Well, please have a seat and let's pray together.
Father God, thank you for this day.
Thank you that we can be together.
Thank you that you accept our praise and our worship in and through your son, Jesus.
And so, Lord, we ask that you would send your spirit now to teach us by your words.
Father, glorify yourself in this time and warm our hearts.
Kindle them with affection for you.
We pray this in Jesus' name and for his sake.
Amen.
Can I extend my welcome to you to add to phrases.
You joined us in week three of our journey with Jesus around Galilee.
These chapters at the beginning of Luke's gospel.
So far, week one, we saw John the Baptist as the great preparer.
Kind of Jesus' entourage, getting everything ready for him to appear.
And then last week, we saw Jesus' messianic credentials.
Jesus being fully God and fully man and one who obeyed God and resisted temptation.
Today, we see Jesus launching his messianic manifesto.
Jesus launching his messianic manifesto.
Now, a manifesto, if you don't know, is the beliefs and aims and policies and promises
of an organization or an individual taking up office.
It is about what they will do, what will happen when they do,
and what they'll do for you if you vote for them to do what they're going to do.
So I thought we'd have a little game this morning.
If you've got your sermon outline, that'll be helpful.
That's where you're going to write your answers.
The game is imaginatively called, Whose Manifesto Is It Anyway?
And you're going to write down your answers, and we'll see who got what.
Right, I'm going to read five manifesto promises,
and I want you to try and tell me whose manifesto it is.
Here's number one.
Eyes down, look in.
Five manifesto promises.
Heavily tax goods imported from China and Mexico.
Repeal every aspect of Obamacare.
Bomb and take oil from ISIS.
Ban all Muslims from entering the country.
Build a wall to the south and make Mexico pay for it.
Whose manifesto is it anyway?
The Trump, the Donalds.
Question two.
Eyes down, look in.
Whose manifesto is it anyway?
The repeal of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
Only a member of the true German race can be a citizen.
Excess land for the colonization and sustenance of our people to be given and taken.
The abolition of all mercenary forces and the formation of a national army.
The formation of a strong central power in the Reich.
Whose manifesto is it anyway?
It's not Hillary's.
It is, of course, the National Socialist Party in 1933.
Question three and then we're done.
See if anyone can get 100%.
We will report the Welsh Dragon to the Monopolies Commission.
We will make Swansea Airport the hub for the Welsh space program.
We will set up huge factories in the valleys of South Wales producing noodles and fortune cookies.
And then flood the Chinese markets with them to take revenge for what they did to us steal.
We will give the letter K a sound of its own.
Anyone over five years old who can hold a crayon will be eligible to vote.
Whose manifesto is it anyway?
The Monster Raving Loony Party.
Their 2014 manifesto for the Welsh Assembly.
In our passage in Luke this morning we see Jesus launch his Messianic manifesto.
And we'll see it is radically different from all those that are listed.
Thank goodness.
So please turn with me to Luke chapter 4 and verse 14.
Luke writes this.
Jesus returned to Galilee and the power of the Spirit and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside.
He was teaching in their synagogues and everyone praised him.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up.
And on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.
He stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me.
Because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor,
he has sent me to proclaim freedom from the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord's favour.
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.
He began by saying to them,
Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
All spoke well of him and they wondered at his gracious words that came from his lips.
Isn't this Joseph's son?
They asked.
Jesus said to them,
Surely you will quote this proverb to me,
Physician, heal yourself.
And you will tell me,
Do here in your hometown what we have heard you did in Capernaum.
Truly I tell you, he continued,
No prophet is accepted in his hometown.
I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time
when the sky was shut for three and a half years
and there was a severe famine throughout the land.
Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them,
but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.
And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet.
Yet not one of them was cleansed,
only Naaman the Syrian.
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard him.
They got up, drove him out of the town,
and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built
in order to throw him off the cliff.
But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
Between the tempting at the beginning of chapter 4
and this episode here in Nazareth,
there is perhaps a whole year that has gone by.
In this time, we learn from John that Jesus did his first miracle,
the water into wine at the wedding in Cana.
He's called some of his disciples,
and he's been based roughly around the town of Capernaum.
If the temptation in the wilderness was Jesus declaring everything
that he hasn't come to do,
he hasn't come to perform tricks,
he hasn't come to gain authority without the cross,
he hasn't come to defy God.
If the temptation was everything Jesus hasn't come to do,
then what we're looking at today is everything that he has come to do.
His teaching was well received in Capernaum.
4.15, everybody spoke well of him,
and the news was rippling out all around Galilee.
Now, 4.16, Jesus rolls into his hometown,
the local celebrity coming back to his neighborhood,
and he goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath.
