Luke 4:18-19

In Jesus are the answers to all questions. In Jesus we are healed. In Jesus our bonds are broken. In Jesus we are free!

Jesus Christ heals the incurable, frees the oppressed, wipes the tears of the suffering and proclaims abundant life to all who believe!

What Israel had failed to do, Jesus does. The image here addresses both physical and spiritual realities. Jesus proclaimed the acceptable year of the Lord, an allusion to Jubilee. This was every fiftieth year, in which all debt was forgiven, slaves were given their freedom, and ancestral lands were given back to its original family. The Year of Jubilee allowed for a new start. Jesus offers a total cancellation of spiritual debt and a new beginning to those who respond to His message.

Jesus closed the book in the middle of the sentence. He did not continue because the next phrase—“the day of vengeance of our God”—was not being fulfilled then.

Luke 4:18-19

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

¹⁹ To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

61 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 

Isaiah 61:1

⁸ Thus says the Lord: “In an acceptable time I have heard You, And in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You As a covenant to the people, To restore the earth, To cause them to inherit the desolate ⁹heritages; 

Isaiah 49:8

⁵ The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 

Matthew 11:5

¹⁸ “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved  whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 

Matthew 12:18

³⁴ For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. 

John 3:34

²³ “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” 

Matthew 1:23

Acts 8:18-23

It is all about the heart! We can do the right things for the wrong reason OR the wrong thing for the right reason….but only with the Holy Spirit are we able to know and do the right thing for the right reason!

Lord help my heart and my actions to be guided by You…it is not within man to know the way to go without You.Do not let the bitterness or iniquity of my past cloud my decisions in the present.

iniquity |iˈnikwədē|

noun (pl. iniquities)

immoral or grossly unfair behavior

bitterness |ˈbidərnəs|

noun

anger and disappointment at being treated unfairly

The gift of tongues was a sign to the nation of Israel, so it is likely that the same sign was present at each step of the opening of the gospel—at Jerusalem, at Samaria, and at the home of Cornelius. Verse 13 indicates that Simon was a believer. However, he confused the work of God with his previous magical practices. Because others had paid him for the secrets of his magic, he may have simply thought that this was the best way to approach Peter.

Acts 8:18-23

¹⁸ And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. ²² Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

⁸ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 

Matthew 10:8

³⁸ Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 2:38

⁹ “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 

Jeremiah 17:9

¹⁵ looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 

Hebrews 12:15

²⁵ in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 

2 Timothy 2:25

Amos 7:7-9

Jesus is the plumb line for all of mankind He is where God meets earth offering His salvation to all men. He is the only way to the Father. He is the outward manifestation of a loving Father who extends mercy to those who ask. At the  cross where heaven meets earth.

A plumb line is a string with a weight tied to one end, used to establish a vertical line so that a wall can be built straight.

The plumb line of God’s revelation in the law had been set in the midst of … Israel for many generations. Now God would stretch a plumb line to demonstrate how “crooked” the people’s observance of His commands had been. 

Isaac, the father of Jacob, represented all Israel in Amos’s day. Jeroboam may refer to Jeroboam I, the first king of Israel, who instituted idolatry in the northern kingdom, or to Jeroboam II, the monarch during the time of these prophecies. If it is Jeroboam I, then the house of Jeroboam is a metaphor for the nation. If it is Jeroboam II, then the prophecy specifically concerns the royal household. The prophecy is taken by Amaziah to refer to the current king. Jeroboam II himself did not die by the sword, but his son Zechariah was assassinated after reigning only six months.

Amos 7:7-9

⁷ Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. ⁸ And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

And I said, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said:

“Behold, I am setting a plumb line

In the midst of My people Israel;

I will not pass by them anymore.

⁹ The high places of Isaac shall be desolate,

And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.

I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.”

¹⁷ Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet; The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the hiding place. 

Isaiah 28:17

¹⁸ Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. 

