to the bruised, bound and oppressed. Together these define the Messiah's mission to bring encouragement, comfort and help where most needed, to those the rich and learned neglect or despise. That closing declaration announces that the time of the Lord's favor has arrived in Christ, who declared the prophecy fulfilled in the hearing of the people.
Its words are gracious, and those who heard marveled at them. They offered the hearers the opportunity to accept Heaven's call and receive mercy and blessing, bringing conviction, peace, grace and hope. He stopped His reading before the prophecy's phrase about the day of vengeance, not denying its truth, but showing that this was the time for mercy rather than condemnation, for receiving mercy rather than condemning others while ignoring one's own need.
His earthly presence made it the acceptable year, for the Prince of Peace was in the midst of men bestowing mercy and blessing. He came bringing the light of Heaven to limit Satan's power and set the captive free, offering freedom and light instead of bondage and darkness, peace and joy and infinite love and truth. As Bridegroom among them with daily mercies and blessings and the treasure of Heaven entrusted to men for a time, mourning and fasting were unfitting for those who received Him.
That time of gospel restoration has now come to recover the fallen race through God's gift of His Son and to restore the moral image of God in man. The gospel is the very essence of that restoration, in healing the sick, comforting the brokenhearted, proclaiming deliverance to captives, and giving sight to the blind. It assures the brokenhearted, hopeless and afflicted that they may take hold of His strength.
Messiah's Mission of Mercy
The acceptable year belongs to the work of the Spirit-anointed Messiah sent to preach good news to the poor and meek, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim deliverance to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, liberty to the bruised and bound, release to the oppressed, comfort to mourners, and bring the light of truth. The Spirit was upon Him because He was anointed and sent for this very preaching, healing, freeing, restoring, and proclaiming. He came as consolation, restorer, and reprover. He came to represent God and the Father to men, as the light of the world anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power and going about doing good. Though the Majesty of heaven, He came as physician and healer of physical and spiritual maladies, Saviour of the body as verily as Saviour of the soul, with infinite wisdom for diseases of both body and soul and longing to deliver every person bound by evil practice and master passion.
His care was practical as well as sympathetic, and bringing relief to others was His joy. He relieved suffering, comforted the downcast and sorrowful and distressed, lifted the burdens of the sin-stricken and oppressed and bowed down, sought the lost, rescued the perishing, healed the sick, restored the sick and suffering to soundness and health, and gave life to the dead, standing in the world as the tree of life to restore and uplift humanity and bring peace and happiness. His mission reveals tender compassion, love, and mercy, welcoming the poorest and humblest who were not afraid to approach Him, so that children were drawn to Him. His work is the opposite of Satan's work of condemning and destroying, taking away liberty and destroying life.
His ministry set right what Satan had disturbed, pressed back Satan's power and the moral darkness that had taken hold of people, limited Satan's power, brought the light of Heaven to set the captive free, and revealed the Father. It offered freedom and light instead of bondage and darkness, peace and joy and infinite love and truth, relieving the oppressed and freeing those captive to evil. It was not deliverance by leading armies and breaking Rome's yoke, nor the earthly, military, political kingdom with earthly power, splendor, honor, and glory that the people expected. He came humbly, not as a temporal ruler, to relieve suffering, free people from the power of evil, and reveal truth and the Father.
The declaration was fulfilled in a ministry of doing good in which the sick were healed, demoniacs restored, lepers and paralytics made whole, the dumb spoke, the ears of the deaf were opened, the dead were brought to life, the hungry were fed, the sorrowful were comforted, and the poor had the gospel preached to them. Every miracle proved His true character as done by the power of God, convincing some while those refusing heaven's light set themselves more determinedly against the evidence. He walked upon the heaving billows and by a word silenced their angry roaring, cast out devils that in departing acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, and held thousands entranced by words of wisdom. He proclaims the gospel to the poor and brings encouragement, comfort, and help where most needed, to the poor, friendless, suffering, hopeless, needy, unfortunate, weary, and dispirited who were despised by the Pharisees and Sadducees and neglected by the learned, rich, and wealthy, making the needy and brokenhearted the objects of His special attention. With greatest success among those the Pharisees despised, He received the richest blessings of grace in ministry to the lowly and afflicted, without conforming to the world's habits, customs, superiority, separation, and honoring of wealth, awakening spiritual desire and giving the bread of life to those hungering for spiritual knowledge. That same mission of proclaiming release and hope includes opposing the oppression of the poor and other social evils that threaten human well-being.
