This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The Holy Spirit” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, April 23, 1995.

Tonight we are reading from Luke’s Gospel, the fourth chapter, and we are beginning with verse 16. This is Luke 4, verse 16. Let’s give our attention to the reading of God’s holy word. where he had been brought up, and as was his custom, he entered a synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and he opened the book and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. And he closed the book and he gave it back to the attendant and sat down.

And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon him. And he began to say to them, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. And all were speaking well of him and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from his lips. And they were saying, is this not Joseph’s son? And he said to them, no doubt you will quote this proverb to me, physician, heal yourself.

Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well. And he said, truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown, but I say to you in truth, There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land. And yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, but only named the Syrian. And all in the synagogue were filled with rage as 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 had been built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went his way.

Hear us, our Father, as we would be fed by your word and nourish your church, even as she is built up in obedience, as we see in her the very order of your word, taking shape before us and exerting its proper influence and authority for our lives. To this end, O God, we pray for those who have the responsibility of rule in the Church, that they may rule well, wisely, looking to themselves. We pray, O God, for those who serve in the office of the diaconate, that they may be a model for us all, so that we may serve after them, so that we may be instructed even by their service. and be gracious, Lord, to those who teach. For, Lord, it is an awesome responsibility that is laid upon them. Father, we pray for your church, good and strong ministries of the word, and those ministers who will stand for the truth against error. These things we pray now, in Jesus’ name, amen.

We have talked most recently in our evening messages about the Holy Spirit specifically as endowment, or putting things a little bit more crassly, as equipment for the Messiah. We have noted that, at least in part, the Spirit’s descent upon the Christ at his baptism by John was a confirmation of this very point. The Holy Spirit comes to Jesus Christ as unique endowment in order that the Messiah may be equipped for what follows. We gain some insight into what follows, of course, by looking at the Temptation. So we are able to see something of the entirety of the trial that belongs to the Messiah wrapped up in that temptation and bewilderment. But understand as well, as we think about the Holy Spirit in relationship to endowment, that it is all too easy to make much too little of the endowment of the Spirit for the Messiah. We are likely, for instance, to think of this endowment in altogether and exclusively practical terms.

That the Spirit comes to the Messiah in order to empower him, that is, in order to add to him strength. That the Spirit comes to the Messiah for the specific purpose of ministering comfort to him, in the difficulties that he faces throughout the course of his ministry.

But we should not limit the Holy Spirit’s effect upon Christ in this way, for the coming of the Spirit upon the Messiah has greater significance than what we have just described. You see, the great day of salvation envisioned by the prophets was no less to be a day of the Spirit than it was to be the day of the Christ. The Spirit then comes upon the Christ not just as endowment for empowerment for him and for personal comfort. But the Spirit comes upon the Christ as indicative of the fact that the day, the great day, awaited by God’s people has arrived. A day that is marked not only by the shining forth of the Lord’s Christ, but the coming of the Spirit himself, yes, upon the Christ, but for the people of God. According to Isaiah, the Spirit’s presence with the Messiah truly, undoubtedly, characterized the arrival of that great day of salvation for which the prophets longed.

Repeatedly, this point is made throughout the entirety of Isaiah’s prophecy. We have a number of familiar passages in keeping with this message set out before us in the glorious, emanuel section of Isaiah’s prophecy. We find, for instance, chapter 11, verses 1 and 2. Then a shoot will spring from Jesse’s stem, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit, and the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him.” The Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. The promise of the Messiah. is joined with a promise concerning the Spirit and the Spirit’s arrival in this coming of the great day of God’s salvation. Later in Isaiah, the picture of the coming Messiah is filled out for us in those wonderful servant psalms that we find from chapter forty on.

Here, as earlier, the spirit is just as much at issue. Yes, the servant of the Lord, but likewise, the spirit of the Lord. Chapter 42, verse 1. Here we find the Lord declaring, Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him, and he will bring forth justice to the nations. A little later, in those servant song sections, Isaiah chapter 48, verse 16, here once more the material dominated by the theme of the servant of the Lord, but the Lord introduces his servant in such a way that it seems that the servant is himself the Lord.

From this text, it is clear that the Old Testament is not without its own witness to the deity of the coming Messiah. Nevertheless, this verse also makes it plain once more that the coming day of the Messiah is also the coming day of the Spirit, and now The Lord God has sent me and his Spirit.” Thus that text concludes. Both the speaker in this text, obviously the servant of the Lord himself, and the Spirit, come commissioned by God for the great work of salvation.

And moving on toward the close of Isaiah, Toward the great New Heavens and New Earth portion at the end of the prophecy, we find two passages that speak along these very lines. The first is quite interesting, Isaiah 59, verse 21, in that it lends its own unique coloring to the combination of the Messiah and the Spirit.

