The Ministry of Jesus

Speaker: Paul Stoaks

Date: August 17, 2025

The Ministry of Jesus Luke 4:18-21 (NKJV) “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.” This is Jesus’ manifesto for His ministry, quoted from the beginning of Isaiah 61. He finishes in vs. 21 with the statement “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus and His ministry are the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus is saying, “Watch me, and you’ll see that I do these things.” When John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask him whether He was the promised one, the Messiah, Jesus said: (Luke 7:18-23, vs. 22 & 23) “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Jesus did what He said He would do, and He’s still doing it today through His Church. He has passed His ministry on to us. Let’s take a closer look at Jesus’ ministry. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me Pastor Steve talked about the role that the Holy Spirit has in equipping us for ministry last week. Jesus, while He was on earth, was also equipped by the Holy Spirit. When He was preparing to leave and return to heaven, He told His disciples that they would also be equipped by the Holy Spirit: Acts 1:8 (NKJV) Page 1 of 5 The Ministry of Jesus August 17, 2025 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The Book of Acts is filled with the work that the apostles and the early Church did as they carried on Jesus’ ministry, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Today, the Holy Spirit is still working through people to accomplish this ministry. To preach the gospel to the poor We’re all familiar with the beatitude in Matt. 5:3 (NKJV): “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Poor people are hungry Matt. 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.” The world ignores or drives away the poor, both monetary poverty and spiritual poverty. Jesus loved the poor. He didn’t ignore them, He met them where they were. He pursued them. The story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 is a great example of this. Zacchaeus had money, but He was spiritually hungry and Jesus saw this. We, too, should be attuned to the needs of those around us. Often, meeting physical needs opens doors for the good news of the salvation Jesus offers. To heal the brokenhearted We see many examples in Jesus’ life and the early Church of ministering to the brokenhearted. Jesus took time out to minister to those who were hurting. When I was thinking about this, I remembered that Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the Comforter. You can find this in John 14:16, 14:26, 15:26, and John 16:7. (This word is also translated Advocate and Helper.) Examples of Jesus’ ministering to the brokenhearted include the healing of Jairus daughter, (Mark 5), raising Lazarus from the dead (John 10), and raising the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7). John 11:33, 35 (NKJV) Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. Jesus wept. Jesus was compassionate and sympathetic. He didn’t avoid people’s pain, but reached out to them. The Holy Spirit knows what people need and will lead us, often without us even knowing. Page 2 of 5 The Ministry of Jesus August 17, 2025 We don’t need to worry about what we should say. Often, just being near is enough. And who knows, you may see a miracle! To proclaim liberty to the captives The words used in this phrase indicate the release of spiritual captives, those who are bound up in sin. Jesus said in John 8:34 that whoever commits sin is a slave to sin. He came to set the captives free. I think one of the most striking examples of this is the deliverance of the demon-possessed man in Mark 5. In vs. 18, it says: Mark 5 (NKJV) vs. 18: And when He (Jesus) got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” Folks all around us are in bondage to sin and all kinds of addictions. Many people feel trapped by their habits and addictions and don’t know how to get free. Jesus is the answer! Recovery of sight to the blind The Gospel of John records (chapter 9) that Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth. When the religious authorities implied that Jesus was evil and asked the man what he had to say about Jesus, he said this (vs. 30): The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing. His miraculous healing was evidence enough to this man that Jesus was from God. Jesus healed people of every kind of disease and raised the dead. Physical healing is still part of Jesus' ministry today. Set at liberty those who are oppressed The word translated “oppressed” here means that, and also “crushed”. Do you know people who are crushed? Crushed by job stress, debt and financial stress, depression, or maybe a toxic relationship? During Jesus’ day, people were crushed by these things, but also by their governments. Jesus came to set at liberty, not just relieve, those who are oppressed and crushed. Page 3 of 5 The Ministry of Jesus August 17, 2025 One of Jesus’ old testament names is “Emanuel”, which means God is with us! Romans 8:31-39 says: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord What does the “acceptable year of the Lord” mean? Many biblical scholars believe it may refer to the Year of Jubilee, established in Leviticus 25. God commanded that the land have a Sabbath every seven years, and that on the 50th year, after seven land sabbaths, there would be a special year which was called the Year of Jubilee. In this year, all debts were forgiven and all Jewish slaves or indentured servants in the land of Israel would go free. Land that had been sold was returned to the family that it had originally been allotted to. Leviticus 25:8-10 (NKJV) ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. Can you imagine what a blessing this was? Families who had suffered terrible financial setbacks and were forced to sell their land and work as indentured servants would be set free and be able to return to their land. I can just imagine the joy. Page 4 of 5 The Ministry of Jesus August 17, 2025 Jesus inaugurated this Jubilee for us when He died on the Cross in our place and was raised again from the dead. When we turn from our own ways to Him and accept His sacrifice for us, personally, we experience a spiritual Jubilee. Our spiritual debts are forgiven, we are set free from slavery to sin, and we are returned to our Father’s house. And one day, each and every member of this family will enter eternity with our God. Application There are two applications that I want us to make sure we take away today: 1) Are there places where we need the ministry of Jesus in our lives today? a) Do we feel poor and marginalized? Jesus is reaching out to us, He is not offended by our need, He loves us and wants to meet our need. b) Are we brokenhearted and grieving? Jesus cares and will minister to our broken hearts if we will reach out to Him. He has sent His Holy Spirit as our comforter to be with us all the time, in our darkest hours. c) Do we feel bound up in chains of sin and addiction? Jesus can set us free, if we will only turn to Him, let go of the bind us and cling to Him. d) Do we need physical healing? Jesus cares about our bodies, they are His instruments for good in the world. e) Do we feel oppressed or crushed? Jesus wants to give us liberty from that. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30) 2) Jesus’ ministry is our ministry. We have the privilege to extend the good news of freedom to the people around us. All of these facets of Jesus’ ministry are just as relevant and needed today as they were then. So, what do we need to do? If we need the ministry, let’s get it. We’re here for each other. Free, whole people make the most credible advocates for freedom. And then let’s be there for the people around us who are poor, brokenhearted, captive, and need healing. Ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the need around us. Page 5 of 5 The Ministry of Jesus August 17, 2025