Jesus Begins His Ministry

Well, it is wonderful to come together and be edified, and be refreshed by God's work. So, I'm ready. If you're ready, let's get right to it. The title of our study today is, The Ministry of Jesus Begins. The ministry of Jesus begins. I invite you to open your Bibles once again, and let's turn together to Luke 4. We're going to begin reading verses 14 through 22. Luke 4, verses 14 through 22, as we continue in our study series in the Gospel of Luke, we now come the wilderness temptation from Satan failed. Jesus now is going to begin His public ministry. And in doing so, here's the passage that we're about to come to. What we're going to find is that Jesus now reaches back to a prophet of old. He brings His words, His prophecy, to bear upon His ministry. Now, at this synagogue on the Sabbath day. This is a monumental moment, incredible moment here. Jesus' ministry begins. So, Luke 4, beginning in verse 14. Let's read these words. Then Jesus returned, so that's from the wilderness, in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. And news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. So, He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. So, this was His hometown. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written. Here's Isaiah's prophecy regarding the coming Messiah, verse 18. 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, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Verse 20. Then Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And all the eyes of all who were there at the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, Is this not Joseph's son? Stop there. So they were astonished to hear these words from Joseph's son, of course, Jesus Christ. And there would have certainly been a buzz around Nazareth at this time. As Luke records news of Him, Jesus went all throughout the surrounding region. And we know this buzz began with John the Baptist preaching, you remember, preaching of a coming Messiah, a Savior. So great anticipation of this.

And Luke even says they were waiting so expectantly, some even thought or were wondering if John the Baptist was the Christ. But again, this sense of expectation did pervade the local region. Anticipation would have been in the minds of those worshiping now in the synagogue here on this particular Sabbath, particularly now that Jesus rose, opened the Book of Isaiah to this prophecy, and we won't turn there, but the words contained in verses 18 and 19 here, this prophecy is found in Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61 for your notes. This is the prophecy in which Jesus is reading here. And we see that this past prophecy given by Isaiah does speak of one coming who would bring life, who would bring renewal physically and spiritually.

You know, if I was filming this moment in a synagogue, I think it would be a pretty interesting scene to kind of bring the camera lens in to different aspects of this scene as it's described by Luke, that the verbs here are so pronounced. I love this. Verse 16, Luke records that he stood up to read, and then the book of the prophet of Isaiah was handed to him. He opens the book. He finds the place of this particular prophecy. He read. And then verse 20 closes the book, gives it back to the attendant, and sits down. You know, this is, Dr. Luke gives us this clinical detail here, you know. And it is by the time that he sat down, no surprise, verse 20, that all the eyes of everyone on the synagogue were fixed square upon him. And there's little doubt that Christ Jesus would have spoke more words than what's reported here. Luke could have possibly recorded more from this moment.

But Jesus's one phrase here is quite enough to capture this moment, incredible claim of Jesus Christ. So while they were anticipating this moment, I don't think any of the listeners would have been prepared for this dramatic opening sentence. It's there in verse 21. Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. What scripture? This prophecy, Isaiah's prophecy. And he goes to them, verse 18 and 19. And so this, what he's saying, is a it is a clear, direct, breathtaking announcement that he, Jesus Christ, is in fact the coming Messiah that the prophet Isaiah spoke of, the Savior of the world. Here Jesus applies Isaiah 61 to his ministry. The Spirit is upon him, he's saying. God has adored me, he says. All that was prophesied from old, yes, the one that stands before you, Jesus, son of Joseph, declares him to be the fulfillment of all the hopes of all the centuries. The fulfillment of all the prophets' words throughout the corridors of time.

And Luke says that the initial response actually was favorable. There in verse 22, all who bore witness to him marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. Luke records there, gracious. Even an equal translation would have been beautiful. So those there hearing this in the synagogue received these words as gracious words, as beautiful words, as words of life, as good news. This was tremendous good news, particularly for, you'll notice, the poor, the brokenhearted, the captive, the blind, the oppressed.

