Have you ever noticed that our culture talks a lot about justice? There's headlines that cry out for justice. There's social media demanding for it. There's marches and protests that are organized around justice. But what does real, lasting, universal justice look like?
Where is it found and how is it sustained? That's what we're going to talk about today. My name is Jeremy and I'm the lead pastor at Mountain View Church. Today we're exploring the justice of Jesus, the justice that Jesus offered and offers today. His words might shift our perspective on what we consider as just or unjust. We'll also address the popularized term of social justice and where it fits in within our gospel mandate. Let's get started.
Hello, my name is Nicole. Today I'll be reading Luke 4, 16-21. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, 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, 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 the year of the Lord's favor.
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. This is a crazy situation. Jesus reads a scroll and they want to kill him. What's that all about? Well, he's in his hometown and he's been invited to read scripture in a local place of worship. He's handed the scroll of Isaiah and reads one of the most powerful messianic prophecies in all scripture. A text that everyone in the synagogue would have heard before and perhaps even knew by memory.
Then after he sits down with everyone watching and waiting for his teaching to begin, he starts with, today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. That's a huge moment. That's a huge statement. This rabbi who grew up in their community isn't just reading the word of God. He's declaring that he is the word of God fulfilled. And before this moment, they would have always heard this scripture read as a sense of someday this will come to pass. But now for the first time, they're hearing it as if...
It's happening right now, right in front of them. This scripture is fulfilled through this man that they've known since he was a little boy. It just seems strange for them. And this moment is also a line drawn in the sand for Jesus. He's saying that justice, mercy, healing, and restoration all promised in Isaiah are no longer a future hope. They're showing up. They have shown up in real time in this real person of Jesus in this place. And the people sitting in the synagogue are watching this prophecy fulfilled, but probably have a ton of questions.
This would have sounded crazy to them because Jesus is declaring something completely radical, something they had never heard before, something that generations before them had been waiting for, something that they would have expected in a more grandiose way than a homegrown rabbi from Nazareth. But now let's talk about the substance of Jesus' message. This good news isn't for the powerful, the rich, or the religious elite. It's for the poor, the bound, the blind, and the broken. Jesus is flipping the script on what everyone expected from a Messiah, from the Messiah. There will be justice for all.
That is all those who have been overlooked, forgotten, and cast aside. The justice that Jesus offers is restoring and releasing and rewriting the story of our lives. That's what he came to do. That's what he's still doing today in our midst. The justice that Jesus offers begins personally, inside of us, restoring our relationship with God.
We're restored into right relationship with him first, then with others in our society. We're released from the bondage of sin through grace and forgiveness, lived out for others as we live to be like Jesus in word and deed. We're given a rewritten story with an eternal future and a shared with others through the gospel message as we continue to tell others about Jesus Christ and about the peace, justice, healing that he offers. All that being said, we still live in a world full of people who are crushed and overlooked and burdened. Maybe that's you right now. Maybe life has been unfair. Maybe you've been trying to hold it together while the pressure just keeps building and building and building. And you're wondering if anyone sees you, if anyone even cares, if there's any hope. If there's any hope at all, ever. Or will there ever be?
All the answers to these questions are found in Jesus. And this passage tells us exactly how he will respond, how he responds. So far, we've been focusing on the big picture. I get it, behind this passage. But what exactly does Jesus mean when he tells them, today this scripture has been fulfilled? And I'm sure you've been wondering too. Big picture can only go so far. So to fully understand, we need to walk through each statement, each quotation of Isaiah that Jesus reads in verses 18 and 19.
As we've already touched on, Jesus was reading from the prophet Isaiah, revealing the connection between the Old Testament promises and that he is the one who will fulfill them. Moreover, we need to talk about the words that are spoken, how they're spoken in a first century Jewish context and how they're heard because they would have been heard vastly different in that crowd at that time than we might hear them in our modern Western context. We need to unpack all of this. So let's break these statements down one at a time. First, Jesus reads, the spirit of the Lord is upon me. Jesus is declaring his divine empowerment. This isn't just poetic language. It's theological. It's a theological statement that in previous passages of Luke's gospel, we read how the Holy Spirit descended on him at his baptism and then led him into the wilderness. The same spirit is now propelling him forward into his divine mission. The spirit of the Lord is upon him, empowering and guiding him forward.
Next, he reads, because he has anointed me. This is language centered on calling, on big picture calling. In Jewish tradition, anointing marked someone set apart for God. This was performed for prophets, priests, and kings who were each anointed for a divine purpose. Now, Jesus steps into all three of these roles. First, he speaks with the prophetic authority. Next, he mediates like a priest. And finally, he reigns with kingly power. He's identifying himself as the long-awaited anointed one, or the Messiah, fulfilling Isaiah 61.