Fulfillment Declared in Christ
This day in their hearing the prophecy of the Messiah's work stood fulfilled in Him, for He was the Anointed One, the Messiah and Redeemer whom the prophets had awaited. The acceptable year of the Lord belongs to that messianic work of proclaiming good news to the poor, release to captives, healing to the brokenhearted and afflicted, sight to the blind, freedom to the bruised, bound and oppressed, and the light of truth, announcing that the promised time of the Lord's favor had arrived. It was not to establish the earthly, political kingdom the people expected with power, splendor and armies leading Israel, but to bring the blessings described by the prophecy by relieving the oppressed and freeing those captive to evil. His declaration brought conviction, peace, grace and hope, yet many rejected Him because they looked for earthly rule, and though the people first wondered at His gracious words they afterward in unbelief rejected the Spirit's work and tried to kill Him, while His mission remained to save and not to destroy or persecute unbelievers.
His gracious words carried divine authority and power, with divinity flashing through humanity as God spoke to hearts. He proclaimed Himself the Anointed One, the Messiah, the King of glory come in the form of a servant clothed in humanity to announce salvation, healing, deliverance and the Lord's favorable time. At first the hearers felt an overpowering conviction that He was all the reading claimed, gave His words a hearty response with joy and conviction, and all witnessed that His gracious words were truth. That power revealed their true spiritual condition, testifying to His identity and stirring them that His words were truth. Their humble carpenter's background, lowly walk, poverty and daily toil offended pride and unbelief and led them to doubt and reject Him, though His humiliation was foretold as proof of His divine character and mission that should have commended Him to every home and heart.
Those gracious words offered His own people the blessing of receiving Him and salvation and the opportunity to accept Him and receive His blessings. The discourse in the synagogue at Nazareth was given to the Jewish nation, His own people whom He had labored to save, because His work was confined to Palestine and to a small circumference among the Jews and not yet extended to the surrounding heathen nations. The heathen nations were not prepared for His work, and labor for the Gentile world would have closed the door for bearing His message to the Jews. Even so Jewish prejudice was strong, truth did not languish on His tongue, and though He showed perfect knowledge of the Scriptures without instruction from their teachers they did not receive Him.
Rejection at Nazareth
At first the hearers marveled at the gracious words proclaiming God's time of grace and deliverance, witnessing to the power of the Spirit with joy, conviction, peace, grace and hope. Divinity flashed through humanity as God spoke to hearts, and all at first witnessed that the words were truth. The Spirit first broke down prejudice, and the people wondered at the announcement that Isaiah's prophecy of the Anointed One was fulfilled that day.
Many then were offended by His humble family, lowly walk of life, poverty, daily toil at the carpenter's bench, and lack of pomp and ceremony. They asked if He was Joseph's son and doubted He could be more than a common man who had lived humbly among them. They expected the Messiah to come as a great conquering king to reign on David's throne with earthly honor, glory and splendor and deliver Israel from the Roman yoke by force, though His humiliation was foretold as proof of His divine character that should have commended Him to every home and heart. Their prejudice led them to demand a sign and disregard the evidence of His works and power already received.
His preaching struck at the root of self-righteousness and cut like a knife as it set their real condition before them. They thought He exposed their lack of piety and loyalty to God and set before them their spiritual apostasy and departure from God, forfeiting their claim to be His people. When He said no prophet is accepted in his own country and pointed to Elijah sent only to the widow of Sarepta and Elisha cleansing only Naaman the Syrian, showing the Gentiles not less favored by heaven, fierce national pride was aroused. Truth did not languish on His tongue, and because He had not received instruction from their religious teachers though showing perfect knowledge of the Scriptures, Jewish prejudice stood strong.
Unbelief, prejudice and Satan's influence turned feeling to madness, wrath and malice. They rose up, thrust Him from the synagogue and out of the city, drove and pushed Him toward the brow of the hill to cast Him down headlong and murder Him. Though priding themselves on keeping the law, in turning from the One whose mission was to heal and restore they manifested the attributes of the destroyer, and the same enmity moves later religious persecutors making them satanic in character. In terrible blindness they became enraged and tried to take the life of the Son of God.
His time had not yet come and His mission was not ended, so heavenly angels guarded Him and divine power saved Him. Heavenly messengers who had been beside Him held the eyes of the infuriated priests and elders, shut Him in from His enemies, and brought Him to safety as He passed through the midst unharmed and went His way. He disappeared to a place they did not know, leaving to preach where people would listen and carrying on His work in cities more favorable to light and truth and in fruitful fields in Galilee. That announcement later rose before the rulers as they considered His death.
