Sermon Archives
Ministry of the Kingdom
Luke 4:16-30The Gospel of Luke Part II - The Ministry of Jesus
J. Josh Smith
May 10, 2015
Description:
Luke 4:16-30 contains Jesus’ ministry manifesto and therefore gives Jesus’ people their ministry manifesto. What did Jesus’ ministry consist of? He came to DECLARE and DISPLAY the kingdom of God to the oppressed. While we still await the coming of God’s kingdom in its fullness, the Gospel we proclaim is that His kingdom has already come today. While we await the completion of our freedom and deliverance from this sin-stained world, we receive a foretaste of the kingdom of God even today. We are kingdom people and so we must do kingdom work. Kingdom work consists of two parts.
First, kingdom people declare the kingdom. Luke 4:18-19 tells us three times that Jesus came to “proclaim” good news. Jesus was primarily a proclaimer of the Gospel. Proclaiming the kingdom has two parts: announcement and invitation. You must announce to people that God’s king has come and offers freedom, restoration, and deliverance to all who entrust their lives to Him. However, you must also invite them to receive the kingdom of God. You have not proclaimed the Gospel until you call people to respond to the Gospel. Let’s be clear: You will never lead anybody to Christ unless the Gospel is actually proclaimed. This is the primary thing Jesus did. What is the primary thing you do?
Second, kingdom people display the kingdom. Luke 4:18-19 tells us that Jesus not only proclaimed good news, He actually was sent to “set at liberty those who are oppressed.” Jesus was sent to the poor, captive, blind, and oppressed. This passage refers both to the spiritually and physically oppressed. We know Jesus was sent to redeem the spiritually oppressed but we cannot deny that He ministered to the physical needs of the physically oppressed. Physical oppression is the context of Isaiah 61 where Jesus is quoting from in Luke 4. In His ministry and the disciples’ ministry, they not only proclaimed the kingdom, they physically healed, delivered, and ministered to the social outcasts. This includes those who are poor, sick, widowed, fatherless, and needy. All those whom society pushes away were the primary people Jesus pursued. When Jesus ministers to the needy, He is displaying the kingdom by giving them a foretaste of what the kingdom will be in its fullness when there is no more sickness, poverty, or oppression of any kind.
Are you doing kingdom work or are you just working? Don’t mistake busyness with faithfulness. We must make sure we are engaged in kingdom work. We must proclaim the kingdom by actively sharing the Gospel with those who are captive to the kingdom of darkness. We must also display the kingdom by ministering to those who are socially outcast. The good news of the kingdom is not merely a social Gospel, but neither is it a Gospel that ignores the social needs of people whom God loves. Jesus came to open the doors that religious institutions so commonly shut. We must steward all our blessings to be a blessing to others. Are you using everything you have to minister to the type of people to whom Jesus ministered? Are you doing kingdom ministry?
Keywords:
Discipleship, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Kingdom