This is Jesus' first public recorded sermon,
and he is going to use the occasion to launch his manifesto.
Now, synagogue worship followed a standard form.
There would be two sets of prayers at the start,
a reading from the Torah next,
then a reading from the prophets,
and following those four elements,
somebody would stand up and give a sermon.
They would explain what has been read.
Now, we're not quite sure why Jesus is chosen
to read from the prophets and give the sermon.
We don't know if the Nazareth rabbi is at his holiday home down near Judea.
We don't know if it's just because the famous preacher has come to town
and they thought, well, he's better than the guy we usually have.
Let's give him a shot.
But what definitely happens is that Jesus opens the enormous scroll of Isaiah,
and there isn't chapters and verses,
but he finds his way to Isaiah chapter 61, verse 1.
And he reads,
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord's favor.
These words are written 700 years before Jesus stands up.
Isaiah pens them in some of the darkest days of Israel's history.
And those words kind of are left hanging.
Left hanging for seven centuries.
And after Jesus hands back the scroll to the attendant
to go back in the cabinet where all the scriptures are housed,
he assumes the preaching position of the day,
which was to sit down.
Now I've torn my calf muscle,
so I kind of wish that we were in the first century in Near East.
You'd also all be standing.
Having done that,
Jesus preaches perhaps the shortest sermon ever.
Eight words.
Today,
this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
The anointed one that Isaiah foreshadowed
now assumes the role that he's been given from eternity past
and said,
these words,
they're my words,
and I'm telling them to you today for real.
Jesus says,
I am this anointed one.
I am this spirit-empowered,
anointed preacher,
and I come bringing the ultimate good news,
release,
healing,
and freedom.
The one who's ushering in the acceptable year of the Lord's favor.
Now when we read a manifesto,
the first thing we automatically do
is to work out what's in it for me.
So we read of tax break for families,
and immediately families think,
oh,
vote for them.
We read of help for retired people.
And anybody that's more seasoned goes,
they seem like a good choice for me.
Tuition fees spark interest from the students,
but most particularly their parents.
So I wonder what these people,
when they heard this,
thought about Jesus' manifesto.
I'm sure if you were there as a blind person,
you'd have gone,
oh.
If you were a prisoner,
you probably wouldn't have been at the synagogue on the Sabbath,
because you would have been in prison.
People have interpreted this passage in merely economic terms,
that Jesus brings actual good news for actually poor people.
People have done it in purely political terms,
that oppressed people suffering under the heel of occupying Rome,
would have the hope of being freed.
In actual physical terms,
the blind people would receive sight,
which would be unfortunate,
because the Paralympics would be over.
However,
this is clearly referenced to humanity's spiritual condition.
We are spiritually poor,
because of our sinful rebellion against God.
We are spiritually captive,
enslaved by sin and Satan and death and fear.
We are spiritually blind.
We cannot see God as he is,
or respond to him as we should.
We are oppressed by being fallen people in a fallen world.
This is what Jesus is saying.
And his message is appealing to all of us,
because all of us find ourselves in this position.
Notice as well that all these conditions are hopeless.
If you're blind,
you can't make yourself see,
doesn't matter how many carrots you eat.
If you're in prison,
you can't go for a nice walk out in the garden,
because you're in prison.
All these conditions are hopeless.
All of these require somebody else stepping into our situation
to bring healing hope,
freedom,
and acceptance.
And into this spiritual hopelessness,
into our spiritual hopelessness,
Jesus says,
I'm here.
I am here.
And I'm here to help,
and to get you out of your hopelessness.
See though,
if you know Isaiah 61 well,
that the quotation is cut short.
Jesus doesn't keep on reading to the end of the verse,
because it finishes,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God.
That Isaiah said,
with the coming of Messiah,
there will be two things.
There will be favor proclaimed,
but also vengeance brought.
And this is where Jesus is so appealing,
because he comes the first time
to make us acceptable to God,
but he will come again
to rain down God's wrath
on account of our sin.
He gives us a chance,
a space for grace,
to respond to this good news,
to say yes to this manifesto,
because a day will come when it's too late.
I was on a plane yesterday
to a wedding in Northern Ireland,
and the plane back was delayed.
And we got on the plane,
and we were on the runway for a long time,
and the captain comes on and says,
sorry for the delay,
we had a technical failure,
we think we fixed it.
I'll tell you,
everybody's listening to the safety briefing,
everybody.
Everybody.
Jesus here is saying,
we all have a technical failure,
our sin.
Will you listen to me
as the only hope
and the only help
to get you through it?
The passage is explicit today.
Today this is fulfilled in your hearing.
Now is the time to respond.
Will you respond?
Because the time will come
when the vengeance will be here
and the grace will be over.
Failure to respond
will mean that time will decide for you.
