Why Jesus Came

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program, we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's book, Powering Up. But first, here's the message, why Jesus came. From Luke's Gospel, chapter four, we're going to be talking about.

The fame of the Lord Jesus. Then the claim of the Lord Jesus and then the aim. of the Lord Jesus. Why He Cave is the title of this message. And what you're about to see and hear is a message from Jesus himself.

in which he delivers His identity and his mission on earth. It's a sermon. That is delivered by Jesus. It is the grace of God. Delivered by the one who brought This great grace.

And so beginning at verse 14, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. And a report about him went out throughout all the surrounding country, and he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. That is the fame of Jesus. More about that. in just a moment.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, note that. He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. And he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.

He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. And here we see his aim, why he came, and his claim. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim good.

The year of the Lord's favor or grace, salvation. And he rolled up the scroll. and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue. We're fixed.

Fasten. on him. Imagine that. Locking eyes with Jesus. Looking at his face.

And experiencing his presence. That was the privilege of these at the synagogue that day. And with every eye fastened on him, he began to say to them, Here's the sermon. Today, Key word. Today.

This scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming. from his mouth. Jesus delivers not Good advice, great advice. But good news.

It is the good news of God's grace, the good news of God's faith. Favor. And he's speaking. to all humanity. Broken and bound by sin.

And he brings hope. to troubled hearts. Isaiah chapter 61 is the text. that Jesus chose to deliver. His message.

And this message. was delivered in the power of the Holy Spirit. We've already learned. that Jesus As man was filled with the Spirit of God, he was anointed and appointed. From his birth Onward.

The Holy Spirit overshadowed the womb of Mary. We speak of the virgin birth. It was, in reality, The virgin conception as the Holy Spirit produced the Christ child, Jesus, within her womb. And so Jesus walked in the Spirit and lived in dependence and obedience to God through the power of the Holy Spirit. And he preached in the power of God's Spirit.

in this anointing. And so Jesus came in the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is the secret, if you will, of his success. This is the magnetism. This is the miracle of his life.

This small town boy out of Nazareth who grows up and now delivers. The good news of salvation so that the whole world could hear. And everybody is loving it so far.

So Jesus returns. As Luke tells us in Luke 4, John The apostle tells us many of the stories that happened, by the way, around Galilee, and so does Mark. Up until this point, but Luke starts under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit right here in the synagogue in Nazareth. You can still go in Israel to a place, probably a second or third century synagogue in Nazareth, and beneath that would have been the place where Jesus opened the scroll and delivered this message.

Now, let me tell you a little bit about synagogues because you need to know something about it in the life and times of Jesus and even synagogues today. But frankly, once the temple was destroyed in the Old Testament period, then the synagogues, as men would gather in the synagogues in small places, small rooms, and typically the same thing happened again and again. There would be the singing of hymns. primarily from the Psalms. There would be the reading of scripture.

And notice here when Jesus gave the scripture, he stood. And this is why in many churches to this day people stand in honor of the reading of God's Word. That's a good habit, that's a good custom. Notice that as he's reading the scripture, after the reading of scripture, From an Old Testament passage, first the law. This happens in every synagogue service, a reading from the first five books.

of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, the Law of Moses, and then from the prophets, primarily the major prophets of Jeremiah and Isaiah and Ezekiel, but from the other prophets as well, and also from the writings, which is the Psalms and Proverbs and so on. But what is clear to me in this passage of Scripture is our Lord was, of course, fully literate and familiar with the Scriptures. After all, he did write them. But now as a man A young man, 30 years of age. He would have grown up in this synagogue.

as a little toddler. As a little boy. Synagogues were places where Boys and girls were taught as well. They were like elementary schools in the community. And it's a precursor, if you will, to educating, religious training, and religious education in the church or in the synagogue.

And so you would have that. It was also a place where Judicial decisions were made among the people. But primarily it was a place of worship. And it was happening like this every Sabbath, which is the seventh day of the week. We worship on this, the Lord's Day, the first day, in view of the empty tomb and the resurrection.