Here, once more, we have the promise laid out before us concerning the Redeemer, verse 20. But then, the Redeemer will come to Zion, we are told, but in verse 21, this contains the promise that those who turn from their transgressions will receive the perpetual blessing of God’s word and spirit in the messianic visitation. What is particularly interesting here is the Spirit’s connection, not just with the Messiah himself, but also with those who find forgiveness through him in the day of his coming. So the Spirit, yes, given to the Christ and coming with the cross, the Spirit characterizing the day of the Christ, but here as well, the Spirit, the blessing that comes upon those who have received forgiveness through the ministry of the Messiah. The point remains that the coming of the Messiah and the coming of the Spirit belong together.

This brings us finally to the last reference, Isaiah 61, verses 1 and 2. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me the voice of the Messiah himself speaking here, to bring good news to the afflicted, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. We’re taking us into that second verse of Isaiah 61.

Now it is this passage I’m sure you recognize. It is this passage that Jesus quotes on that marvelous Sabbath when he visited the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. His quotation of this particular text from Isaiah is opportune, for with it he pulls along behind it all the other texts from Isaiah that we have spoken of this evening. The fullness of the Isaiah revelation is in tow behind the quote of Christ from this Isaiah text.

The basic message, once more, is this, that the Messiah and the Spirit of God belong together. The long wait for the arrival of that salvation promised by God for His people has arrived.” So then Jesus, after reading this text, Isaiah 61, verse 1, and also a portion of verse 2, sits down and says, “‘Today the Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

One can only wonder at the wonderment of those that were congregated on that day. Here is one of the classic texts of the Old Testament speaking about the Messiah, speaking also about the Spirit. And this native to Nazareth now, after having read this text, sits down in the company of these who have gathered in the synagogue and declares to them, today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. As I have said, we can only wonder at the wonderment of those who were congregated that day.

As they looked around them, Jesus having made this declaration, as they looked around them, there didn’t seem to be anything different in what they were experiencing. The face of the earth hadn’t changed. The Roman government was still in place, its authority unmoved. Disease was still a reality, even though Jesus had been healing in Capernaum and makes reference to that. Disease was still a reality. The stress of every kind was also a reality to these people. Looking around them, it was as if nothing had changed. The man makes a statement, they look around him, all is the same.

Nevertheless, Jesus declares that the great day of God’s salvation has arrived. and that this is a visitation of the Messiah, of the Lord’s Messiah, and of the Spirit of God. Now, they might be genuinely thrilled that this famous hometown boy has come back to visit them.

We might as well think that even at this point in the exchange, as pleased as they are to have it, the wonderment and even bafflement has begun. Well, you see, there were many things that these Jews had come to expect in connection with the dawning of the great day of salvation. had even come to think that it was their right to expect these things, their due. And that on the basis of their understanding of the very Old Testament passage that Jesus quoted. They had their own interpretation of Isaiah 61, verses 1 and 2. They had their own understanding of what it meant for there to be the proclamation, yes, the final proclamation of the Good News to the poor.

When the Messiah appeared, when the Spirit came with him, then there would be removed from Israel all poverty. There would no longer be any impoverishment. This was to be the good news for them. This was the good news for them. There was no other good news for them but this. Take away my impoverishment. Take away my poverty. Take away my hated social status. Make me rich. When the kingdom comes, I will be rich. I will be rich in the things of this world.

What about the release of captives, also mentioned in the Isaiah prophecy? How do the Jews of Jesus’ day understand that message from Isaiah the prophet? This can mean nothing else but literal release of captives. You’re in prison, you get out. We can expect nothing less for John the Baptist, in fact. He’s in prison, he should be released. This is the day of visitation, is it not? We hardly envision a beheading for John.

The release of the captives would mean, then, the cessation of political and judicial injustice and oppression, the arrival of freedom for the downtrodden, the arrival of the year of jubilee, the acceptable year of the Lord, the favorable year of the Lord, as it is here articulated in Luke 4.19. must mean the presence of permanent release from debt, the retirement of all financial obligations, life away completely.

But Christ’s message, as you know, lies along a different track, a track that runs, yes, the self-assured interpretation of his Jewish audience. This is even indicated by the way in which Jesus goes at his quoting of the Isaiah passage. For you will note, when you compare Isaiah 61 with what Jesus states here, that there is the addition of a line. There is a line here in Jesus’ version that does not appear in Isaiah 61.

It is the line in which Jesus states that with his coming there is the recovery of sight for the blind. Now that might be a throw back to another text, Isaiah 35, but it is definitely incorporated by Jesus into this text in this setting, and that’s for the specific purpose of throwing his audience off.

By the addition of this text, this line, by speaking of the blessing that is coming to the blind, Jesus means to awake his audience to the true character of the spiritual difficulty, spiritual problem that faces them. Oh yes, he is about the business of healing the literal blind, and undoubtedly he has done that in Capernaum before he has arrived at Nazareth. But it is not just the physical blindness that Jesus has in mind here. And by adding the lines, he’s calling attention to the addition which the messianic kingdom brings, and that’s specifically in relationship to spiritual blindness.