Now, there certainly could be discussions around these two verses, verses 18 and 19, that could speak to the physical and social aspects of why Jesus was sent. You know, some have taken this section, particularly these two verses, and they've created a social dimension, ministry, you know, patterned after these things here. Others have taken these words to create a physical emphasis in ministries, patterned after these things.

It's proper and good, but while the physical and social aspects of Jesus's words here, while they're not to be neglected by any means, it is in fact the spiritual application of His mission, which is at the forefront of this declaration. So while there are many aspects, many dimensions of Jesus's ministry that are so gracious in the social realm of living this life, of the physical realm of living this life, so gracious, the good news, the very good news, is ultimately in the spiritual fulfillment of this prophecy. For example, for example, the fulfillment here in the middle of verse 18, you'll notice, to preach the gospel to the poor, okay, so Jesus came to fulfill the preaching of the gospel to the poor. There is absolutely a physical dimension to this. Did He preach to the poor? Does the physical, physically poor by means, poor by inner means? Yes. Did He come to those who were poor? Yes. What did He discover? Well, wonderfully, He discovered that there was a far more significant spiritual response amongst the physically poor, a far more spiritual response amongst the poor than among those who were rich, so much so that in His ministry later on, He actually makes the point that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. So it is that physical riches might actually prove to be a barrier in the lives of God with their Father.

I believe that's because it's the notion that if you are physically rich, you feel like it is by your own means that you can go places, by your own means you can access where you need to go. But when it comes to the entry into the kingdom of God, those will discover that the currency of earthly riches will not open the doors to the kingdom of heaven. So with that, the preaching of Jesus here, it is actually bad news for the rich young ruler who doesn't see himself as poor, you see, refuses to sell all for the kingdom of God. Bad news for him. Conversely, good news for the cheating tax collector, the cheating tax collector who's touched and changed by Jesus as he comes to that individual, recognizes themselves as poor, and with that, changes their ways, makes restitution in several moments in the Bible to those that they stole from. Jesus preaches the gospel to the poor. His fulfillment here of Isaiah's prophecy is then actually bad news for the smug, self-righteous individual who gathers their robe around themselves, goes to the corner and prays, thanking God that he's not like these other smugs, you know, around the corner.

Bad news for him. You see, he's not poor. No, he's not poor. Tremendously good news for the lady who has five husbands and a living lover at the well in the middle of the day. Perhaps she went at that time so she could avoid the condemning stares of others. The good news is that Jesus Christ came to her in her poor condition to give her the opportunity, the strength to turn, be forgiven, and ultimately receive the riches of his grace so that the poor may become rich beyond the physical and beyond belief. Rich beyond belief.

The question is, with this first fulfillment, do you consider yourself poor?

You know, it may be perhaps some of us remain unconverted despite listening to Christ's words, Sabbath and Sabbath out. It may be because we are not prepared to say that I am poor. Jesus comes to preach the gospel to the poor. This is good news for the poor, and ultimately it's good news to those who are poor in spirit. Those who are poor in spirit, that's to whom Jesus comes. Those who recognize their spiritual poverty.

This is the spiritual aspect. What we really want to focus in on today, the spiritual fulfillment of these things. What does it mean to recognize your spiritually poor? It means to recognize that you see yourself as you are. You see yourself by your fallen nature. You're lost, hopeless, helpless, and you can't believe that God could love you in your sinful state and could love you so much that He sent His Son in this way.

See, the poor in spirit are those who recognize this.

Blessed is the poor in spirit because theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. It's exactly who Jesus was sent to preach to. Has He been sent to preach to you?

Next, the middle of verse 18 here, He has been sent to heal the broken heart. So He's been sent...this is the second fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. He's been sent to heal the broken heart.

So Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in and through Jesus Christ in this way, and certainly those poor in spirit will also know themselves to be broken-hearted.

We want to continue to think about these things in spiritual terms. This is not ultimately addressing the sorrow that comes from the various physical and social dimensions in life, the loss of the pain physically, socially, emotionally. This isn't ultimately dealing with emotional breed right here, or the physical nature of being broken-hearted. It certainly could, it does. Physical healings were a major part of Christ's ministry. No doubt, He healed so many who were broken physically, emotionally, opened the door for their healing in that way.

