The Third Sunday after the Epiphany
\nJanuary 24, 2016
\nLuke 4:14-21<\/p>\n
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.\u00a0 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.\u00a0 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.\u00a0 And he stood up to read.\u00a0 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.\u00a0 Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:\u00a0 “The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.\u00a0 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 favor.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.\u00a0 The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them,\u00a0 “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 (NIV1984)<\/p>\n Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n \u201cBut Mom\u2014 you promised<\/u>!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI know I promised, but things didn\u2019t work out the way I had planned.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut Dad\u2014 you promised<\/u>!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI know I promised, but you said that you would do this for me and since you didn\u2019t do it, well, that kinda changed things, didn\u2019t it.\u201d<\/p>\n Have you ever been a part of a conversation like that, my friends?\u00a0 Have you ever made a promise to someone and then for some reason you didn\u2019t\u2014 or couldn\u2019t\u2014 keep that promise?\u00a0 Have you ever had someone make a promise to you and then for one reason or another they broke their promise?<\/p>\n Unfortunately, broken promises are something with which we are all too familiar.\u00a0 Sometimes we are the one who breaks a promise that we made to someone else.\u00a0 Sometimes we are the one who was counting on someone keeping their promise to us and are disappointed when they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n Since broken promises are an all too familiar part of our lives our sermon text for today is especially comforting.\u00a0 As we study this portion of God\u2019s holy Word my goal is to have us look at the promises which the Lord our God has given to us and see why we can confidently trust in each and every one of those promises!\u00a0 With that in mind our sermon theme for today is:\u00a0 Fulfilled!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Let\u2019s first of all see how Jesus Himself emphasizes that He came into this world to fulfill<\/em><\/strong> all the Messianic promises\u2014 all the Messianic prophecies\u2014 which the Lord had given to His children down through the ages.\u00a0 Then, on the basis of those fulfilled<\/em><\/strong> promises let\u2019s see that we can confidently trust that the Lord will indeed fulfill<\/em><\/strong> the promises He has made to us.<\/p>\n Our text for today finds Jesus visiting His hometown of Nazareth.\u00a0 While Jesus may have left Nazareth relatively \u201cunknown,\u201d Luke tells us that by the time Jesus returned to His hometown, \u201cnews about him spread through the whole countryside.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Whether it was changing water into wine or driving the money changers out of the Temple in Jerusalem, whether it was the sermons that Jesus had been preaching in the various synagogues throughout the land or the fact that Jesus had been publicly gathering His disciples, by the time Jesus went home again His \u201cfame\u201d<\/em> was quite well known!<\/p>\n I\u2019d like to take just a moment to point out something very important.\u00a0 If you have your Bibles open to our text for today look at verse 16.\u00a0 If you have ever wondered why you keep coming to church since the pastor keeps repeating things you already know notice how Luke brings out the fact that \u201con the Sabbath Day he <\/em>(Jesus) went into the synagogue, as was his custom<\/u>.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Even though Jesus is<\/em><\/strong> the eternal Son of God, even though for thirty years Jesus had been listening to mere mortal human beings teach and preach the Word which He Himself had given to His people Jesus not only willingly obeyed the Third Commandment (Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy) but He set an excellent example for us to follow by going to church on a regular<\/u> basis<\/u>!\u00a0 Now let\u2019s turn back to our text.<\/p>\n As a visiting Rabbi and as a hometown boy Jesus was invited to preach the sermon on that particular Sabbath Day.\u00a0 So after He was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah we\u2019re told that Jesus unrolled it until He got to our Old Testament lesson for today.\u00a0 Then He read these words, \u201cThe Spirit of the LORD is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.\u00a0 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\u2019s favor.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 After Jesus had read His sermon text He sat down, looked at the congregation seated in front of Him and He said, \u201cToday this Scripture is fulfilled<\/strong> in your hearing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Fulfilled!\u00a0 That was the simple message that Jesus preached in His home congregation.\u00a0 But what<\/strong> was fulfilled?\u00a0 In short, Jesus proclaimed to the congregation that He<\/em><\/strong> is the fulfillment of all the prophecies, all the promises, which the Lord God had made concerning the Messiah, the Christ, the \u201cAnointed One\u201d<\/em>!