Yesterday my plane was supposed to leave at 8.
If I wasn't sure
whether I was going to get back on that plane
because Northern Ireland was so brilliant,
if I was weighing up that decision
once the plane's left,
the decision's made for me.
Failure to decide
means that time will decide for you,
and Jesus says,
today is the opportunity to respond.
Now is the opportunity to respond.
So from manifesto launched,
we move to candidate questioned.
Initially,
Jesus seems to be favorably received.
All spoke well of him.
They wondered at his gracious words.
Then they start to look
at his background.
They start to want evidence
to back up his claim.
And see what they say.
Isn't this Joseph's son,
verse 22?
Didn't he used to kick around
in the playground with our children?
Isn't he just so normal?
Wasn't he the guy
who fitted those shelves in our house
or fixed the coffee table?
Is he not having ideas
above his station?
You're saying today
this has been fulfilled,
but you look remarkably normal to us.
So Jesus responds with a proverb,
Physician, heal yourself,
verse 23.
It's not particularly familiar to us,
but it basically says,
prove it.
Show us.
You claim to be this person,
show us.
Do something.
Show us your messianic credentials
to back up your messianic manifesto.
Do what you did in Capernaum.
Perhaps a little healing.
Perhaps an exorcism.
We could go and find someone
who was toment it.
Do you know what?
Perhaps some water into wine.
We're all a little bit thirsty.
That would be great.
Go on,
turn this water into wine
and we can toast your Messiahship.
Come on, Jesus.
Do it,
do it,
do it.
However,
Jesus wouldn't perform
for the devil when he said,
and he won't perform
for the baying crowd in Nazareth.
People say,
I want evidence.
But their evidence,
ask,
is only to cover,
it's a smokescreen
for their hard-heartedness.
They have absolutely everything
they need to respond
to Jesus' manifesto.
They've heard the rumors
of Capernaum.
He stood up
and amazed them
with his words.
He's spoken with authority.
They have everything
they need to come
to the right decision.
And so many of us
will put off
making a decision
on account of evidence
when really
we don't want to
bow the knee to Jesus
and get on board
with his manifesto.
I wonder if that's you
this morning
putting off making a decision
when you have
all the evidence you need.
Then Jesus defines
his constituency.
Jesus goes on the offensive.
Verse 24.
No prophet is accepted
in his hometown.
The history of Israel
is one where prophets
don't do very well.
It's not a popular career choice.
Jeremiah is a prophet
and nobody listened to him.
Jesus is saying,
you're just like them.
I'm here declaring
God's word as God's king,
but you have no time for me.
You're just like
your ancestors.
They didn't believe
God's word then
and they won't listen
to God's word made flesh now.
Their unreceptive attitude
to Jesus
is not due to lack of evidence,
it's due to their
hard-heartedness.
They will not
humble themselves.
They don't think
that they're poor
and blind
and captive.
And therefore
they don't realize
their absolute need
of Jesus Christ.
Jesus goes on
to explain
that their rejection
of him
will lead
and overflow
to grace for others.
And so he talks
about the two great
prophets of old,
Elijah and Elisha,
the poster boys
of the Israelite
prophet
history.
And he talks
about Elijah
during the time
of Ahab
when there's three
and a half years
without rain
and everybody's struggling.
Widows struggling
the most.
And yet it's not
to the Israelite widows
that Elijah has sent
but to the widow
of Zarephath
who receives blessing.
Similarly,
Elisha,
in his time
there's leprosy
everywhere.
And yet it's not
an Israelite leper
who's cleansed,
it's a Syrian
general.
Jesus says to them,
don't think
that my kingdom
is just confined
to the borders
of Israel.
My kingdom
is for the whole world.
Good news
will go to the poor
on this continent
and every continent.
Captives
will be released
here but also
everywhere in my name.
The year of
acceptability
to the Lord
is an offer
to you
but it's an offer
to them
as well.
This good news
will go global.
People will be restored
because of me
and responding
to me.
If you shut
the door
in my face
it will result
in your eternal loss
but there'll be
many others
in many other places
that will open
the door to me.
This offer
is open to anyone.
This good news
is not a pep talk
for a nation state
but it is good news
to the entire world.
Jesus is the Messiah
he's been installed
by God
he will rule
and reign forever
and the biggest decision
we will ever make
in any of our lives
is to respond to him
and join his team
or suffer the vengeance
of the Lord
in the end.
Now
is the time
to vote
says Jesus.
He says it to them
in Nazareth
and he says it to us
this morning
it's decision time.
It is time
to decide
whether you're
poor
who needs good news
whether you're
a prisoner
who needs it free
whether you're
blind requiring sight
oppressed
needing freedom
and alienated
from God
and need to be restored.