But what this is ultimately speaking about here is the nature of being broken-hearted in spirit. Spirit. Broken-hearted in spirit. And ultimately, Jesus Christ came to heal the broken-hearted who mourn over their sins. They mourn over their spiritual failings in this way. They've alienated themselves from God through their fleshly desires and their broken-hearted.

But what's the good news? Christ came to heal the broken-hearted. And so we need this kind of continual healing from Christ. The disciples' life is marked by being poor in spirit. It is marked, then, by a continual broken-heartedness in the act of repentance. Because of that, we recognize in so many ways that we've been given this wonderful gift of a son who came to us.

And we are broken-hearted, that we're not honoring his name in many ways. But it's not helpless. It's not despairing. Because why? Healing comes to the broken-hearted. And it is a godly sorrow, a godly brokenness, that leads us to the one that can heal us. So this is good news. So if you're broken in spirit, broken-hearted, over the wretchedness of your heart, you're chasing after sinful desires, the good news is that he came to heal the broken-hearted.

And it's the best news. And so when they say these are gracious words, and they just really receive these gracious words, these beautiful words, this is it. God wants to heal you. He wants to lift you up so high. Gracious words here. If you're feeling broken-hearted with your spiritual condition, take encouragement. Because this is to whom Christ was sent, those who are poor in spirit. They see this, and so they're broken-hearted. And here he is. He's been sent to you, to heal you. That's his purpose. So start there. When you bow your head, start there.

Father, I'm so thankful that you want to heal me. I want to be healed. So let's meditate. Let me work through these things. Beautiful words. Gracious words. He also came, staying here in verse 18, to proclaim liberty to the captives. That's good news. Proclaim liberty, freedom to the captives. Good news for those who are in prison. Again, whatever physical or social dimension, active ministry might be evoked here.

That would be good to create that. But throughout the whole gospel, we know, and I'll remind you today, that Christ is ultimately speaking about slavery. And that's a slavery that comes as a result of being a slave to sin. Bondage to sin. Captive to sin. And if you keep your marker here, I want to turn to a moment in scripture that really just pums in on this particular aspect of slavery and freedom for the captive.

You won't be surprised that we want to turn to Romans 6, verses 16 through 19. So we'll come back to Luke in just a moment. Let's turn to Romans 6, verses 16 through 19. Here we're going to see quite clearly from the Apostle Paul just what is the good news to the captive. And anyone who is a slave to sin, I don't know if you feel that way sometimes, it is in Christ that liberty, freedom, comes to the captive of sin. Look at this. Romans 6, verses 16 through 19. Paul writes, Do you not know that whom you present yourselves slaves to obey? You are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or obedience leading to righteousness.

I love verse 17. But God be thanked that though you were slaves, captives of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, there it is, liberty, you became slaves of righteousness.

I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for just as you presented your members as slaves, captive of uncleanness and of lawlessness, leading to lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

So the good news for men and women here is that if you are trapped, if you are captive in habitual, sinful behavior, the captive can be released. What currently are you feeling captive of? What slavery has, sinful act has a grip of you. Lust, the grip of bitterness, captive to jealousy, captive to a lying mouth, trapped, enslaved, captive. And you said to yourself, I don't know if I could ever break this bondage. Well, here it is, right at the beginning of Jesus Christ's ministry, he comes and he proclaims liberty to the captives, freedom for those who were imprisoned by sin. Over the years I've heard those that go through this process of recognizing this, accepting this reality. Sometimes you have to believe it, you know, first. And those who have had success over addictive, sinful behavior, and they have had success, and they've stopped. And you ask, how did you stop? This has happened a couple of times. And they just said, I stopped. But you couldn't stop. I don't. How did you stop? I just stopped. And what they went on to say is they believed this proclamation that Christ came to bring freedom to the prisoners of sin. You know, there are some habitual sins that just are a part of your factor, if you're like me. You know, they've been a part of you for so long. It even seems generational sometimes, you know, just been carrying on. And there's just no way out. There's no way out. Well, this is what I want to proclaim to you today. He gives liberty to the captives. If you have that kind of captivity in your life, just sometimes you want to pray for God's supernatural power to release it from you. If it's an addiction, whatever it may be, just ask Him to be merciful and release you from it.