\u00a0 At the heart and core of all those prophecies the Lord revealed that the work of the His \u201cAnointed One\u201d<\/em> would focus on preaching \u201cgood news to the poor.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 And to make sure that we understand exactly what He means, we\u2019ll look at three pictures of preaching \u201cgood news to the poor.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The first picture centers on proclaiming \u201cfreedom for the prisoners.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The Greek word that is translated here as \u201cprisoners\u201d<\/em> very literally refers to \u201cprisoners of war.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 By nature, my friends, we were indeed \u201cprisoners of war.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 We were being held captive by sin, death and the devil\u2014 and there was nothing<\/u> we could do about it, nothing<\/u> we could do to free ourselves!\u00a0 As the Lord\u2019s \u201cAnointed One\u201d<\/em> Jesus proclaims to us poor prisoners the Good News:\u00a0 You are<\/em><\/strong> free!\u00a0 By fulfilling<\/u> His promise to send a Savior into this world God Himself has destroyed the power of the devil.\u00a0 God Himself has conquered sin and death.\u00a0 God Himself has set us free!<\/p>\n The second picture is that as the Lord\u2019s \u201cAnointed One\u201d<\/em> Jesus has the power to grant \u201crecovery of sight for the blind.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 You may recall that one of the pictures that the Bible uses to describe our natural sinful condition is that we are \u201cblind\u201d<\/em> to God\u2019s Truth.\u00a0 By nature we can\u2019t understand the teachings of the Bible.\u00a0 (See I Corinthians 2:14)\u00a0 By nature we consider the message of the cross to be utter \u201cfoolishness.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 (See I Corinthians 1:18)\u00a0 By fulfilling<\/u> His promise to send a Savior into this world God Himself has restored our spiritual sight!\u00a0 With the eyes of faith we are now able to read and understand, to believe and accept the teachings of Scripture.\u00a0 With the eyes of faith we are able to look at the cross and see the power and the wisdom and the grace and the mercy and the forgiveness of our God!<\/p>\n The third picture that the good Lord uses to describe us is especially descriptive.\u00a0 Here in our text we are very simply told that the Lord\u2019s \u201cAnointed One\u201d<\/em> would \u201crelease the oppressed.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Very literally the Greek that Luke uses here emphasizes that the Savior whom God promised<\/u> to send into this world came here to \u201csend out the broken ones in forgiveness.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 We<\/em><\/strong> are \u201cthe broken ones,\u201d<\/em> my friends.\u00a0 Sin has \u201cbroken\u201d<\/em> us to smithereens!\u00a0 Think of it this way:\u00a0 God created mankind to be like the finest crystal vase there could ever possibly be.\u00a0 Into this crystal vase God poured all of His love and all of His blessings.\u00a0 Then Adam and Eve brought sin into this world.\u00a0 Sin picked us up and smashed us against the tablets of God\u2019s holy Law.\u00a0 We were \u201cbroken.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 We were \u201coppressed\u201d<\/em> by the guilt, by the shame, by both the temporal as well as the eternal consequences of our own sins.\u00a0 By fulfilling<\/u> His promise to send a Savior into this world God Himself \u201cfixed\u201d us!\u00a0 He \u201crestored\u201d us so that even in His eyes we are once again that beautiful perfect crystal vase into which God once again pours His precious love until we overflow with His blessings.\u00a0 By fulfilling<\/u> His promise (pointing to the cross) God has taken away the oppressive burden and the overwhelming guilt of our sin.\u00a0 By fulfilling<\/u> His promise (pointing to the cross) Jesus is able to \u201csend out the broken ones in forgiveness.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Truly, my friends, when we look at portions of Scripture such as our text for today we are able to revel in the comfort of knowing that all<\/em><\/strong> of the Old Testament promises concerning this world\u2019s only Savior from sin are indeed:\u00a0 Fulfilled!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 It is on that basis then that you and I are now able to trust in the promises that the good Lord has graciously made to us.\u00a0 Why is that such a tremendous source of comfort for us?\u00a0 Just think of some of the things we face in our lives today.<\/p>\n There are times when in weakness we sin against the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth.\u00a0 When we realize that we have indeed sinned against our loving Savior we feel \u201cbroken\u201d<\/em> once again.\u00a0 We feel the oppressive burden of our sin.\u00a0 Then in repentance we are led to the promises<\/u> of our God!\u00a0 We are led to the cross where God Himself promises<\/u> us, \u201cIt is finished!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 We are led to come to the Lord\u2019s altar to receive the Lord\u2019s Supper where through His true body and His true blood God Himself promises<\/u> us, \u201cYour sins are <\/em><\/strong>forgiven!