Despite a life of self-denial, purity, suffering, disinterested benevolence and devotion, with works of mercy healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, feeding the hungry, comforting the sorrowful, walking on the sea and silencing it by a word, casting out devils who confessed Him Son of God, raising the dead and holding thousands by words of wisdom, He was unable to reach hearts blinded by prejudice, pride and insane hatred. Told by the Spirit that He was the Anointed One, they resolutely rejected the light He labored to bring, turning it from blessing to stumbling block. Driven from Bethlehem by a jealous king, rejected at Nazareth, and condemned without cause at Jerusalem, He with His few faithful followers found temporary asylum in a strange city through three years of persecution and insult.
Gospel for Every People
At the beginning of His ministry the declaration proclaims the Lord's appointed time of favor as part of bringing good news to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, freeing captives and the oppressed, and giving sight to the blind. That work sets right what Satan disturbed, opposing his harm to people and revealing the Father to them. In this it shows He came to shed light over the whole world and to bring salvation to men and women of all nationalities. He died just as much for colored people as for white people.
The declaration lays down from God's word the principle to guide dealing with the color line and prevailing prejudice, including in the South, and how far to concede to it, requiring impartial gospel work for all races. It puts a stern rebuke upon those who attach importance to color or caste and refuse to be satisfied with the Christianity Christ accepts. His gospel is not shaped to suit higher classes. The same price was paid for the salvation of the colored man as for the white man, so salvation is offered on the same terms to all. Preaching the gospel to the poor is the will of God, a work heavenly intelligences rejoice to do and heavenly beings delight to join.
Slights put upon colored people by those claiming to be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb misrepresent Jesus. To slight a brother because of his color is to slight Jesus Himself. Such slighting reveals selfishness, tradition and prejudice polluting the soul and shows the soul unsanctified through the truth.
The announcement declares Him the Anointed One sent to comfort, bless and save the sorrowing and sinful. It also warns that God's favor is not secured by belonging to His chosen people. Because of Israel's unbelief and rebellion God turned to show Himself to those in heathen lands who had not rejected heaven's light. That warning of backsliding and unbelief leading God to turn from His professed people applies to the danger faced by God's faithful messengers among an unfaithful people.
Followers Continue His Work
The work announced in proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord is the pattern every follower is commanded to continue in Christ's strength and name. Disciples, church members, and all laborers together with God carry forward that same mission to recover the fallen race and restore the moral image of God in man, including the twelve sent in His name. As representatives of His character and light of the world they reveal by precept and example the essential elements of a true, healthy, influential Christianity, constantly setting forth Christ as the fountain of life, mercy, and love. It means preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, preaching deliverance to captives, recovering sight to the blind, and setting at liberty the bruised, together with announcing God's time of favor.
That continuance joins the message of salvation with practical acts of mercy for the poor, suffering, and neglected. With Christ abiding in them, His followers respond compassionately to human suffering, relieving want, easing burdens, and helping the poor, afflicted, discouraged, bowed down, mourning, and oppressed. They do it with humble tender care, sympathy, and faith, exercising strong faith in behalf of the sick and giving the great Healer room to work for the afflicted in the spirit of God's mercy, justice, and love. Their active, selfless service, including practical care for humanity, carries on the gospel ministry of proclaiming the Lord's time of favor.
In doing so they let light shine by good works that lead men to glorify the Father in heaven, so that in spiritual darkness the Lord's glory is seen. Touched with the infirmities, necessities, troubles, and perplexities of the people for whom Christ died, they are tender and pitiful and ready to help, lifting up the bowed down and comforting those who mourn. Working for the destitute, despised, forsaken, and afflicted fulfills the disciples' commission and is the highest credential of gospel ministry. They do not conform to the world's standard in habits, customs, and practices, do not exalt themselves above others or above heaven's Majesty, do not keep apart from fellow men or hide from their own flesh, and do not honor the wealthy while despising the poor because they have more of this world's goods. The gospel is not of men, or it would be popular with the rich and mighty; it pours contempt upon the rich and mighty and calls all who accept it to work the works of Christ by helping those in need, since without a helping hand and comfort and sympathy the poor will never recover themselves.