Micah 7:18

Matthew 27:29-31

For three years Jesus preached the Good News of the Gospel. He stood up to the powerful leaders of His time admonishing them with the very Scriptures that they taught in the synagogue but failed to live out in their personal lives. Love, with repentance and forgiveness, was preached to all who would listen and believe. We will have many nay sayers in our lives but we only need to stand up for what is good and right in His eyes….not the worlds. He suffered for the sins of all people. Even though it was within His power to retaliate He chose not to. Through His suffering, death and resurrection God gave man the right to choose Him as their Savior. 

We don’t need to accept the morality of this world…we only need to accept that He rose in our place overcoming this world!

Crucifixion, a practice probably adopted from Persia, was considered by the Romans to be the cruelest form of execution. This punishment was reserved for the worst criminals; Roman citizens were not crucified.

Matthew 27:29-31

²⁹ When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

³ He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 

Isaiah 53:3

¹⁹ and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.” 

Matthew 20:19

⁶ I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. 

Isaiah 50:6

⁷ He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 

Isaiah 53:7

John 10:7-16

Every person who believes that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father… born to die for their sins and in His resurrection overcoming sin and deaths’ stranglehold on man… is a part of the Body of Christ. One Body, the Church, and one Shepherd, Jesus the Christ. We are not separated by denomination we are ALL CHRISTians.

United in the power of the Holy Spirit we stand strong as a force for good. Divided we waste our time bickering about who has the best doctrine and is the most religious.

Jesus is the shepherd; here He is the door. Some shepherds lay down across the entry of the sheepfold at night to sleep. Wild beasts would be discouraged from entering, and sheep would not exit. Thus the shepherd was also the door. One flock anticipated the salvation of the Gentiles and the formation of the church, in which converted Jews and Gentiles form one spiritual body.

John 10:7-16

⁷ Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. ¹² But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ¹⁵ As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 

John 14:6

¹⁸ For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 

Ephesians 2:18

²⁵ For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 

1 Peter 2:25

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

John 3:16

¹⁷ for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” 

Revelation 7:17

Mark 6:33-34

Jesus, all God and all man, came willingly into this world to show us how to live. He had compassion and cared about people. Filled with mercy and grace He would be the physical manifestation of “God with us”. He is the truth of the Trinity, the only way to His Kingdom and He gives light to the entire human race. In His departure He did not leave us alone. He left His Holy Spirit within us to guide and teach us everything we need to find our way home…listen to that still, small voice inside and you will have safe passage! 

Ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened…He promised!

Mark 6:33-34

³³ But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. ³⁴ And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.

⁶ which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 

Colossians 1:6

¹⁴ And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 

Matthew 14:14

² He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 

Hebrews 5:2

61 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; ² To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, ³ To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” 

Isaiah 61:1–3

Micah 2:7

In this journey that we call life we reap what we sow. Godly practices produce good results. If you practice ungodly practices guess what you reap bad results. The Holy Spirit working in us is determined by the measure that we believe in the power of God to intervene in human lives. In Christ we receive more of the abundant life that He wants for all of His children. We are given the privilege of being His hands and feet to anyone we meet…we need to value the chance to make a difference. 

Knowing that faith alone pleases the Father have faith in His power to impart good into situations that we invite Him into. And we should be inviting Him into all areas of our life! Does that mean that our life will be a bed of roses? Of course not but He does assure us that even in the bad times He walks beside us turning what was meant to destroy us into good…if we do not lose hope.

The words of God bring good to the righteous even as they bring judgment against the wicked.

Micah 2:7

⁷ You who are named the house of Jacob:

“Is the Spirit of the Lord restricted?

Are these His doings?

Do not My words do good

To him who walks uprightly?

³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 

2 Timothy 4:3

¹ God stands in the congregation of the mighty;

He judges among the gods.

² How long will you judge unjustly,

And show partiality to the wicked?

Selah

³ Defend the poor and fatherless;

Do justice to the afflicted and needy.

⁴ Deliver the poor and needy;

Free them from the hand of the wicked.