Maybe that's the only thing that you haven't done yet, is to believe this. You know, God wants to give His children what we desire for our good. And being captive is not for good. So remind the Father, respectfully, lovingly, this is why you sent your Son.

Help Him in this way. I want to be free. That's good news.

Back to Luke 4, verse 18. You know the next gracious words here being fulfilled here at the very beginning of Christ's ministry. That's a very familiar scene here.

Going back to verse 18, we see He also came to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind. Covering of sight to the blind. Now, we know, of course, He, time and time again, literally healed the blind in so many ways, physical blindness. But I'll have you know that physical blindness symbolized far greater blindness to come, and that's spiritual blindness.

Ultimately, this prophecy is being concerned with spiritual nature of these things, and it's being concerned with spiritual blindness here. Far greater blindness.

So when you think about sight and blindness and the notion of this, the spiritual sight and blindness, there's really one part of Scripture which is really profound.

I hope we're not so familiar with it that it loses its awesomeness here. I want to turn there.

You might be thinking of this moment in Scripture when you think of this notion of spiritual blindness and sight. It's found in Matthew 13 verses 10 through 13. If you'll keep your marker to Luke, and in turn to Matthew 13 verses 10 through 13. Let me set the scene first before we get into this. This was an incredible moment, a moment in which Jesus Christ pushed down into a boat. This was a technique so he could speak to the masses who had gathered. He had already chosen his disciples. They had forsaken so much to follow Jesus Christ in a very dramatic way. A few of the recordings talk about that four of the disciples actually just dropped their fishing nets when Christ opened their eyes and proclaimed to them the mysteries of the kingdom of God. He just dropped them and followed him. Dramatic. So they're here, eyes opened, and they watched with great excitement at this moment when he pushed off the shore.

Now was the time, surely now was the time, that he would begin to open the eyes of all those who had gathered there, just like he opened their eyes. The time had come to make clear the mysteries of the coming kingdom of God. This was the time in which surely all would be able to see the truth and he would proclaim. But just the opposite occurred here because Jesus Christ now began to speak in parables. A parable is a form of speaking and writing that is intentionally cloaked in many ways. Cloaking the direct message. It's not a very direct message. Look at this.

So the disciples were blown away by this. Matthew 13, verse 10 through 13.

And the disciples came to and said to him, to Jesus, Why do you speak to them in parables? And he answered and said to them, Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

But to them it has not been given. For whoever has to him more will be given, and he who will have abundance, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

Verse 13. Therefore I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see and hear, and they do not hear, nor do they understand. Absolutely profound. We have this notion of spiritual sight and blindness presented by Jesus Christ.

This is a notion that many would consider outside the Church of God. They wouldn't believe it. They'd be shocked by this. That it is in fact Christ, it wasn't his intent to present the mysteries of the kingdom of God at this time clearly to all the people there. It wasn't his intent to present the mysteries of the kingdom of God clearly to all there. And it's not his intent even today to present the mysteries of the kingdom of God to open eyes, to heal eyes.

Of all, and rather the message is meant to be understood by only some now.

Only some will have their spiritual blindness healed, to have spiritual sight, to have spiritual insight to the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Look at Jesus's words to that very thing.

Look at verse 14 and 15 here. So, Matthew 13 verse 14 and 15. You'll notice Jesus now is going to reach back again to the prophet Isaiah, bring a prophecy forward, and apply it to his ministry today. Look at this. Verse 14. Jesus says, and in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled which says, Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive. For the hearts of the people have grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts in turn, so that I should heal them. Stop there. So, once again, Jesus reaches back, takes a prophet Isaiah's words, his prophecy that, incidentally, for your notes, this is from Isaiah 6. Isaiah 6 brings it forward, applies it to his ministry in order to show at this time there will be many who will remain blind to the mysteries and the truths that he came to proclaim.