\u201d<\/p>\n There are times when in rebellion we think that we can \u201cplay\u201d with the fire of sin and not get \u201cburned.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll do it just this once\u2014 and never again.\u00a0 Just one joint.\u00a0 Just one affair.\u00a0 I only hit her once and it wasn\u2019t really all that hard.\u00a0 It was just one little lie.\u00a0 I only cheated on my taxes once.\u201d\u00a0 When our conscience won\u2019t let up on us, when we feel the burden of that \u201cone little sin\u201d weighing us down more and more we can do one of two things.\u00a0 We can simply give up and continue in our life of sin, or we can confess our sin to God and trust in His promise<\/em><\/strong> of forgiveness.\u00a0 King David gives us an example of this type of situation when he says in Psalm 32, \u201cWhen I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.\u00a0 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.\u00a0 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.\u00a0 I said, \u2018I will confess my transgressions to the LORD\u2019\u2014 and you forgave<\/u> the guilt of my sin.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n There are days when we are so down and so tired that we aren\u2019t sure if we even want to get out of bed.\u00a0 When we do force ourselves to get out of bed we wonder how in the world are we ever going to make it through the day.\u00a0 When we look at ourselves in the mirror we don\u2019t find what we need.\u00a0 When we look at the promises<\/em><\/strong> of our God, however, we find both the hope<\/u> as well as strength<\/u> we need!\u00a0 \u201c\u2019For I know the plans I have for you,\u2019 declares the LORD, \u2018plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future\u2019\u201d <\/em>(Jeremiah 29:11).\u00a0 \u201cSo do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.\u00a0 I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand\u201d<\/em> (Isaiah 41:10).<\/p>\n You get home from work, pick up your mail and what do you find?\u00a0 More bills!\u00a0 \u201cHow am I ever going to pay all these bills?\u201d you say to yourself.\u00a0 As you are re-evaluating your priorities when it comes to \u201cwants\u201d verses \u201cneeds\u201d you can also trust in the promises<\/em><\/strong> of your God\u2014 promises such as Matthew 6:31-33, \u201cSo do not worry saying, \u2018What shall we eat?\u2019 or \u2018What shall we drink?\u2019 or \u2018What shall we wear?\u2019 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.\u00a0 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n One day completely out of the blue you don\u2019t feel well. It doesn\u2019t go away so you make an appointment with the doctor.\u00a0 The news is not good.\u00a0 One day your life changes forever when someone you love dies unexpectedly.\u00a0 How do you handle situations like that?\u00a0 You don\u2019t!\u00a0 You entrust yourself to the Lord and you let Him handle it!\u00a0 You listen like you have never listened before to the promises<\/em><\/strong> of your Savior\u2014 \u201cDo not let your hearts be troubled.\u00a0 Trust in God; trust also in me.\u00a0 In my Father\u2019s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.\u00a0 I am going there to prepare a place for you.\u00a0 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am\u201d<\/em> (John 14:1-3).\u00a0 \u201cI am the resurrection and the life.\u00a0 He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die\u201d<\/em> (John 11:25, 26).\u00a0 Those are just some of God\u2019s promises to you\u2014 promises that He will indeed fulfill!<\/p>\n \u201cBut Mom\u2014 you promised<\/u>!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI know I promised, but things didn\u2019t work out the way I had planned.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut Dad\u2014 you promised<\/u>!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI know I promised, but you said that you would do this for me and since you didn\u2019t do it, well, that kinda changed things, didn\u2019t it.\u201d<\/p>\n Thank God, my friends, that you and I will never<\/strong> have that type of conversation with our Savior God!\u00a0 As the saved children of God we have the unparalleled comfort of looking back on all the promises which the good Lord gave to His children throughout the Old Testament era and knowing that in Jesus all those promises are\u2014 Fulfilled!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 That comfort is what now gives us the confidence of knowing that no matter what we may encounter on our pilgrimage through this world, no matter what situations we could possibly face in our own personal life we can indeed trust that our God will fulfill His promises to us!<\/p>\n To God be the glory!<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Third Sunday after the Epiphany January 24, 2016 Luke 4:14-21 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.\u00a0 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.\u00a0 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-epiphany","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":636,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635\/revisions\/636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}