This salvation work is entrusted to followers to carry to all nations, languages, tongues, and peoples, joining Christ in overcoming Satan's power. In the perils of the last days they thereby prepare the way of the Lord as John in the spirit and power of Elias prepared His way at the first advent. They proclaim God's appointed time of favor, grace, and freedom to rescue those bowed down by Satan's power and set them free from his yoke of bondage. They break the spell of infatuation Satan has wrought upon the human mind, turn minds from temporal business and affairs that engross attention to spiritual and eternal things, and bring eternity into view so heaven is not lost from reckoning. They awaken spiritual desire and give the bread of life to those hungering for spiritual knowledge, urging the brokenhearted, hopeless, and afflicted to take hold of His strength because that time of restoration has now come.
The promise holds no earthly exaltation, honor, wealth, or human greatness, which is worthless. It speaks by the Spirit to poor, weary, dispirited souls in fruitless search after happiness, calling them to deny self and bear the cross after Jesus as the pledge of a crown of glory in the kingdom of God. The entire life fulfilling it was one of self-denial and self-sacrifice culminating in giving Himself as the propitiation for a lost world, a sacrifice that from a human standpoint appears extravagant and wasteful. Doing good to those despised, with greatest success among the needy and unfortunate who received the richest blessings of grace, makes the needy and brokenhearted the objects of special attention with words of truth and light.
Warning Against Rejecting Light
The history at Nazareth stands as a warning that hardening the heart in unbelief and pride ends in terrible blindness. Hearts first responded to the power of the Holy Spirit and to gracious words with marveling, joy and hearty conviction that the Anointed mission to the poor, brokenhearted, captives, blind and bruised was fulfilled that day in their hearing. Unbelief then entered through questioning who He was, through doubt, prejudice and resistance to plain truth exposing the heart, and good impressions were not kept because the working of God upon hearts was not recognized. By putting themselves in the enemy's power men closed eyes and ears, darkened understanding against conviction by the Spirit of God, and fell under the infatuation of the ruler of darkness into smitten blindness. That blindness could even call the work of the Spirit of God the work of Satan, turn ready acceptance to wrath, fury and murderous intent toward the Son of God, and manifest the destroyer's character. What was offered as blessing and light then became a stumbling block rather than salvation.
The same is acted over and over today when Christ comes not in person but by His Word and in the person of His servants and is rejected because of the plainness of the truth. All are left to take one of two positions, either for or against Jesus, with no neutral ground. To reject the message sent by God and the gracious light of acceptance and salvation proclaimed through His delegated messengers is to reject Christ Himself. The danger is just as great now as then, for men close their hearts in unbelief, pride and prejudice and fall into bondage to Satan while supposing they preserve dignity, freedom and the right to think, believe or doubt for themselves. After a first rejection, when excitement and confusion are over, God gives a second opportunity by the divine Messenger to accept the message that would work salvation, and hardening the heart then is final rejection. Those who live now are less excusable than the Jews because they have before them the example of the rejection of Christ and His apostles and have been warned not to follow it.
That rejection teaches that those responsible for teaching others must study and understand God's Word and recognize its lessons of eternal consequence, otherwise they are not prepared to teach those lessons to their students. The mission itself shows that the Scriptures are intended to be understood by ordinary people, not only by learned teachers, since the gospel is brought to the poor, freedom is proclaimed to captives, sight is restored to the blind and the oppressed are set free. His victory over Satan in the wilderness shows people how they may overcome.
The acceptable year is God's appointed time of favor, grace, deliverance, mercy and salvation proclaimed as part of the gospel. It announces the Spirit-anointed Messiah sent to preach good news to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim deliverance to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and liberty to the bruised and oppressed. Jesus declared that prophecy fulfilled in Himself that day, identifying Himself as the Anointed One and Redeemer, stopping short of the day of vengeance to show this was the time for mercy rather than condemnation. His mission was not to establish an earthly kingdom by force, but to relieve suffering, restore the fallen, press back Satan's power and reveal the Father, proving His character by healing the sick, raising the dead and comforting the sorrowful. That same work is the pattern His followers are commanded to continue, carrying salvation with practical mercy to the poor and afflicted of all nations and colors, while hardening the heart against it in unbelief and prejudice turns light to blindness and ruin.
Nazareth Synagogue Reading
On the Sabbath day Jesus stood up to read in the synagogue at Nazareth where He had been brought up and where He had worshiped as a child and youth, and the roll of the Hebrew Scriptures, the book of Isaiah, was handed to Him. He read from Isaiah the announcement of His anointed mission to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, and the bruised, and then closed the book and declared the scripture fulfilled that day in the hearing of friends and acquaintances. That declaration was fulfilled in His ministry of doing good in which the sick were healed, demoniacs restored, lepers and paralytics made whole, the dumb spoke, the ears of the deaf were opened, the dead were brought to life, and the poor had the gospel preached to them.
