Pastor Jann Braaksma
God’s word says; “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12)
No matter that it’s been on paper for a couple thousand years, it is still living and active. I love the way you can read a passage a dozen times, and yet the Holy Spirit can open it up to your understanding, and it’s as if you had never seen it before. That’s what happened recently to me while reading the Gospel of Luke.
Let’s start with Luke 2:21-24;
“On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise Him, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.
When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord; ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons.’”
Jewish families went through several ceremonies soon after a baby’s birth; circumcision, redemption of the firstborn and purification of the mother. For 40 days after the birth of a son and 80 days after the birth of a daughter, the mother was ceremonially unclean and could not enter the Temple.
At the end of her time of separation, the parents were to bring a lamb for a burnt offering and a dove for a sin offering. The priest would sacrifice these animals and declare her clean. If a lamb was too expensive, the parents could bring a second dove instead, and this is what Mary and Joseph did.
And in verses 39-42 –
“And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.”
According to God’s Law, every male was required to go to Jerusalem three times a year for the great festivals. As these verses show, the family of Jesus obeyed all the ceremonies in God’s Law. Jesus was God’s Son, but He was not born above the Law; instead, He fulfilled it perfectly.
Jesus is now 30 years old, has been baptized in the Jordan by John and has spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting and being tempted by Satan.
Luke 4:14-15 – “Now Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and there went out a fame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.”
Remember, synagogues were very important in Jewish religious life. During the exile when the Jews no longer had their Temple, synagogues were established as places of worship on the Sabbath and as schools for young boys during the week. They continued after the Temple was rebuilt.
A synagogue could be set up in any town where there were at least 10 Jewish families. It was run by one leader and an assistant. At the synagogue, the leader often invited a visiting rabbi to read from the Scriptures and to teach.
Verses 16-17a say;
“And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and, was His custom, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah.”
Jesus went to the synagogue “as was His custom.” Even though He was the perfect Son of God and His local synagogue left much to be desired, he attended services every week. His example makes most excuses for not attending church sound weak and self-serving.
Our story continues at verse 17b – “And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’”
Like you, I have heard this story many times. But the Holy Spirit seemed to be telling me that this is my job description; to preach, to heal, to preach, to set at liberty and to preach.
First I needed to understand that the Spirit of the Lord was upon me and that God had anointed me to this job. And for several days I have been repeating that to myself, really trying to get it into my thoughts and my spirit.
Walking around work going, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me.”
As I meditated on the entire verse the portion of “the acceptable year of the Lord” really got me thinking.
What would that look like? What activities would we be about? What would make it acceptable to the Lord?
By the way, why did Jesus read from the Old Testament? Why didn’t he read from the New Testament? Perhaps from Acts?
Correct! The New Testament hadn’t been written yet.
Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 61:1&2 in which Isaiah pictures the deliverance of Israel from exile in Babylon as a Year of Jubilee when all debts are cancelled, all slaves are freed, and all property is returned to the original owners.
No, I can’t declare a year like that, or can I?
If He is your Lord and Savior, Jesus has cancelled your sin debt. That’s why He came to earth, to save you.
Can you now cancel the sin debt of someone in your life? What I mean is, someone hurt you or sinned against you. Can you forgive them? Can you say the debt is ‘paid in full’ by the blood of Jesus?
How about setting the slave free? I mean setting yourself free from any master that is over you instead of or in addition to Jesus Christ.
In the name of Jesus Christ, set yourself free. Free from worry, free from fear, free from _______________. You fill in the blank.
Finally, in the year of Jubilee all property is returned to the original owner. You originally belonged to God. He created you. Genesis 2:7 says; “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
As we look ahead to the New Year, let’s make it a priority to observe an acceptable year of the Lord. I believe it will evolve for us as the Holy Spirit guides us.
Salvation is of course at the top of the list. But we also need to delve into repentance, regeneration, our adoption into God’s family, justification, grace, holy living, daily bible reading and prayers of God’s people, our good works and acts of charity.
Whew! Could almost make you tired, and it would seem impossible except we have God on our side, the blood of Jesus covering us, and the Holy Spirit living in us. So we have hope. We have power. We have Jesus!
I’d like to close today with the Wesleyan Core Term, “Holiness of Life”.
John Wesley’s common phrase “inward and outward holiness” emphasized the essential link between heart holiness and holy living. Referring to 1 Peter 1:15, Wesley writes, “perfection is another name for universal holiness—inward and outward righteousness—holiness of life arising from holiness of heart”.
God works in the Christian to produce “both inward and outward holiness.” The Holy Spirit strengthens our will so as to produce “every good desire, whether relating to our tempers, words, or actions, to inward and outward holiness”.
First Peter 1:15 instructs us, “as He who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct.” No dimension of life, from our attitudes and sexuality to our use of money and care of the earth, falls outside the scope of holy living. We are to have the mind of Christ, walking just as Jesus walked.
Let us pray.
May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. 2 Thes. 2:16-17
Resources: Life Application Study Bible, The Wesley Study Bible & The Celebration Hymnal. (1,799 words)
Let’s start with Luke 2:21-24;
“On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise Him, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.
When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord; ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons.’”
And in verses 39-42 –
“And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.”
Luke 4:14-15 – “Now Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and there went out a fame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.”
Verses 16-17a say;
“And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and, was His custom, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah.”
Our story continues at verse 17b – “And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’”