A ministry of near-physical cure. poses its own threat and presents its own stumbling block. As Jesus himself notes in the 23rd verse, you’ll say to me, perform the signs that you performed in Capernaum. Here, do them here. Physical miracle can be turned into spiritual stumbling block. Oh yes, it is a sign. It is an indication that the great day has arrived.

Jesus is about the business of healing those who are literally blind. But that isn’t the end of the matter, and that’s not the most supreme matter. His business is to bring spiritual life and sight, and that is greater, a greater blessing than receiving sight for your natural eyes that are blind. People then can dote upon physical healings as much as they can upon personal enrichment. Jesus’ message here cannot and must not be taken in the direction of the health and wealth gospel.

But Jesus’ interpretation now, in which he presents and even exercises his sovereignty with respect, too, because he is adding a line to the idea in prophecy. Jesus’ interpretation of this text is of a peace. All of the elements must now be viewed in precisely the same way in which we have understood his reference to the blindness. You must go back and deal with the poverty along the same lines. the enslavement and imprisonment along the same lines, the arrival of the favorable year of the Lord along the same lines, the whole issue of liberation along the same lines.

In fact, it is the Spirit’s presence with the Messiah that determines this very matter. It is the Spirit’s presence. that demands that you take the text in this direction. You cannot go in any other direction but in the spiritual direction, and you must capitalize the word spiritual. This is the Spirit’s ministry, to convince you that physical blindness is not the most supreme thing that must be healed and cured, but spiritual blindness must be. and that release from prisons of this world is not the high point of God’s intention for you, but liberation from the prison house of sin and the terrors of death.

It may well be that Jesus’ audience on that Sabbath was even more surprised when they sat down and thought about it, when they thought about what He had done. You see, they read the Isaiahn prophecies in such a way that the coming of the Messiah and His Spirit meant the immediate judgment upon their enemies and the imposition of their rule and authority over all the nations. Jesus, however, in his quotation of Isaiah 61, verses 1 and 2, will stop short of the line in verse 2 that mentions the fact that there is a coming day of judgment, vengeance, and reconciliation. Did you check out Isaiah 61, 1 and 2, when reference was made to it this evening? Did you notice what it says there?

The quotation runs along, to proclaim liberty to the captives, freedom to the prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. There’s no period there. And the day of vengeance of our God. That’s how the sentence progresses. But Jesus stops his quotation of Isaiah 61, 1 and 2, short of that line that speaks about the day of vengeance arising. Now, Jesus does this not because he doesn’t believe in the coming judgment of God, but because he knows, if anyone knows, he knows that in the coming of the Messiah and the coming of the Spirit, there first comes the marvelous blessings of the Spirit before the visitation of final judgment.

There is this window of grace, and this window of grace means opportunity, yes, for Jew, but as Jesus goes on to point out to the audience gathered at Nazareth that day, for Gentile as well. There were many widows in Israel. There were many lepers in Israel. There is a window of grace providing opportunity, yes, for Jew, but marvelously for Gentile also. Now you have to understand that such a message as that did not sound much like good news in the ears of the Jews of Nazareth. And I might add, it still doesn’t to the Jews of this day.

Such an interpretation of Isaiah, in the final analysis, as this group of people walks away from the brow of the hill from which they were going to throw Jesus down, such an interpretation of Isaiah, as offered up now by Jesus himself, is judged to be an insult. And anyone who would prosecute the case for such an interpretation, and do it as rigorously and as directly as Jesus did himself, is obviously guilty of blasphemy and worthy of death.

But Jesus is the Immanuel. of whom Isaiah spoke. He is the servant of the Lord, of whom Isaiah wrote. He has absolute authority, and that in the Spirit, to interpret the prophecies which are about him. And he renders infallible interpretation. we must make sure that we who hear his infallible interpretation follow him. If we will, and if we do, truly the great blessings of which this one Emmanuel, the servant of the Lord, the Messiah, spoke. The great blessings of which he spoke are ours. The greatest blessings.

What? That my physical blindness would be removed? That I would get out of jail. No. That I would have God. Live with Him beginning now and forever. Let’s pray. We thank you, our God, for what has come, yes, the day of the blessed one, the Messiah, but also the day of the Spirit. And with the Spirit’s coming, yes, in and through the Messiah, the proper rendering and interpretation of even the precious promises of the past. the rich and abundant blessings meant for us even now, as we are delivered from blindness of the soul, to see the things of God, and know that even as we have seen them with the spiritual eye, we shall see them also in our resurrected bodies. And we have the word of our Christ and the blessed presence of the Spirit to guarantee this truth to us. May we delight in it with all your church, even to the end of this age and beyond. Amen.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.