He read as the divine Interpreter of the Scripture He Himself had inspired holy men to write, and He expounded it with tenderness, simplicity, clarity, and fervor as a living reality. This was at the beginning of His public ministry after He returned to Galilee following the temptation in the wilderness, and it was His first sermon proclaiming Himself the Anointed One, the Messiah, the King of glory come in the form of a servant clothed in humanity. Divinity flashed through humanity as He spoke, and God spoke to hearts with power that stirred them so that at first they all witnessed that His gracious words were truth.
The proclamation of God's appointed time of favor is the closing declaration of that announcement of His work and mission. Joined to the promises to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, and the bruised, it proclaims God's time of grace and deliverance and fully outlines His mission, showing He is Saviour of the body as verily as Saviour of the soul. In this He repeated the mission already given to the prophet Isaiah, and His entire life fulfilling it was one of self-denial and self-sacrifice culminating in giving Himself as the propitiation for a lost world.
Meaning of Acceptable Year
The acceptable year of the Lord is God's appointed time of favor, grace, deliverance, mercy and salvation, proclaimed as part of the gospel. It belongs with preaching good news to the poor and meek, healing the brokenhearted, proclaiming deliverance to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and liberty and release to the bruised, bound and oppressed. Together these define the Messiah's mission to bring encouragement, comfort and help where most needed, to those the rich and learned neglect or despise. That closing declaration announces that the time of the Lord's favor has arrived in Christ, who declared the prophecy fulfilled in the hearing of the people.
Its words are gracious, and those who heard marveled at them. They offered the hearers the opportunity to accept Heaven's call and receive mercy and blessing, bringing conviction, peace, grace and hope. He stopped His reading before the prophecy's phrase about the day of vengeance, not denying its truth, but showing that this was the time for mercy rather than condemnation, for receiving mercy rather than condemning others while ignoring one's own need.
His earthly presence made it the acceptable year, for the Prince of Peace was in the midst of men bestowing mercy and blessing. He came bringing the light of Heaven to limit Satan's power and set the captive free, offering freedom and light instead of bondage and darkness, peace and joy and infinite love and truth. As Bridegroom among them with daily mercies and blessings and the treasure of Heaven entrusted to men for a time, mourning and fasting were unfitting for those who received Him.
That time of gospel restoration has now come to recover the fallen race through God's gift of His Son and to restore the moral image of God in man. The gospel is the very essence of that restoration, in healing the sick, comforting the brokenhearted, proclaiming deliverance to captives, and giving sight to the blind. It assures the brokenhearted, hopeless and afflicted that they may take hold of His strength.
Messiah's Mission of Mercy
The acceptable year belongs to the work of the Spirit-anointed Messiah sent to preach good news to the poor and meek, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim deliverance to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, liberty to the bruised and bound, release to the oppressed, comfort to mourners, and bring the light of truth. The Spirit was upon Him because He was anointed and sent for this very preaching, healing, freeing, restoring, and proclaiming. He came as consolation, restorer, and reprover. He came to represent God and the Father to men, as the light of the world anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power and going about doing good. Though the Majesty of heaven, He came as physician and healer of physical and spiritual maladies, Saviour of the body as verily as Saviour of the soul, with infinite wisdom for diseases of both body and soul and longing to deliver every person bound by evil practice and master passion.
His care was practical as well as sympathetic, and bringing relief to others was His joy. He relieved suffering, comforted the downcast and sorrowful and distressed, lifted the burdens of the sin-stricken and oppressed and bowed down, sought the lost, rescued the perishing, healed the sick, restored the sick and suffering to soundness and health, and gave life to the dead, standing in the world as the tree of life to restore and uplift humanity and bring peace and happiness. His mission reveals tender compassion, love, and mercy, welcoming the poorest and humblest who were not afraid to approach Him, so that children were drawn to Him. His work is the opposite of Satan's work of condemning and destroying, taking away liberty and destroying life.
His ministry set right what Satan had disturbed, pressed back Satan's power and the moral darkness that had taken hold of people, limited Satan's power, brought the light of Heaven to set the captive free, and revealed the Father. It offered freedom and light instead of bondage and darkness, peace and joy and infinite love and truth, relieving the oppressed and freeing those captive to evil. It was not deliverance by leading armies and breaking Rome's yoke, nor the earthly, military, political kingdom with earthly power, splendor, honor, and glory that the people expected. He came humbly, not as a temporal ruler, to relieve suffering, free people from the power of evil, and reveal truth and the Father.