But this is the Sabbath. This is the seventh day. And the people would gather inside these. these buildings, small buildings, and they would sing the Psalms. They would pray prayers, read the scriptures, and someone would deliver a message.

There was no full-time preacher or full-time rabbi in the synagogues, but someone who was capable, someone who was learned, someone who could, was handed a scroll and delivered the scriptures and then delivered an exhortation or gave a sermon or gave a message. Does this sound familiar? Because the ancient Jewish form of worship in the synagogue is very similar to what we do to this very day in the church. And we sing songs. And we offer prayers.

And we read the word. And we preach. The Bible. We give a message.

Now Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets.

So, when Jesus is reading the word of God from Isaiah 61 and then bringing a message. He is clearly linked to the Old Testament. Jesus loved the Bible. He quotes from it and alludes to it and affirms it again and again. From the books of the law, most of the, he quoted or alluded to all of the books of the law in his messages or in his conversations.

He referred to most of the prophets and some of the writings. One of his personal favorites was Deuteronomy, which he quoted 15 or 16 times. Isaiah, which he quoted over 40 times, the Psalms, which he quoted 13 times. He also referenced Daniel and Zechariah. Jesus references and quotes all five books of Moses, which means That Jesus believed Genesis chapter 1:1.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Yes, Jesus talked about the flood, he read about it in the first five books of the Bible. Jesus knew about the Exodus and the power of the miracles. Yes, Jesus grew up learning and listening to these stories. Can you imagine little Jesus as a boy?

Growing up, hearing and listening, and it says that he went to the synagogue as was his custom. I love that. If you want to follow in the steps of Jesus, and I believe you do if you know him and you are trusting him as your Savior and Lord, you will follow his steps into the place of worship customarily because you know it's the right thing to do. You show up and you set an example to others. Bring your children with you.

Let your children grow up. They may not understand it all, they don't get it all, but bring them into the place of worship. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message. Why Jesus Came Are you feeling tired? frustrated and spiritually dry?

Maybe you're wondering if there's more to your walk with Jesus than just trying harder. there is. That's the encouraging truth Pastor Jack Graham shares in his book, Powering Up. Powering up will show you how to walk in boldness, joy, and supernatural strength. as you live fully connected to God's power through the Holy Spirit.

This resource is our thanks for your gift of $10 or more to help PowerPoint share the gospel around the world.

So text now to request your copy. Text the word POWER to 59789. That's POWER to 59789. We are excited to share that we have a new way to connect. We've just launched a brand new texting service designed to keep you connected with everything happening here at PowerPoint.

You'll be the first to know about upcoming events, special announcements, and truly enriching content. To join, start a new text conversation by texting CONNECT to 59789. Again, text CONNECT to 59789.

Now, let's get back to today's message, Why Jesus Came. This is Jesus' fame now that we're talking about. Jesus Well known. He certainly was well known. Among the people of Nazareth, they'd known him since he was a child.

He'd seen these men in the synagogue. For many years. But now he comes back. After this evangelism tour, this Bible teaching tour, And everybody knows him. And so the man, the attendant, the head of the synagogue that day, hands Jesus the scroll.

and it was the scroll of Isaiah. He was going to be reading the Old Testament portion of the synagogue service. And so Jesus opened it up to this passage. Isaiah chapter 61, and that is what he reads. And in this, he turns from his fame to his claim.

Look again at the passage. Jesus says, and I've stopped and emphasized it in verse 20. Or verse 21, today Today This scripture is fulfilled In your hearing. And what was fulfilled? This is a messianic prophecy.

This is a description of the Messiah. who would come and deliver his people. The bound, the broken. The blind, the bruised.

Now the people Probably in the synagogue that day and certainly across Galilee and across Israel, they were expecting a political revolution. But Jesus did not come with a political revolution, he came with a spiritual revolution. And he's now claiming. Today You're seeing this fulfill. He is saying, I'm the one Isaiah is talking about.