Psalm 82:1-4

Zephaniah 13:9

God uses the trials that we face in our life to mold and refine us into the image of His Son. We can fight against the goads or learn from them. The choice is ours to make…we will learn the easy way OR the hard way.

Trust the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to do what we cannot until He comes again.

Zechariah anticipates the glorious day when the Lord will reestablish His reign on this earth, where it was first challenged by Satan. This will be the answer to the prayers of all those who pray Jesus’ words, “Your kingdom come”.

Zephaniah 13:9

⁹ I will bring the one-third through the fire,

Will refine them as silver is refined,

And test them as gold is tested.

They will call on My name,

And I will answer them.

I will say, ‘This is My people’;

And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”

^10 i“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 

Zechariah 12:10

⁹ And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be “The Lord is one,” And His name one. 

Zechariah 14:9

¹⁰ Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 

Isaiah 48:10

³ He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the Lord An offering in righteousness. 

Malachi 3:3

¹⁵ Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” 

Psalm 50:15

⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 

1 Peter 1:6

⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 

1 Peter 1:7

¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 

Matthew 6:10

Ezekiel 23:35

The final chapter in human HIStory is written for whom the right belongs…..Jesus Christ. 

Everything comes from God and everything will return to Him. We need to fulfill His word not just hear it on Sunday.

This verse summarizes why God was going to punish His people with such vengeance… those who called on His name had intentionally ignored Him.

Lord have mercy on us all.

Ezekiel 23:35

³⁵ “Therefore thus says the Lord God:

‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back,

Therefore you shall bear the penalty

Of your lewdness and your harlotry.’ ”

¹⁰ Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold, Therefore you will plant pleasant plants And set out foreign seedlings; 

Isaiah 17:10

²¹ A voice was heard on the desolate heights, Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel. For they have perverted their way; They have forgotten the Lord their God. 

Jeremiah 3:21

¹² In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God. 

Ezekiel 22:12

⁶ When they had pasture, they were filled; They were filled and their heart was exalted; Therefore they forgot Me. 

Hosea 13:6

²⁶ “Nevertheless they were disobedient And rebelled against You, Cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets, who testified against them To turn them to Yourself; And they worked great provocations. 

Nehemiah 9:26

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Matthew 7:21-27

Acts 13:36-41

Faith alone pleases the Father. Faith comes by hearing the Word Of God made flesh…Jesus Christ…and believing  what He says...Go and sin no more!

Justification is a legal term meaning “declared innocent” It is a legal declaration that a person is acquitted and absolved. It is by justification that a person is righteous and acceptable to God. The death of Christ was the payment of our sin debt, so that we might be forgiven.

Acts 13:36-41

³⁶ “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; ³⁷ but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹ and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:

⁴¹ ‘Behold, you despisers,

Marvel and perish!

For I work a work in your days,

A work which you will by no means believe,

Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”

³⁴ No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” 

Jeremiah 31:34

¹¹ He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 

Isaiah 53:11

⁵ “Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you. 

Habakkuk 1:5

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

John 3:16

John 8:7 and 8:11

There is a chasm that separates the Old Testament and the New Testament…God outside of man and God within man. Without the sacrifice of the Cross and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit man made many of his own decisions regarding sin and punishment. God’s mercy, grace and love for His creation came forth in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. No longer would man be able to judge according to the world but man would be guided by the very heart of God placed in mankind. Religions without Jesus Christ as the Godhead bear little resemblance to each other. God never condones sin but always offers hope through forgiveness and change.

Sin no more implies that Jesus forgave her. He did not condemn her, but neither did He condone her sin.

chasm |ˈkazəm|

noun

• a profound difference between people, viewpoints, feelings

John 8:7

⁷ So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

John 8:11

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

⁷ The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you. 

Deuteronomy 17:7

2 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 

Romans 2:1

⁵⁶  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. 

Luke 9:56

¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 

John 3:17

¹⁴ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” 

John 5:14