The declaration was fulfilled in a ministry of doing good in which the sick were healed, demoniacs restored, lepers and paralytics made whole, the dumb spoke, the ears of the deaf were opened, the dead were brought to life, the hungry were fed, the sorrowful were comforted, and the poor had the gospel preached to them. Every miracle proved His true character as done by the power of God, convincing some while those refusing heaven's light set themselves more determinedly against the evidence. He walked upon the heaving billows and by a word silenced their angry roaring, cast out devils that in departing acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, and held thousands entranced by words of wisdom. He proclaims the gospel to the poor and brings encouragement, comfort, and help where most needed, to the poor, friendless, suffering, hopeless, needy, unfortunate, weary, and dispirited who were despised by the Pharisees and Sadducees and neglected by the learned, rich, and wealthy, making the needy and brokenhearted the objects of His special attention. With greatest success among those the Pharisees despised, He received the richest blessings of grace in ministry to the lowly and afflicted, without conforming to the world's habits, customs, superiority, separation, and honoring of wealth, awakening spiritual desire and giving the bread of life to those hungering for spiritual knowledge. That same mission of proclaiming release and hope includes opposing the oppression of the poor and other social evils that threaten human well-being.
Fulfillment Declared in Christ
This day in their hearing the prophecy of the Messiah's work stood fulfilled in Him, for He was the Anointed One, the Messiah and Redeemer whom the prophets had awaited. The acceptable year of the Lord belongs to that messianic work of proclaiming good news to the poor, release to captives, healing to the brokenhearted and afflicted, sight to the blind, freedom to the bruised, bound and oppressed, and the light of truth, announcing that the promised time of the Lord's favor had arrived. It was not to establish the earthly, political kingdom the people expected with power, splendor and armies leading Israel, but to bring the blessings described by the prophecy by relieving the oppressed and freeing those captive to evil. His declaration brought conviction, peace, grace and hope, yet many rejected Him because they looked for earthly rule, and though the people first wondered at His gracious words they afterward in unbelief rejected the Spirit's work and tried to kill Him, while His mission remained to save and not to destroy or persecute unbelievers.
His gracious words carried divine authority and power, with divinity flashing through humanity as God spoke to hearts. He proclaimed Himself the Anointed One, the Messiah, the King of glory come in the form of a servant clothed in humanity to announce salvation, healing, deliverance and the Lord's favorable time. At first the hearers felt an overpowering conviction that He was all the reading claimed, gave His words a hearty response with joy and conviction, and all witnessed that His gracious words were truth. That power revealed their true spiritual condition, testifying to His identity and stirring them that His words were truth. Their humble carpenter's background, lowly walk, poverty and daily toil offended pride and unbelief and led them to doubt and reject Him, though His humiliation was foretold as proof of His divine character and mission that should have commended Him to every home and heart.
Those gracious words offered His own people the blessing of receiving Him and salvation and the opportunity to accept Him and receive His blessings. The discourse in the synagogue at Nazareth was given to the Jewish nation, His own people whom He had labored to save, because His work was confined to Palestine and to a small circumference among the Jews and not yet extended to the surrounding heathen nations. The heathen nations were not prepared for His work, and labor for the Gentile world would have closed the door for bearing His message to the Jews. Even so Jewish prejudice was strong, truth did not languish on His tongue, and though He showed perfect knowledge of the Scriptures without instruction from their teachers they did not receive Him.
Rejection at Nazareth
At first the hearers marveled at the gracious words proclaiming God's time of grace and deliverance, witnessing to the power of the Spirit with joy, conviction, peace, grace and hope. Divinity flashed through humanity as God spoke to hearts, and all at first witnessed that the words were truth. The Spirit first broke down prejudice, and the people wondered at the announcement that Isaiah's prophecy of the Anointed One was fulfilled that day.
Many then were offended by His humble family, lowly walk of life, poverty, daily toil at the carpenter's bench, and lack of pomp and ceremony. They asked if He was Joseph's son and doubted He could be more than a common man who had lived humbly among them. They expected the Messiah to come as a great conquering king to reign on David's throne with earthly honor, glory and splendor and deliver Israel from the Roman yoke by force, though His humiliation was foretold as proof of His divine character that should have commended Him to every home and heart. Their prejudice led them to demand a sign and disregard the evidence of His works and power already received.
