Fulfilling Scriptures to Interact with Society

In a sermon to the hometown crowd, Jesus outlined His mission. This devotion explore how Jesus was to preach to the poor and heal the brokenhearted.

Nuggets

Isaiah said the Holy Spirit was with Jesus.
While the world looked down on this group of people, Jesus placed the poor on a level playing field.
Jesus’ mission was to heal the brokenhearted.

This year, we are looking at self-discipline. We are using Vincent’s The Lesson of Ripeness sermon to look at the need to grow in our relationship with God. We morphed learning enough to be a teacher into determining some areas we need to grow so we can be mature disciples.

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We have been looking at solidifying what we believe. When we witness, we need to be prepared to explain what we believe and why we believe it.

We have looked at the Scriptures; the Trinity (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit); man; salvation; grace; the church; divine ordinances; worship; God’s kingdom; end times; evangelism and missions; stewardship: and cooperation. Now, we are going to look at social order.

Devotions in the What I Believe series

Devotions in the Social Order category

Fulfilling Scriptures to Interact with Society

Let's Put It into Context #1

We are going to use the following definition from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for social. It is defined as “of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society.”

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It is that interaction that we want to focus on in this series. There are a lot of issues that are being addressed within our society these days.

But we are not going to focus on them from society’s viewpoint. We are going to look at it through Jesus’s viewpoint.

So, we need to see what Jesus’ viewpoint was.

Let's Put It into Context #2

“He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written” (Lk. 4: 16-17 CSB)

“He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled’” (Lk. 4: 20-21 CSB)

What we have here is one of Jesus’ first sermons. He is in a particularly important place — He is in His home synagogue.

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But think about what happened just before this. Jesus was baptized and then tempted by Satan.

That means that Jesus was introduced as the Messiah since He had seen His neighbors. So, He isn’t how He used to be in their viewpoint.

Martineau said it best when he wrote, “And now, He was no longer His own.” Jesus belonged to everyone as their Savior — if they would accept Him. That is how He had changed since He last saw them.

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Spirit of the Lord

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me …” (Lk. 4: 18 CSB)

Jesus read Isaiah 61: 1-2. He began by preaching. He didn’t shirk from this assignment. He accomplished it completely. Robinson thought it appropriate that He began by quoting Scripture — Scripture that He fulfilled.

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The passage shows Jesus’ mission and details how He is to interact with society. First, it gives Jesus’ qualification for His mission. Isaiah said the Holy Spirit was with Jesus.

We know that is correct. Think back to Jesus’ baptism.

The Holy Spirit was there. The Holy Spirit took the form of a dove, a symbol of love and peace as well as being a messenger, because that is the role He plays in the Trinity.

To read a related devotion, click the button below.

If the Spirit was with Jesus, He is with us also. He has so many roles that help us grow in grace and knowledge.

Glossary

Preach to the Poor

“… because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor …” (Lk. 4: 18 CSB)

Jesus’ message was He came to preach to the poor. Haweis called these “… neglected, suffering people …”

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While the world looked down on this group of people, Jesus placed the poor on a level playing field. We know He did spend a lot of time with those who faced many challenges in this life.

That is a good thing. Those who had been neglected no longer were. Those who were suffering had a Healer.

We’ve talked about equality recently. Jesus made the poor equal to others. They will receive the the same benefits of being a child of God as everyone else.

To read a related devotion, click the button below.

Glossary

But was Jesus just talking about those who didn’t have a big bank account? If He was, then He wouldn’t be treating everyone equally.

We talked in the Are Disciples to be Docile? how I think Jesus is really talking about being poor in spirit. Poor in spirit has aspects of humility, contentment, submission, gratitude, patience, and trust and hope in God.

To read a related devotion, click the button below.

We were all poor in spirit because we were spiritually dead. Only when we admitted our sins, believed in Jesus as Savior and Redeemer, and confessed God as Sovereign Lord did we become rich in Him.

Jesus came as the Redeemer of all. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16 ESV).