And it is that, for the most part, many have chosen to allow their hearts to grow dull, they cannot see, they cannot hear or know God truly. And this makes sense because even Jesus, himself, the Son of God, in the flesh, comes and in his three and a half year ministry, could not reach many people.

So, God deliberately cloaks the message in parables until the time is ready for the veil to be lifted from the majority of mankind.

God is not healing all eyes today.

Of course, it rewards our study to go into the first resurrection.

No more. Of course, you can go to our help page on ucg.org. You can read about the first resurrection. We talk about this at Pentecost, the first harvest, that God's harvesting the first fruit, Christ the first fruit, then the other first fruits at his return. It's the first harvest. God's will is that none should perish. God's will is that none should perish. So, there's a second harvest coming. After the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ, we read the revelation of a second resurrection and a great white throne. It's an awesome study.

Their healing, as Isaiah prophesies, will come. It's going to come at the second resurrection where they will be able to see, accept God's calling.

But is that you? Is that you?

I want you to notice what Jesus says next. I want you to apply this to your life today.

I want you to apply these next words to you today and just receive them and believe it. Look at this, verse 16 and 17. For Christ turns to His disciples those to whom God had given him. Verse 16.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, in your ears for they hear.

For surely I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desire to see what you see and did not see it and hear what you hear and did not hear it.

Stop there. So those to whom the Father had given the Son were those to whom their eyesight was healed, their eyes were healed, spiritually healed, so they could see Jesus Christ, believe in Him, see the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Their opportunity was now. And many righteous men, prophets, desired to see what they now saw. And so if you sit here with healed eyes how blessed you are, I just want you to know how blessed you are because many righteous men and prophets desired to see what you see.

Incredible. So the issue has to do with spiritual blindness and gaining spiritual sight.

He was sent to provide sight to the blind. There could be even a recovery aspect to this.

In the ebb and flow of your life, if you are not feeling close to God, ask for recovery of sight. You know, go to the Father, evoke this imagery, and say, you know, I know Christ came to give me recovery. Now, I know my eyes are opened, but I'm just feeling distant from you. I feel captive in any ways. Open up my eyes, give me recovery of sight, better vision, so I can fresh grasp on to this prophecy that Jesus Christ fulfilled. We'll turn you back to Luke 4.

I'm going to move to the last fulfillment here before Jesus Christ closed the book.

It's found in Luke 4. We're going to read the end of verse 18 and on into verse 19.

This is a good one. This is a good one. He came also, at the end of verse 18, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to be set in order to be oppressed, that they might be released out of freedom. And then verse 19, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. We're going to look at these two phrases together because this notion of bringing liberty to the oppressed, it's directly related to this proclamation of the acceptable year of the Lord. When Isaiah spoke these words originally, there were those at that time who were incredibly oppressed, incredibly pressed down, unjust, heavy debt had been placed on so many. So many were forced into servitude because of that. They lost their liberty. They lost their freedoms. And so Christ here at the beginning of his ministry now proclaims to the oppressed the acceptable year of the Lord. So he's proclaiming to the oppressed the acceptable year of the Lord. And this phrase, it's wonderful news, the acceptable year of the Lord. It's a wonderful phrase because it points us to that of the Jubilee. It's another name for the Jubilee. Are you familiar with the biblical Jubilee?

Well, you should be because it's beautiful. Let me give you a little understanding of this beautiful aspect of the Jubilee. Through the Jubilee provisions, which this proclaiming of the acceptable year of the Lord, through these Jubilee provisions, you can go back to your homework if you like to Leviticus 25. We won't turn there, but Leviticus 25, where we read there is that there was this physical provision introduced so that even the most desperate in debt could find hope and promise. So those most pressed down in this way, this Jubilee provision, allowed a family to return to land at one time that they had, return to it debt-free to make a fresh start. So with proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord to the oppressed, there is in this the beautiful spiritual Jubilee context. It's inherent in this phrase.