His preaching struck at the root of self-righteousness and cut like a knife as it set their real condition before them. They thought He exposed their lack of piety and loyalty to God and set before them their spiritual apostasy and departure from God, forfeiting their claim to be His people. When He said no prophet is accepted in his own country and pointed to Elijah sent only to the widow of Sarepta and Elisha cleansing only Naaman the Syrian, showing the Gentiles not less favored by heaven, fierce national pride was aroused. Truth did not languish on His tongue, and because He had not received instruction from their religious teachers though showing perfect knowledge of the Scriptures, Jewish prejudice stood strong.
Unbelief, prejudice and Satan's influence turned feeling to madness, wrath and malice. They rose up, thrust Him from the synagogue and out of the city, drove and pushed Him toward the brow of the hill to cast Him down headlong and murder Him. Though priding themselves on keeping the law, in turning from the One whose mission was to heal and restore they manifested the attributes of the destroyer, and the same enmity moves later religious persecutors making them satanic in character. In terrible blindness they became enraged and tried to take the life of the Son of God.
His time had not yet come and His mission was not ended, so heavenly angels guarded Him and divine power saved Him. Heavenly messengers who had been beside Him held the eyes of the infuriated priests and elders, shut Him in from His enemies, and brought Him to safety as He passed through the midst unharmed and went His way. He disappeared to a place they did not know, leaving to preach where people would listen and carrying on His work in cities more favorable to light and truth and in fruitful fields in Galilee. That announcement later rose before the rulers as they considered His death.
Despite a life of self-denial, purity, suffering, disinterested benevolence and devotion, with works of mercy healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, feeding the hungry, comforting the sorrowful, walking on the sea and silencing it by a word, casting out devils who confessed Him Son of God, raising the dead and holding thousands by words of wisdom, He was unable to reach hearts blinded by prejudice, pride and insane hatred. Told by the Spirit that He was the Anointed One, they resolutely rejected the light He labored to bring, turning it from blessing to stumbling block. Driven from Bethlehem by a jealous king, rejected at Nazareth, and condemned without cause at Jerusalem, He with His few faithful followers found temporary asylum in a strange city through three years of persecution and insult.
Gospel for Every People
At the beginning of His ministry the declaration proclaims the Lord's appointed time of favor as part of bringing good news to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, freeing captives and the oppressed, and giving sight to the blind. That work sets right what Satan disturbed, opposing his harm to people and revealing the Father to them. In this it shows He came to shed light over the whole world and to bring salvation to men and women of all nationalities. He died just as much for colored people as for white people.
The declaration lays down from God's word the principle to guide dealing with the color line and prevailing prejudice, including in the South, and how far to concede to it, requiring impartial gospel work for all races. It puts a stern rebuke upon those who attach importance to color or caste and refuse to be satisfied with the Christianity Christ accepts. His gospel is not shaped to suit higher classes. The same price was paid for the salvation of the colored man as for the white man, so salvation is offered on the same terms to all. Preaching the gospel to the poor is the will of God, a work heavenly intelligences rejoice to do and heavenly beings delight to join.
Slights put upon colored people by those claiming to be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb misrepresent Jesus. To slight a brother because of his color is to slight Jesus Himself. Such slighting reveals selfishness, tradition and prejudice polluting the soul and shows the soul unsanctified through the truth.
The announcement declares Him the Anointed One sent to comfort, bless and save the sorrowing and sinful. It also warns that God's favor is not secured by belonging to His chosen people. Because of Israel's unbelief and rebellion God turned to show Himself to those in heathen lands who had not rejected heaven's light. That warning of backsliding and unbelief leading God to turn from His professed people applies to the danger faced by God's faithful messengers among an unfaithful people.
Followers Continue His Work
The work announced in proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord is the pattern every follower is commanded to continue in Christ's strength and name. Disciples, church members, and all laborers together with God carry forward that same mission to recover the fallen race and restore the moral image of God in man, including the twelve sent in His name. As representatives of His character and light of the world they reveal by precept and example the essential elements of a true, healthy, influential Christianity, constantly setting forth Christ as the fountain of life, mercy, and love. It means preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, preaching deliverance to captives, recovering sight to the blind, and setting at liberty the bruised, together with announcing God's time of favor.
That continuance joins the message of salvation with practical acts of mercy for the poor, suffering, and neglected. With Christ abiding in them, His followers respond compassionately to human suffering, relieving want, easing burdens, and helping the poor, afflicted, discouraged, bowed down, mourning, and oppressed. They do it with humble tender care, sympathy, and faith, exercising strong faith in behalf of the sick and giving the great Healer room to work for the afflicted in the spirit of God's mercy, justice, and love. Their active, selfless service, including practical care for humanity, carries on the gospel ministry of proclaiming the Lord's time of favor.