Preach to the Brokenhearted

“… He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Lk. 4: 18-19 CSB)

We’ve all gotten our hearts broken at one point or another. We can become brokenhearted because of a variety of reasons. It probably varies in the degree of brokenness.

Jesus’ purpose was to preach to the brokenhearted. It is reassuring to know that our Savior stands ready to comfort us. Jesus’ mission was to heal the brokenhearted. He did this in a number of ways.

Release the captives
Heal the blind
Liberate the oppressed
Proclaim the year of jubilee

Jesus had work to do.

We are all captives to sin. We can also be captive to circumstances.

Healing the blind, though, means more than just those who have lost their eyesight. Haweis wrote, “The mists of passion, the clouds of prejudice, the veil of selfishness, the pall of spiritual ignorance, lo, at a touch the scales fall off, you see yourselves as others see you, you know as you are known, your heart grows pure, you see God.” Our spiritual vision can also be blinded. We need to see where we are on the sanctification road.

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Glossary

Along with the brokenheartedness comes being bruised. We get beaten up and banged up several times a day as we struggle through this world.

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We might be a little fuzzy as to what the “… year of the Lord’s favor” (Lk. 4: 19 CSB) is. Bonar equated it with Paul’s “… ‘the accepted time,’ ‘the day of salvation’ (2 Corinthians 6:2); and [it] means that there is a time when God accepts or shows favour to the sinner. It is what Ezekiel calls ‘the time of love’; what our Lord calls ‘the time of visitation’ (Luke 19:44); and what we usually call ‘the day of grace.’”

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The Jews would have been familiar with the year of Jubilee. Leviticus 25 explains it to us. Basically, it was a year of reset. Every fifty years, slaves were freed, and debts were cancelled. Paupers were given a second chance. Hereditary property reverted back to original owners.

Jesus’ whole ministry spoke to accomplishing this work in a holy and righteous way . He never deviated from what He said and how He acted. He came to deliver us from the consequences of our sins.

Making the Connections

Haweis described Jesus’ message as “a gospel of healing, liberty, illumination, and comfort for all, beginning with the lowest of the people.” I think that is a very accurate statement. Jesus’ ministry begins there — it doesn’t end there.

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During the three years of His ministry, Jesus interacted with many people. While He met some of their basic needs, He made it clear that He was there to interact with them for spiritual reasons.

Jesus wasn’t there to make this life easier. He was there to provide them with eternal life – if they would accept it.

Jesus’ message is for all people. Regardless of socioeconomic status. Regardless of race. Regardless of ethnicity. Regardless of anything.

Jesus came as Savior to all. His power came because the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him.

That Spirit is now upon us. Yes, even you. Yes, even me.

Where else do we get our power? Robinson said, “The source of all Christian power is in ‘preaching the Word.’

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Why did Jesus do all that He did? He fulfilled Scriptures. Scriptures said a Savior for mankind would be born. He was.

Making the Connections to Self-Discipline

These days, there are a lot of hard questions being asked of disciples. We’ve got to know Scriptures to be able to answer those questions. That takes study.

We may not have been consistent in our devotional time in the past – we still may not be. We need self-discipline to get us on track and keep us on tract in our growth.

We’ve been looking at defending our beliefs when we are witnessing. That means we have to be secure enough to convince someone to accept our beliefs.

Our questions should still serve us to determine on what we need to focus.

What does the Scriptures say?
What do I believe?
Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?

How Do We Apply This?

We need to use the Scriptures.
- We need to follow and obey them.
- We need to use them to witness to others.
We need to know how Jesus interacted with others so that we can imitate Him.

Jesus provided us with the perfect example as to how to interact with others. We have to follow His lead.

Heavenly Father. The world today is following Satan’s lead. We, on the other hand, want to follow Jesus’ lead when interacting with them. Help us to imitate Him so they can see Your character displayed in us. Help us to show the joy of following You. Amen.

What do you think?

Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.

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Seeking to imitate God in our lives