What is Jesus anointed to do? To proclaim good news to the poor. The Greek word that's used here means more than just economic poverty. It includes those who are humbled and powerless, afflicted and spiritually crushed. Those whose society overlooks. But not just because of their financial situation. Jesus starts his justice mission at the bottom. Not because he ignores others, but because those who know they're in need are often the most ready to receive him.
The next statement begins with, he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives. This Greek word for liberty that's used here brings about images of being released from bondage or pardoned for an offense. Being given freedom for those who have been under pressure, under oppression. This, of course, is the spiritual liberty that Jesus offers that were pardoned from sin, released from the bondage of guilt and shame, and freed from Satan's oppressive dark forces. During his earthly ministry, this was witnessed in a physical sense as he performed miraculous healings of people who were paralyzed or possessed by demons. However, the eternal message is that Jesus is proclaiming a spiritual emancipation for all who believe. This statement is followed by, and recovering of sight to the blind. This too has both literal and symbolic roots. Jesus physically healed blind eyes numerous times throughout his ministry, but his divine mission was to heal spiritual blindness. In a world clouded by confusion, lies, and pride, Jesus helps us see the truth about God, about ourselves, and about the world around us.
He continues, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. This is the second use of that same word, liberty, with a similar emphasis. Jesus will lift the weight of injustice and trauma and bring release from spiritual bondage. Whether someone is crushed by systematic oppression or personal grief, he offers an internal liberation that empowers the believer to endure the fiercest opposition. Finally, Jesus reads, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. This line points us back to the year of Jubilee referenced in Leviticus 25 of the Mosaic Law.
This was a sacred year when slaves were freed, debts forgiven, and land returned. In many ways, it was kind of like a reset button for the people of Israel. But in this context, Jesus is declaring, I am the ultimate Jubilee. He's going to bring a permanent reset to all offenses and all oppression. Once and for all, he will restore what was lost. Once and for all, he will heal what was broken, and he will cancel every spiritual debt.
It's so crucial to understand that Jesus embodies justice. In his life, he restored many people, released many from all forms of afflictions, and was able to rewrite so many stories of people who would have otherwise lived a painful existence or died an early death. And truth be told, many miracles are still performed in Jesus' name all around the world, even in our modern time. And yet, we have to remember, the physical was never the primary focus. It was always the spiritual, which impacts our eternal life. Jesus fulfills Isaiah's prophecy by bringing good news, healing, and freedom to those crushed by sin.
and the suffering that comes with it. His mission is a complete reversal of oppression that's rooted in God's anointing. It's expressed through God's mercy, and it's made evident through the Holy Spirit's power as we come to faith. Before we move on from Jesus reading Isaiah, there's one important detail highlighted in this commentary written by Reverend David Brown, a theologian, believe it or not, from the 1800s. He wrote, as the maladies under which humanity groans are here set forth under the names of poverty, brokenheartedness, bondage, blindness, so as the glorious healer of all these maladies, Christ announces himself in the act of reading it, stopping the quotation just before it comes to the day of vengeance, which was only to come on the rejecters of his message. Did you catch that? Jesus intentionally stopped reading short of Isaiah 61 in a certain section to emphasize that his first coming was to bring grace, not judgment.
In declaring the year of the Lord's favor, he was proclaiming the arrival of spiritual freedom, healing, and salvation, or the beginning of Jubilee. But as Reverend Brown notes, Jesus paused before, quote, the day of vengeance line in Isaiah 61, verse 2. This was a statement that judgment would only come later for those who reject his gospel message. This reflects both the now and the not yet tension of God's kingdom. The first coming of Christ offered the forgiveness and restoration side of justice, while the second, which we're still in waiting for, even to this very day, will be the final act of justice. And it will...
be given through his righteous judgment. It's hard news, but it's truthful news. And so stated simply, Jesus was drawing a clear line that now is the time for grace, but grace demands a response. And not everyone who listened to him on that day wanted to respond. The people of Nazareth were initially impressed, recorded in verses 24 to 27 though, Jesus reminded them of two specific moments in Israel's history, when God's miracles of provision and healing were extended not to Israelites, but to outsiders, often referred to as Gentiles or non-Jewish people. Elijah was sent to help a Gentile widow in Sidon during a famine, and Elisha healed a Syrian army commander from leprosy. By bringing up these examples, Jesus was making it clear that God's mercy was never limited to one nation or to one people group. God's justice, healing, and grace have always reached beyond the borders of Israel.