In doing so they let light shine by good works that lead men to glorify the Father in heaven, so that in spiritual darkness the Lord's glory is seen. Touched with the infirmities, necessities, troubles, and perplexities of the people for whom Christ died, they are tender and pitiful and ready to help, lifting up the bowed down and comforting those who mourn. Working for the destitute, despised, forsaken, and afflicted fulfills the disciples' commission and is the highest credential of gospel ministry. They do not conform to the world's standard in habits, customs, and practices, do not exalt themselves above others or above heaven's Majesty, do not keep apart from fellow men or hide from their own flesh, and do not honor the wealthy while despising the poor because they have more of this world's goods. The gospel is not of men, or it would be popular with the rich and mighty; it pours contempt upon the rich and mighty and calls all who accept it to work the works of Christ by helping those in need, since without a helping hand and comfort and sympathy the poor will never recover themselves.
This salvation work is entrusted to followers to carry to all nations, languages, tongues, and peoples, joining Christ in overcoming Satan's power. In the perils of the last days they thereby prepare the way of the Lord as John in the spirit and power of Elias prepared His way at the first advent. They proclaim God's appointed time of favor, grace, and freedom to rescue those bowed down by Satan's power and set them free from his yoke of bondage. They break the spell of infatuation Satan has wrought upon the human mind, turn minds from temporal business and affairs that engross attention to spiritual and eternal things, and bring eternity into view so heaven is not lost from reckoning. They awaken spiritual desire and give the bread of life to those hungering for spiritual knowledge, urging the brokenhearted, hopeless, and afflicted to take hold of His strength because that time of restoration has now come.
The promise holds no earthly exaltation, honor, wealth, or human greatness, which is worthless. It speaks by the Spirit to poor, weary, dispirited souls in fruitless search after happiness, calling them to deny self and bear the cross after Jesus as the pledge of a crown of glory in the kingdom of God. The entire life fulfilling it was one of self-denial and self-sacrifice culminating in giving Himself as the propitiation for a lost world, a sacrifice that from a human standpoint appears extravagant and wasteful. Doing good to those despised, with greatest success among the needy and unfortunate who received the richest blessings of grace, makes the needy and brokenhearted the objects of special attention with words of truth and light.
Warning Against Rejecting Light
The history at Nazareth stands as a warning that hardening the heart in unbelief and pride ends in terrible blindness. Hearts first responded to the power of the Holy Spirit and to gracious words with marveling, joy and hearty conviction that the Anointed mission to the poor, brokenhearted, captives, blind and bruised was fulfilled that day in their hearing. Unbelief then entered through questioning who He was, through doubt, prejudice and resistance to plain truth exposing the heart, and good impressions were not kept because the working of God upon hearts was not recognized. By putting themselves in the enemy's power men closed eyes and ears, darkened understanding against conviction by the Spirit of God, and fell under the infatuation of the ruler of darkness into smitten blindness. That blindness could even call the work of the Spirit of God the work of Satan, turn ready acceptance to wrath, fury and murderous intent toward the Son of God, and manifest the destroyer's character. What was offered as blessing and light then became a stumbling block rather than salvation.
The same is acted over and over today when Christ comes not in person but by His Word and in the person of His servants and is rejected because of the plainness of the truth. All are left to take one of two positions, either for or against Jesus, with no neutral ground. To reject the message sent by God and the gracious light of acceptance and salvation proclaimed through His delegated messengers is to reject Christ Himself. The danger is just as great now as then, for men close their hearts in unbelief, pride and prejudice and fall into bondage to Satan while supposing they preserve dignity, freedom and the right to think, believe or doubt for themselves. After a first rejection, when excitement and confusion are over, God gives a second opportunity by the divine Messenger to accept the message that would work salvation, and hardening the heart then is final rejection. Those who live now are less excusable than the Jews because they have before them the example of the rejection of Christ and His apostles and have been warned not to follow it.
That rejection teaches that those responsible for teaching others must study and understand God's Word and recognize its lessons of eternal consequence, otherwise they are not prepared to teach those lessons to their students. The mission itself shows that the Scriptures are intended to be understood by ordinary people, not only by learned teachers, since the gospel is brought to the poor, freedom is proclaimed to captives, sight is restored to the blind and the oppressed are set free. His victory over Satan in the wilderness shows people how they may overcome.