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Scripture Reading: Luke 4:14-44
In this message we shall consider 4:14-44. These verses begin the third major section of the Gospel of Luke. The first section is the introduction (1:1-4), and the second concerns the preparation of the Man-Savior in His humanity with His divinity (1:5—4:13). The third section, which is quite lengthy, covers the ministry of the Man-Savior in His human virtues with His divine attributes (4:14—19:27). In 4:14—9:50 we have the ministry of the Man-Savior in Galilee. Then from 9:51—19:27 we have a record of His ministry from Galilee to Jerusalem.
The ministry of the Man-Savior was in His human virtues with His divine attributes. We have seen that the preparation of the Man-Savior was in His humanity with His divinity. The conception, birth, and growth of the Man-Savior were all in His humanity with His divinity. After undergoing a full preparation, He began to minister. Like His preparation, His ministry was in His humanity with His divinity. In particular, His ministry was not only in His humanity but in His human virtues, and not only with His divinity but also with His divine attributes. The Man-Savior ministered in His human virtues with His divine attributes.
As a help in understanding the expression “in His human virtues with His divine attributes,” let us use some cases in the Gospel of Luke as illustrations. In Luke 7:36-50 a sinful woman came into the home of a Pharisee who had invited the Lord Jesus to eat with him. As we read the account of this incident, we see that Jesus, the Man-Savior, conducted Himself in His human virtues. He was not at all bothered by that sinful woman, even when “she began to wet His feet with her tears, and to wipe them with the hair of her head” and when “she kissed His feet affectionately and anointed them with the ointment” (v. 38). If we had been the Lord Jesus, we probably would have been troubled by the behavior of this woman. We might have said to her, “Don’t you know that I am a guest in this house? Can’t you see that I am eating?” However, to act in that way would be to fail to act in the proper human virtues. In this situation the Man-Savior was very kind and patient, realizing that this woman had been convicted of her sins.
He was also merciful. People often speak about love, but rarely about mercy. Mercy, however, is more tender than love. To be merciful is to sympathize with others in their poor condition and low estate.
In addition to exercising kindness, patience, and mercy toward the woman, the Lord Jesus also exercised His understanding. Often we fail to understand others, but the Lord Jesus was very understanding in the case of this woman. Furthermore, He was wise and loving.
Perhaps you are wondering what divine attributes are expressed in 7:36-50. First, here we have the divine forgiveness (7:47-48). God is the only one who can grant forgiveness of sins. He alone is qualified to forgive sins. Therefore, forgiveness is one of the divine attributes.
In 7:50 the Lord Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” The giving of peace is also a divine attribute. God is the only one who can give inner peace.
In 7:36-50 we see the Man-Savior in the house of a Pharisee acting in His human virtues with His divine attributes. He could behave in such a manner because He was the God-man. We may say that He was a man equipped by God and with God. He possessed all the human virtues created by God, and He also had the divine attributes. Hence, He acted in the highest standard of morality, for His human virtues expressed His divine attributes.
The Man-Savior’s human virtues and divine attributes are also revealed in the parable of the good Samaritan (10:25-37). The good Samaritan signifies the Man-Savior. It is easy to see the human virtues of the Samaritan, but where in this parable do we see the divine attributes? The Lord’s divine attributes are seen in the Samaritan’s bringing the wounded one to an inn. “And on the next morning, taking out two denarii, he gave them to the innkeeper and said to him, Take care of him; and whatever you spend in addition, when I return, I will repay you” (10:35). Here we see something of the Lord’s divine attributes. Who besides God can do things in such an unexpected, unanticipated way? If this One were not God, how could He have spoken these words to the innkeeper? The Lord’s doing the unexpected may be considered an expression of His divine attributes.
The Lord also acted in His human virtues with His divine attributes when He was on the cross. The thief said to Him, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (23:42). The Lord replied, “Truly I tell you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (v. 43). Here we see the human virtues expressing the divine attributes. In the Lord’s word to the thief we see not merely the human virtues, but also the divine attributes manifested in the Lord’s human virtues. Although He was a man, He was filled with all the divine attributes. Therefore, He could act in His human virtues with His divine attributes. These illustrations should help us understand how the Lord ministered in His human virtues with His divine attributes.
Luke 4:14 and 15 say, “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and news concerning Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He was teaching in their synagogues, being glorified by all.” The Spirit in verse 14 is the Holy Spirit who descended upon the Lord Jesus at the time of His baptism for the accomplishment of His ministry. Therefore, He had the Holy Spirit both essentially for His being and economically for His ministry.
According to verse 15, the Lord was teaching in the synagogues. A synagogue is a meeting place where the Jews read and learn the Holy Scriptures (Acts 13:14-15).
Man’s fall into sin broke his fellowship with God, making all men ignorant of the knowledge of God. Such ignorance issued first in darkness and then in death. The Man-Savior, as the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5), came to Galilee, the land of darkness, where people were sitting in the shadow of death, as a great light to shine upon them (Matt. 4:12-16). His teaching released the word of light to enlighten those in the darkness of death so that they might receive the light of life (John 1:4). The teaching of the Man-Savior was to bring people out of satanic darkness into the divine light (Acts 26:18).