And again, it's hope and promise to the most desperate in debt. Think about that a little bit. Think of it. Start to move your mind and the spiritual aspect of this. Let me read to you from our UCG commentary regarding this Jubilee. I think you'll find it quite interesting. Quote, An ancient Israelite was in desperate strays if he had to sell his family's land.

Both food and income came from the proceeds of the land. Disposed family members would quickly become someone else's servants. Most people would work hard to avoid such a situation. However, illness, crop failure, and other misfortunes could force a person into debt to the point where their only alternative was to sell the land. But even in the most distressing situation, there was hope. The disposed family could be saved from poverty and hardship through the means of a relative's redeeming the property. We see that. Talked a little bit about that in the story of Ruth. Continuing quote here, However, if a man did not have any relative who would redeem his land, he could save enough to buy it back himself. The purchase price would be prorated according to the number of years left until the next Jubilee year, the 50th year. A man might have to wait until the Jubilee year to reclaim the land of his inheritance. But eventually, it could be restored.

So again, even the most desperate situation where there was no hope or promise, in that Jubilee year, the family would be able to return debt free to their land and make a fresh start. Unquote. So, this is one of the most beautiful, hopeful, physical provisions provided to those who were hopeless in debt. This Jubilee. You're thinking in spiritual terms here. What's the spiritual provision?

What of this proclamation of the acceptable year of the Lord? This is where Jesus is pointing.

Well, the law of the Jubilee here is a vivid symbol of what Jesus Christ did and his crucifixion for every man and woman. Spiritually speaking, when our father and mother, if you will, had an Eve there in the garden, from their sin, we lost the opportunity to dwell in paradise with God.

We lost the opportunity to eat of the tree of life. We cannot retrieve that on our own.

It is the debt of sin which has pressed down and separated all of mankind from the intended inheritance. We cannot go back to Eden of and by ourselves.

Yet, Jesus Christ was sent to set at liberty those who are oppressed. And we have, in other words, even though we've been evicted from our inheritance, there is this acceptable year of the Lord. And with it, we have the opportunity to reclaim the land, reclaim the promised land, and be allowed to one day return. And so, I'm here to tell you the good news that Jesus Christ is proclaiming right here at the beginning of his ministry. And it's the best news we could ever hear.

Debts canceled, slaves freed, hearts healed, eyes opened, oppressed, liberated.

Aren't these gracious and beautiful words?

And so, this was Christ's purpose to which he came. And as we conclude, I just want to point out, this is our message today. If someone comes to you wanting to know the message about the coming kingdom of God, you don't have to be vague. Not at all. Because, as we've read, when he closed the book, he gave it back to the attendant, sat down, eyes were focused in on him, and he began to say to them, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. We see in verse 22, Luke 4 here, verse 22, it says, So all bore witness to him, and marvel that the gracious words which proceed out of his mouth. So we bear witness today. And I'll tell you the same spirit is with us today, with God's children. If you've been baptized, you have the same spirit. If you haven't been baptized, God's working with you, with the spirit, to bear witness. So we can go out to men and women, and we can say the kingdom of God is at hand. And for them to say, what does that mean? And we actually say it's good news if you'll admit, first and foremost, that you're bored.

It's good news because if you feel captive to a way of life that you don't want, you may be set free. It's good news that if by God's grace and his will, you can have your eyesight.

Possibly your eyesight restored. It's good news. Your oppression may be overturned.

So that one day, you can come into the Promised Land. This is our message that we need to get out to the 21st century today. And so our prayer today is for God to show us afresh that we are poor, enslaved, trapped. Help us to see that we are brokenhearted, but then to turn to the one, the only one that can liberate us and set us free. How thankful we are. Let's pray to be thankful tonight that Jesus stood, found his place there in the Book of Isaiah, and declared this good news to us today.

Thank you, Mr. Love, better of clean.