Luke 4:16-21 English Standard Version

¹⁶ And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

This is the beginning of Christ’s ministry to Israel. What He added at the end about the fulfillment of the prophecy caused quite a stir among the people in the synagogue.

²⁸ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 

What we can expect is to be treated like Jesus when we preach the gospel. The truth stirs up strong emotions, the guilty often strike out rather than confess their condition. How these people felt and what they did could not sway Jesus from His mission.

When the scriptures speak to us we should know that obedience of faith is going to be met with resistance, even among those we know and care about. It is up to us to find it within ourselves to persevere.

Romans 5:3-5 English Standard Version

³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Isaiah 61:1 English Standard Version

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;^{[the afflicted]} he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;^{[blindfolded]}

The first thing that is addressed here is the most important part in any relevant understanding. It the Spirit of the Lord in us or upon us?

This is one of those conditional situations where we must determine if our anointing is a seasonal condition or a lifelong pursuit. More will be said about that matter in Isaiah 61:2. For now, we should come to terms with what is present in this opening verse.

When it comes to anointing we must accept that there is a difference between the Lord’s anointing and man’s anointing.

The Lord’s anointing is performed without assistance from man. There is no ceremonial display that is a sign of a changing in to the one being anointed. Man’s anointing is a sign to others that this person is acceptable within the church to perform service to others. The anointed one is to be trusted and a source of help for those who are afflicted.

The second issue is seen as evangelism. At the time of Isaiah’s writing the gospel was only a promise. The Good News did not come into being until after Jesus Christ ascended to His throne. We live in the church age and the Good News is on our lips. That does not make us all evangelists.

Ephesians 4:11 English Standard Version (ESV) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

Evangelist is just one of the service gifts granted by our Lord, His anointing.