This was not what they wanted to hear, clearly. These people didn't want to hear justice for all people. They wanted justice for themselves and their people, which is always so often the case, by the way, for everyone. that we always seek justice for our camp and our cause. It's like human nature. You see, rarely does our personal version of a Messiah offer grace to all people, and especially not to those people, whoever those people might be in our world. This crowd in the synagogue on that day were no different. They were incensed and angered by his teaching, and it escalated quickly to the point where they were ready to kill him. Of course, it wasn't Jesus' time, so he miraculously slips through the crowd.
We need to remember that that same tension, it exists today, big time. Just like in Nazareth, many of our culture embraces a version of justice that fits their group or cause or our group or cause. But we struggle with the idea of grace and justice being extended to all people. As an example, let's take some time to unpack the differences and similarities between the justice Jesus teaches and offers and our modern calls for social justice. First, let's deal with the similarities, which shouldn't be surprising to anyone, especially those who are Christians or regular church goers. Because both care about the oppressed, poor, and marginalized. That's clear. And both seek to correct systems of harm. That's also clear. And both use the language of liberation, equity, and healing. These things are all the same in biblical justice and social justice.
But there are some key differences. And this is where we need to do some explaining. First, the source and goal. Jesus' justice restores eternally. Social justice ends with the temporary. The justice Jesus offers is rooted in the holiness and sovereignty of God and aims at spiritual and eternal restoration, not just societal equity. Social justice is focused on human flourishing on earth without addressing the deeper spiritual needs nor the eternal impact.
Next, we need to talk about the means. Jesus changes hearts first. Social justice often starts with systems. The justice of Jesus transforms hearts first in the lives of individuals, then through families and friends, and eventually impacting greater communities. Social justice, on the other hand, starts with the larger systems and strives to stop at a behavioral modification level, get people to act differently or do something different. Finally, we need to look at the scope. Jesus calls for repentance. Social justice stays in a human-to-human level.
The justice of Jesus includes personal repentance and reconciliation to God. That's primary. Social justice, on the other hand, typically focuses on horizontal changes between people groups. And as I've watched this all unfold in our culture, and even within many churches, I believe the root cause is reprioritizing the first two commandments, which are the greatest commandments. You see, whenever we're fired up about a justice issue, we love, love, love to quote the command to love your neighbor as yourself, found in Matthew 22, 39, which absolutely fits. It's a good thing to think about. It's a good thing to cling to. Unfortunately, in these times, there's an assumptive and often arrogant tone in the messaging that seems to elevate the command to love your neighbor above the greatest of all commandments, which is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, found earlier in Matthew 22, 37.
You see, without the vertical love and devotion, the horizontal becomes distorted. True justice can't be sustained unless it's rooted in worship and submission to God first. We need to pay careful attention to why we feel this internal call for justice and focus on who placed it there. Why do I need to feel justice? Why do I call for justice? Why do I feel when things aren't unfair? Who put that in me? As a human being, why do I feel this way? Animals don't feel that way. What is it? Who is it? Well, God put it there. And so before we assume justice issues, we need to come back to the big picture.
which is centered on God's relationship with us, restored through Jesus. You see, real justice confronts comfort and it challenges assumptions. It presses against pride, both in the extreme liberal sense that's put on display every month, every year in June, but it also pushes against pride in the extreme conservative sense that's put on display often through patriotism and pitched as liberty. You see, both camps miss the mark. When Jesus offers to rewrite the story, it's on his terms, not ours. It's within his mission, not our personal mission. His terms often offend both extreme camps. So these camps try to twist Jesus into someone they can fit into their perception of justice. But it never works. It never, ever works out in the end. Thankfully, Jesus has way more grace than we do. Praise the Lord for that. He never walks away from his mission to save us. He walked right through that crowd unnoticed.
And that was a crowd that tried to kill him. But what we need to remember is he kept walking all the way to the cross, to his death. He left a far less excruciating death to embrace the most excruciating death of the first century, perhaps ever. On the cross, he took the full weight of injustice, sin, guilt, and shame, which is far greater than the pain. He bore all of it for our place. He died so we could be free and rose so we could be new, a new creation in him. And in this great act, Jesus didn't just proclaim justice. He became justice.
And I get it. Maybe this is the first time you're hearing this or the first time it's finally connecting. And I'm telling you, Jesus is still restoring people to God. He is still releasing people from sin and he's still rewriting their stories into eternity. True justice doesn't come from being even or getting even. It comes from being made whole in Christ. And how do we achieve that? Well, first, we place our trust in Jesus. He's the only one who can truly restore, release, and rewrite your life. If you're broken, cry out to him. If you're weary, let him lift your burden. If you're ashamed, receive his forgiveness. This is the single most important decision of your life. But it doesn't stop there. If you've received his justice, you're called to reflect it.