And Jesus says
if that's you
respond to me.
And so the final thing
we see is votes
are submitted.
Well it's not gone great
you have to say
verse 28
because a manifesto
launch turns into
an assassination
attempt.
They
the crowd
the congregation
turn into a mob
and the mob
frog marks
Jesus to the
brow of a hill
the hometown
crowd turn
hostile
the ones who
were amazed
at his words
in verse 22
are furious
and ready to
throw him off
the cliff
in verse 29.
It's amazing.
Just like that.
When Jesus
starts to uncover
what they're really
like and their
need of him
people turn
in utter fury.
We see it today.
Have you ever
seen anything
provoke such
hostility
than the Lord
Jesus?
People just
go crazy
irrationably
crazy
because if
Jesus is
who he
says he
is
then we
cannot
escape
our
absolute
need
of him.
But Jesus
is in total
control.
See how it
ends.
But he
walked right
through the
crowd
and went
on his
way.
Just as
Moses parted
the sea
so Jesus
parts the
crowd
and he
walks
through
unscathed.
And I
think the
scariest bit
is the last
four words
he went
on his
way.
The
sadness is
Jesus will
do two
more years
of public
ministry in
this region
and as far
as we know
he never
returned to
Nazareth.
Their
rejection of
him led
to his
rejection of
them and
he never
went back.
You know
we all may
think that we
can put off
making a
decision for
as long as
we like.
The truth
is today
you've got an
opportunity to
respond.
Tomorrow
nobody knows.
The Puritans
like to say
that the
sun that
melts the
wax also
hardens the
clay.
That as we
hear the
good news
of Jesus
it will
either melt
our hearts
humble us
under grace
and get us
to proclaim
him our
king or
it will
harden our
hearts and
will become
ever more
impenetrable to
his grace.
Jesus launches
his manifesto
which is good
news to
hopeless humanity.
It's good
news to me
it's good
news to you.
Jesus is
questioned but
reveals the
hard-hearted
pride of the
Nazareth people.
Jesus defines
his constituency
and says this is
good news for
anyone and
everyone.
Jesus is
rejected in
Nazareth as
people vote
with their
feet and
try to throw
him off a
cliff.
What about
you?
Will you
respond today?
Will you
subscribe to
Jesus'
manifesto,
receive his
good news,
acknowledge him
as God's
promised king,
come to lead
you out of
hopelessness and
to give you
eternal life?
Will you
respond to
this Jesus?
But what if
you know
Jesus as
your king?
Well don't
be obstinate,
don't just
sit around,
get on the
canvassing trail
because this
good news is
for anyone
and everyone
and Jesus
invites you
to be on
his campaign
team to
make him
known on
campus,
at work,
amongst
your friends
and your
family?
Will you
be on the
campaign trail
with Jesus?
To do this
you need to
do three
things and
they all
begin with
P.
You need
prayer,
you need
people and
you need
a plan.
You need
to pray
for opportunity.
You need
people to
pray for in
order that
you might
take that
opportunity and
you need a
plan.
How can I
make this
good news
so attractive
and accessible
to these
people?
How can I
have confidence
in the
gospel and
share it
with clarity?
Pray,
pray for
people,
pray for
opportunity,
pray for
boldness,
pray for
clarity,
which was
incredibly
unclear.
People,
invest in
people,
spend time
with people,
get to know
people,
have
conversations
with people
and have
a plan.
what
windows of
opportunity
do I
have to
present this
manifesto
in a
clear and
compelling
way?
So,
final round
of whose
manifesto
is it
anyway?
Five
manifesto
promises,
good news
to the
poor,
freedom
for
captives,
sight for
the blind,
emancipation
for the
oppressed,
welcomed
by God
now and
forever.
whose
manifesto
promises
are those
that Jesus
Christ to
us and
to you.
Question is,
how will
you vote?
Let me
pray.
Father God,
we thank
you for
Jesus.
We thank
you for
who he
is.
We thank
you for
his perfect
life.
Father,
we thank
you that
he obeyed
you and
did everything
that you
called him
to do.
And that
now this
Jesus has
become our
hope,
our rescue,
our freedom.
He is
good news,
he is our
life.
He is the
only one in
all the world
who can help
us out of
the death
and sin
that we
naturally live
in.
So,
Lord,
may we be
on board
with him.
May we be
on team,
Jesus.
And may
we love
him and
serve him
and share
him through
all of our
lives,
for all of
our lives,
until we
see him.
Father,
we thank
you so
much for
your grace
and your
goodness to
us in
sending your
son,
Jesus.
So,
Lord,
help us to
respond to
him appropriately.
We pray
this in his
name and
for his
glory.
Amen.