Jesus and the Ministry of the Word

Luke 4:14-22

JESUS came at the close of the Jewish age. He conducted his personal ministry exclusively among the Jewish people. The seventieth symbolic week of Daniel’s time prophecy—seven literal years—had not yet run out. (Dan. 9:25-27) Jesus’ ministry, in fact, commenced at the beginning of this seven-year period. The prophet foretold that the covenant—that is, God’s exclusive covenant of favor to the natural descendants of Abraham—was to be continued with them for this final seven years. Because of this, Jesus limited his service to them, and said to his disciples, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not.”—Matt. 10:5

This was not because Jesus lacked love for the Gentiles. Nor was it because the divine plan made no provision for the blessing of the Gentiles. It was simply because God’s due time for the Gospel to go to the Gentiles had not yet come. All of Jesus’ work was conducted in harmony with his Heavenly Father’s plan, including its time features.

It was at the river Jordan, when Jesus was thirty years of age, that he was anointed for service by the Holy Spirit; that is, he was there duly authorized by God for the ministry he had come to earth to perform. The high priests and kings of Israel had been anointed to office by the use of anointing oil. Jesus came to be both a priest and a king, and he was anointed to office, not by the pouring of oil on his head, but by his Father’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon him.

The first forty days after receiving this anointing, Jesus spent in solitude in the wilderness. The Holy Spirit was a great enlightening power in his mind, and he needed time to ponder over the marvelous revelation of the divine plan which had thus been given to him. He was then especially tempted by Satan, these temptations being calculated to swerve the Master from his course of faithfulness in performing his Father’s will as the world’s Redeemer.

Then he entered actively into his ministry, in the power of the Spirit. He returned early to Nazareth, the home of Mary and Joseph, and on the sabbath entered into the synagogue. There he was given the opportunity to read the Scripture lesson for the day. He chose the opening portion of the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, a prophecy which foretold his anointing of the Spirit and outlined the nature of the ministry he was to conduct.

According to this prophecy his message was to be one of good news, called in Luke’s account, the “Gospel.” The Gospel nature of his message is indicated by the fact that it would heal the broken-hearted, give assurance of deliverance to the captives, and the recovery of sight to the blind. It was also to be a message which, by engendering hope, would “set at liberty them that are bruised.”

The prophecy also foretold that, Jesus would be anointed to preach the “acceptable year of the Lord.” The Apostle Paul quotes from the prophecy of Isaiah concerning a “time accepted,” and adds, “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (Isa. 49:8; II Cor. 6:2) All of these expressions refer to a special period of time in the divine plan during which the Lord would accept the sacrifices of his people, and upon the basis of their faithfulness in laying down their lives in his service they receive the reward of glory, honor, and immortality, plus the privilege of reigning with Christ during the thousand years of his kingdom.

During the Jewish age, Israel’s priesthood offered animals in sacrifice, but now, in the new age being opened up by Jesus, the people of God were to have the privilege of offering themselves in sacrifice; and Jesus was the first to do this. His sacrifice was acceptable because of its inherent perfection. He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” (Heb: 7:26) The sacrifices of his followers are acceptable through the merit of the Redeemer’s blood.—Rom. 12:1

The sacrifice of both Jesus and his church is also acceptable to God because this is the “acceptable year,” that is, the age in the divine plan when this feature of God’s purpose is being accomplished. This Gospel age is the only time in the divine plan when the Lord’s people are invited to present their bodies “a living sacrifice.” This, then, is the “acceptable year” the opening of which Jesus was anointed to announce.

Prior to Pentecost, when the disciples also received the Holy Spirit, they did not understand this feature of the divine plan very well, although Jesus referred to it on several occasions. When two of them indicated their willingness to drink of his cup and to be baptized, with his baptism, he said to them, “Ye shall indeed.” (Mark 10:39) This was the same as telling them that they would have the opportunity of giving up their lives in sacrifice.

On another occasion Jesus spoke to his disciples about denying oneself and taking up his cross and following him. (Matt. 16:24) This also was but another way of describing the privilege of sacrifice, of giving up their all in God’s service, dying a sacrificial death. Yes, Jesus preached the acceptable year of the Lord. His ministry took place during the transition period between the Jewish and Gospel ages, so a very important part of it was to introduce this special characteristic of the Gospel-age work.

The people “wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.” (Luke 4:22) Yes, Jesus’ message was filled with the great fact of God’s grace manifested through him toward a sin-cursed and dying world. The people of Israel had not been accustomed to hearing such words from their religious teachers. The scribes and Pharisees heaped burdens upon them, grievous to be borne. Little had they heard which could be called gracious. No wonder Jesus was popular among the common people of his day.