The Man-Savior came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. According to His custom, He entered on the Sabbath day into the synagogue and stood up to read. The book, the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, was handed to Him. Then He opened the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away in release those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (4:18-19). After the Lord closed the book and gave it back to the attendant, He sat down. Then He said to the people, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears” (v. 21).
Here we see that the Spirit of the Lord was upon the Man-Savior because God had anointed Him to bring good news to the poor. The Greek word rendered “bring good news” is euaggelizo, which means to evangelize, to announce good news. To preach the gospel was the first commission of the Savior as God’s anointed One, the Messiah. The good news was to be preached to the poor, that is, to the poor in heavenly, spiritual, and divine things (12:21; Rev. 3:17 see Matt. 5:3).
Luke 4:18 speaks of captives, the blind, and those who are oppressed. The captives are prisoners of war, as exiles and prisoners under Satan’s bondage (Isa. 42:7). The blind include those who are physically and spiritually blind (Zeph. 1:17; John 9:39-41; 1 John 2:11; Rev. 3:17). Recovery of sight is related to release from the power of Satan (Acts 26:18). The Greek word translated “oppressed” comes from a verb meaning to break in pieces (Matt. 12:20). Those who are oppressed are those oppressed under Satan in sickness or in sin (Luke 13:11-13; John 8:34).
In Luke 4:19 we see that the Man-Savior was anointed to “proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” This acceptable year is the New Testament age typified by the year of jubilee (Lev. 25:8-17), the time when God would accept the returned captives of sin (Isa. 49:8; 2 Cor. 6:2) and when the oppressed under the bondage of sin would enjoy the release of God’s salvation.
In 4:18 and 19 the Man-Savior proclaims the jubilee of grace. This indicates that He began His ministry by proclaiming the jubilee of grace. The term “the acceptable year of the Lord” denotes the jubilee described in Leviticus 25. According to this chapter, the year of jubilee was a time when slaves were released and property was returned to the rightful owners. Hence, the year of jubilee was a year of release, freedom, and return of lost property. Those who had been sold into slavery were released during the year of jubilee.
Luke 4:22 says, “And all were bearing witness to Him and marveling at the words of grace proceeding out of His mouth; and they were saying, Is this not Joseph’s son?” The words of grace refer to the words in verse 21, including the words in verses 18 and 19, which are words of the gospel. Verse 22 indicates that those in the synagogue knew the Savior according to the flesh (2 Cor. 5:16), not according to the Spirit (Rom. 1:4).
Although the people marveled at the words of grace that proceeded out of the Lord’s mouth, it is not likely that they understood these words. This was the actual beginning of the dispensation of grace. The dispensation before that day was the dispensation of law. But in Luke 4 the divine jubilee, the jubilee of grace, was proclaimed by the Man-Savior.
In 4:23-27 the Lord Jesus warned the people using the case of the widow of Sarepta, a case of feeding, and the case of Naaman of Syria, a case of cleansing. The case of the widow of Sarepta was a case of feeding, signifying the Lord’s feeding of the hungry (John 6:33, 35). The case of Naaman was a case of cleansing, signifying the Lord’s cleansing of sinners (1 Cor. 6:11). The Savior’s mentioning of these two cases implies that His gospel would turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:45-48). This does not mean that His standard of morality was unable to cover the Jews; on the contrary, it indicates their hardhearted rejection of Him.
Luke 4:28-30 says, “And all in the synagogue were filled with anger when they heard these things; and they rose up and cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down the cliff. But He, passing through their midst, went away.” It certainly was not reasonable for those in the synagogue to be filled with anger. Although they marveled at the words of grace proceeding out of the Lord’s mouth, they were nevertheless filled with anger. They rose up, cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill. But He passed through their midst and went away. This shows His steadiness under the threatening of His opposers.
In 4:31-44 the Man-Savior carried out His fourfold commission. This commission included teaching (vv. 31-32), casting out demons (vv. 33-37, 41), healing diseases (vv. 38-40), and preaching the good news of the kingdom of God (vv. 42-44). When the crowds tried to detain the Lord Jesus, He said, “I must bring good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this I was sent” (v. 43). As in verse 18, the Greek word translated “bring good news” is euaggelizo. This word means evangelize, to announce good news, to declare (bring) glad tidings, to preach the gospel. Hence, to bring good news of the kingdom of God is to preach the kingdom of God as the gospel, the good news.
The kingdom of God is the Savior (17:21) as the seed of life, sown into His believers, God’s chosen people (Mark 4:3, 26), and developing into a realm which God may rule as His kingdom in His divine life. Its entrance is regeneration (John 3:5), and its development is the believers’ growth in the divine life (2 Pet. 1:3-11). It is the church life today, in which the faithful believers live (Rom. 14:17), and it will develop into the coming kingdom as an inheritance reward (Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5) to the overcoming saints in the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6). Eventually, it will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal kingdom of God, an eternal realm of the eternal blessing of God’s eternal life for all God’s redeemed to enjoy in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (Rev. 21:1-4; 22:1-5, 14). Such a kingdom, the kingdom of God, is what the Savior preached in Luke 4 as the gospel, the good news.