And so then Jesus gives his aim. We've talked about his fame. His claim This messianic claim. And he would claim many times. His equality with God the Father.

and his mission on earth as Messiah. Jesus said, Here's my aim: the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Because he's anointed me to proclaim good news. Again, not good advice. Good news.

not religious advice, good news to the poor. To the liberty to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind. This is all. In verse 18, again, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, this sheer grace. Jesus is inviting and inclusive.

Jesus came. for four kinds of people. And you will find yourself in this passage. Because he came first For the bankrupt, for the poor. And the word that he uses for the poor is a word which means beggar.

Abjectly Impoverished. He's really referencing a street person. Not the working poor. Jesus would have been among the working poor. But The poorest of the poor.

Those who had absolutely nothing. I've come for The poor who are so desperate, they have nothing. He's not just talking about material poverty, but spiritual poverty. And every one of us Every single one of us are spiritually bankrupt without God by our first birth. We have nothing to bring to God.

We cannot earn or buy our salvation. We have nothing to bring to Him. Why? We are. Poor, we are left by the side of the road.

Jesus said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall seek God.

So when we humble ourselves, And in myth. Our emptiness and nothingness, that's when we become a candidate for this good news of Jesus Christ.

So many people think that they're too good or they have too much. It's why rich people, it's hard to reach sometimes rich people and wealthy people with the gospel because they love their riches and they love their wealth. You have to come to the place where you lay your pride in the ground and say, I have nothing and I need Jesus with all my heart. But not only did he come for the bankrupt, but he came for the bound. He talked about those he sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives.

Captives here reference War criminals. Or People living in slavery. Captives here who are thrown in jail because they cannot pay their debts. It's a word here. which literally means forgiveness, liberty here.

is all about forgiveness. that God forgives The deaf. The wages of sin. The consequences of sin. This debt is death.

But Jesus came. To go to the cross. To do what we could never do for ourselves, which was to die on the cross for our sins, to rise again. This is the gospel, and therefore to set us free. He breaks the power of canceled sin.

He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean. His blood avails for me. This is why Jesus came. He also came not only for Those who are bound.

And those who are Beggars are bankrupt. But he came. For The blind. And again, Jesus is speaking of those. Who are blind, blinded by Satan, blinded.

in living in darkness. This is the world. This is you and me without the light of Christ. There's liberty in Jesus. There's life in Jesus.

There's light in him. We see this light. And now Life makes sense. When Jesus opens your eyes, then life begins to make sense. When Jesus opens your eyes, you're no longer groping in darkness.

and headed for the darkness of judgment and hell. But now the light and the love of Jesus fills your life. And then he comes for the broken. This is Isaiah. to the bankrupt.

To the bound. To the blind. And to the broken, look at it, and recovering sight of the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed. That is, those who are beaten down by life. Life can be hard, and life can beat you up.

And many are oppressed and distressed and depressed in these days. Jesus said, I came for you. I came for you. Satan will beat you up. Take you out.

And many people are oppressed. You could use the word abused here. Many of you have been broken by abuse of various kinds in your life. And you don't know how to be set free from that. You can't get over it.

You can't get through it, it seems. Many are addicted to alcohol. And you're wondering, can this chain ever be broken? I've tried so many times to quit. But I just can't seem to stop these habits.

That are beating me up and breaking me down. Jesus said, I'll set the captives free. And this good news. is the news we must tell to the world. Because His aim is our aim.

Let me remind you. that these are the people who were excluded. In many ways, from common culture and society, and often from the synagogue, from the religious experience. And they were cut off, but Jesus said, I've come for these. The problem with people who are religious is they often don't think they're blind, they don't think they're bruised, they don't think they're battered, they don't think they're broken.

They don't think they're bankrupt. They look in the mirror and say, I'm enough. I can do it. No, you can't. You cannot save yourself.

You cannot pull yourself up with your own bootstraps. You are not enough. For God. But he is enough for you. Everybody needs Jesus.

And this is the story that we tell again and again. Here's the sad. ending to this story, however. When Jesus said these things, they first loved it, they liked it. They liked his words, but then when he began to talk to them, about their own need.

for salvation and he Gave two Old Testament references. He talked about. Assyrian leper by the name of Naaman, a captain in the army, and he also talked about a widow. A Gentile widow.