Luke 19:10

THIS is one of the texts in the Bible which, in a few words, sets forth the entire divine plan of salvation—“For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Original sin had cost man the loss of life, and the loss of his earthly home—“in Adam all die.” It was this that Jesus came to seek and to save. Paul explains that “in Christ shall all be made alive.”—I Cor. 15:22

Matthew quotes this same statement, and then records the Master’s Parable of the Lost Sheep. (Matt. 18:11-14) In God’s great universe there are many orders of creation. Some of them are mentioned in the Bible, such as “angels, principalities, powers,” etc. In the human creation, the first man became responsible for the sin of the entire race, so the whole human creation was “lost,” having strayed outside the fold of the Shepherd.

Jesus left his habitation in the spirit realm and came down to earth to save the “lost sheep.” He gave his life in order to accomplish this work of salvation. But when this great mission of love is finally completed, and the lost sheep—the human race—is restored to life and to its lost home, there will be great rejoicing in heaven; for divine love will have triumphed over sin and selfishness.

Mark 10:45

JESUS came to earth to minister to the people, to serve them, and the greatest service he rendered was to give his life “a ransom.” This text says “a ransom for many” but we must understand that here the word “many” in reality means all, especially since the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus gave himself a ransom for “all,” and that he tasted “death for every man.”—I Tim. 2:6; Heb. 2:9

In the word “ransom” we have the explanation of how Jesus saves those who are lost. It has the thought of substitute, or corresponding price. It is the thought of a “life for life,” as outlined in the Law given to Israel. (Exodus 21:23) In this case, it was Jesus’ life given for Adam’s life. Because the whole race dies in Adam, his redemption by the sacrifice of Jesus provides salvation for all his children. Thus we. see that Jesus not only proclaimed good tidings to the people, but by his death he ratified the promises of God which formed the basis of the gracious words which he uttered.

John 3:16

HERE is another of those texts which outlines the whole plan of human redemption and salvation, and shows it to be. a provision of divine love. “God so loved the world that he gave.” Unselfish giving is the only true expression of divine love; and the Heavenly Father gave the most wonderful of all gifts, even his own beloved Son.

But in this text we have another viewpoint of salvation brought to our attention—the gift must be accepted. The Good Shepherd Jesus gave his life for the sheep. This gift or sacrifice of his life was “a ransom,” a corresponding price. It provided complete satisfaction, or propitiation, for “our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (I John 2:2) But this gift alone does not actually assure salvation, for there must also be the acceptance of the gift.

So it is that only those who “believe” will have everlasting life as a result of the Father’s love. However—and for this we thank God—every individual of Adam’s race is to be given a full opportunity to believe, based upon a complete understanding of the issues involved. If that opportunity is not provided in this life, and during the present Gospel age, it will be given during the age to come, when the knowledge of the Lord will be so universal that all shall know him from the least unto the greatest.—Jer. 31:34

“How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” the apostle asks. (Rom. 10:14) And they cannot hear without a preacher, a messenger. While the followers of Christ are commissioned to be his ambassadors to all nations, only a few, comparatively, have as yet heard, in the sense of understanding the Gospel of Christ. Not many have had “ears to hear.”—Matt. 13:9,16

But this has not been their fault. Those who have heard and understood have been invited through the Gospel to lay down their lives with Jesus, to suffer and to die with him. These have walked in the narrow way of sacrifice.

But when the work of the new age, the kingdom age, begins, all the blind eyes will be opened, and all the deaf ears shall be unstopped. Then those who believe will walk over the “highway,” “the way of holiness”—the return road to the earthly fold of the Good Shepherd from which they strayed. They will “return … with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.”—Isa: 35

QUESTIONS

Why did Jesus conduct his ministry exclusively among the Jewish people?

When was Jesus anointed by the Holy Spirit, and what did this anointing mean to him?

Explain some of the ways in which Jesus’ message was one of good news.

What is the “acceptable year of the Lord” which Jesus was anointed to preach? Cite examples of how he preached this message.

In what sense were Jesus’ words “gracious”?

How did Jesus seek and save that which was lost? How is this illustrated by the Parable of the Lost Sheep?

What is the meaning of the word “ransom,” and how did Jesus give himself “a ransom for all”?

What is necessary in order for one to receive the blessing of life provided by the redemptive work of Christ?

Is the opportunity to believe in Christ limited to this life, and to this age?

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