The justice that Jesus offers isn't something we receive and remain unchanged. We're compelled to live in such a way that releases others from bondage. We become people known for forgiveness and restoration in our families and schools and workplaces and our community. Practically speaking, it means seeing the people who are invisible to society and speaking up for those who don't have a voice. It means opening our hands, our homes, our hearts to those who need hope. And again, we're not just talking about poverty, although that is part of it. It's bigger and it's deeper.
The next step is to embrace forgiveness. Forgiveness is at the heart of Jesus' justice. He canceled our debt, and now we're invited to cancel the debts of others, everything they owe us. This doesn't mean ignoring sin or avoiding hard conversations. It doesn't mean allowing abuse or mistreatment to continue. However, we can choose to surrender our desire for revenge and trust Jesus to deal rightly with all things, which leads us to the final step. Release control to Jesus, assuming that his way is best.
When we chase our own version of justice, we often try to write our own ending. And it doesn't go well. By releasing control to Jesus, we trust him as the author or true justice holder that eventually gives the perfect peace. We surrender our timelines and our expectations and even our pain and anguish and bitterness. We release it all to him because he sees the whole story. And ultimately, he holds eternity in his hands. So why not give him control? The justice that Jesus provides isn't just a concept. It's a calling for you and me.
He restores what's being broken. He releases what's been bound and rewrites stories we thought were finished. Wherever you are today, wounded, weary, or wandering, come to Jesus and let him be your justice. Make that decision today. Let's pray together. Dear Jesus, thank you that you didn't just come to talk about justice, but that you bring it to us. Thank you for stepping into a broken world to offer healing, freedom, and hope. Please restore the places in my life that are still hurting. Release me from the things that still hold me back.
Rewrite the story I've been trying to carry on my own. I trust you to lead me and shape me. Use me to reflect your justice in this world. In your name I pray, amen. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you're new or you're looking to take that next step in your faith journey, we would love to connect with you. You can visit mountainview.church slash connect or send us a DM on social at mountainviewwhitehorse. If you're watching online, please take time to like, follow, and share. And we'd encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel and turn on notifications so future content automatically appears in your feed. For parents out there, our base camp children's lesson and activities are available right now at mountainview.church slash base camp. And for teens, our youth group meets every Sunday night between 6 and 8 p.m. Visit mountainview.church slash youth for more info.
Now here's our weekly updates. Good morning, Mountain View. If you fall in the 18 to 35-year-old age range and you think you don't have plans today after church, well, you're wrong because now you do. We're having a tailgate lunch and a trail walk for young adults. We're meeting at the Hidden Lakes Trailhead at 12.30 today right after church. So the Hidden Lakes Trailhead, it's near Schwatka. You can look it up on Google Maps or on all trails. It does not come up with the right location on Apple. So once again, it's the Hidden Lakes Trailhead meeting there at 12.30. We'll have some lunch and hang out. Lunch will be provided and then we'll do a walk. It will be probably no more than an hour. It's just under 5k.
and yeah if you need a ride or want a carpool come find me if you can't find me the handsome worship leader with a mustache and a mullet um you can ask him too or grab one of the leaders and we'll connect you with us and we'll make sure you get there see you then Hi, Mountain View. It's Katie with Senior Youth Group. I just wanted to pop in and give a reminder. Today, June 8th, there is no youth group tonight. We had our car wash fundraiser for the Fusion trip on Saturday, which was fantastic. But there will be no youth group tonight, June 8th. So there will not be anybody at the church. Our next event is going to be June 15th, which is not a normal senior youth weekend. So keep that in mind. And it's going to be a barbecue from 5 to 8 p.m. And it's going to be at a different location. So it's not going to be at the church. We'll put the address down below. And it's going to be from 5 to 8 p.m. June 15th. We would love to see you there. Please bring your friends. It's going to be a great time. We've got some great games planned. It's going to be some excellent food. And it's going to be great.
So have a great week and we will see you June 15th. Good morning church, Chrissy here. I just wanted to pop in and remind you that the collection date for the baby bottle drive is going to be June 15th, which is father's day next Sunday. So if you signed out one of these bottles. uh in may be sure to bring it back by june 15th to the welcome desk and we will be sure to pass that on to pregnancy care yukon we are grateful that you helped raise the money and that we can get this center up and running in the yukon if you still wanted to donate or have people that want to donate but they don't have cash then they can scan this qr code and you can it'll take you right to the site you can donate to the site um email them ask questions anything that you need all right thank you so much for participating with us and have a great rest of your week If you prayed to receive Jesus today or would like to connect with our church community, visit mountainview.church and click the connect link. If this podcast and radio ministry has been a blessing to you, please consider partnering with us or making a tax-deductible donation at mountainview.church. Thanks for listening to Mountain View Church Audio. Join us next week for more Christ-centered teaching from the wilderness city of Whitehorse Econ.