So he's now talking about Gentiles coming in to the family.

Now he's talking about a Syrian coming in to the family, and it enraged many of these people in the synagogue. And When they begin to think about it, who does he think he is claiming that he's the Messiah? And a mob gathered and they began to push him out of the synagogue and down the streets and out to the edge of a cliff. You can go to a traditional place this day, the edge of the cliff, where they would have taken Jesus to shove him over the cliffs and end his life. You see, that's what mobs do: they want to cancel you.

They were ready to push him over, and we're not told how. This happened. But something supernatural happened in my view. Because in the midst of this angry mob, The scripture says he walked out through the midst of them. I think about that a lot.

Actually. Just the power of his person. The power of his presence. The Messiah, majestic and regal, because it was not his time. There would be a time when he yielded and gave himself on the cross and gave in to the mob, as it were.

But not now. He said, my time has not yet come. My mission is not yet finished. And so he just walked right out through the middle of them. But what happened to those people?

They invited Jesus out. They rejected Jesus. And He walked away. And the same thing can happen to you. He came into his own, and his own received him not.

But to as many as received him, to them gave he the power to be called the children of God, even to them who believe in his name. John 1:12. If you accept Jesus, you become a child of God. But if you reject Him, He walks away. and you may never get another opportunity.

like the one that is Today. You are listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message why Jesus Came. Through the Holy Spirit, God empowers you to love when it's hard. Forgive when it hurts and persevere when you're worn out. He equips you to live with joy, peace, and boldness no matter what circumstances you face.

In his insightful book Powering Up, Peter Pastor Jack Graham shares how you can live the life God intends for you. We want to send you a copy of Powering Up as a thanks for your gift of $10 or more. To request your copy of Powering Up, just text Power to 59789. We are incredibly excited to share that we have a new way to connect with PowerPoint. We've just launched a brand new texting service designed to keep you connected with everything happening here.

Imagine getting all the latest news, inspiring devotionals, and helpful reminders for the Bible in a Year podcast, all delivered right to your phone. You'll be the first to know about upcoming events, special announcements, and truly enriching content. To join, start a new text conversation by texting Connect to 59-789. You'll receive a reply back and that will add you to our text group. Just text Connect to 59789.

Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today?

Well, let me say first of all that as I look around today, our church, our community, and as I visit and preach literally across the country and around the world, I've never seen so many broken people, so many people that are hurting, whether it is broken relationships or broken health or broken financial condition, and there's many kinds of brokenness in life. The struggle that so many people have emotionally, just so much brokenness, so much pain. And There are many self-help answers, and most of them don't work. The fact is that we desperately need the message of Jesus Christ. We need God to heal the inner brokenness of our lives.

We need the power of Jesus to restore our lives and To help us to live again. Every person experienced broken times in their lives.

So don't feel like you're the only one. As a Christian, you may think you have to bow up and act like you're not broken, but the fact is, we all are broken at some level of our lives, and we all need the power of Jesus Christ to put all the pieces of our lives back together again. And really think about this because. Jesus can heal. Jesus can bring you restoration in your life from your broken marriage, from your broken relationship, from your broken body, from your broken soul.

And there you can discover in the power of Christ a peace that passes all understanding. I don't care what you're going through. I don't care what the circumstances of your life, he will give you peace. This is good news for broken people, good news for a broken person. person like you.

So run to Jesus. Get on your knees right now. Find in him the strength to carry on, to persevere, and to endure. And let God heal you step by step every single day of your life. And you will discover that the brokenness can become wholeness again.

And that you will be stronger at the broken places. I know when I was a little boy, I broke my arm. In fact, I broke it twice. I was told later that when a bone actually healed having been fractured, that it is stronger at the broken place than any other place. You can be strong at the broken places of your life.

Jesus will give you the strength to carry on and to work through and to find in him hope. That's good news for a broken world. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift of $10 or more to PowerPoint? We'll send you Dr.

Graham's book, Powering Up as Our Thanks. Just text the word Power to 59-789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about why Jesus called us to be more than secret admirers. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham.

PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.