Three Mission Goals of Jesus the Christ and Believers as Christians

 

Luke 4:18-19 (text); Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:16-21; Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 12

September 21, 2014 * Download this sermon (PDF)

Introduction

Dear People of God: The Apostles’ Creed has four names for our Lord: Jesus, Christ, Son of God, and Lord. Last Lord’s Day, we focused on the name Jesus, a name that means Savior, because he saves his people from sin. Today, we will study the name Christ.

In the Old Testament, such as our reading in Isaiah 61:1-2, the Hebrew verb mashach means “to anoint.” So the Messiah is the Anointed of God. In the New Testament, the Greek word for “Anointed One” is Christos, translated in English as “Christ.” So when Peter confessed that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” he is professing that Jesus is the Messiah promised by the Old Testament prophets.

From Ligonier.org
From Ligonier.org

Moreover, in the Old Testament, all of God’s appointed prophets, priests and kings were anointed with oil by the LORD’s appointed men. Most of these anointed men served only one office, whether prophets, priests or kings. A few performed two duties, such as Samuel and Moses, who served as both prophets and priests. There were also men who violated God’s commandment that only he appointed his anointed ones. These men suffered judgment for their sin, such as Saul and Uzziah, two kings who illegally performed priestly duties.

When Jesus came, he first declared that he fulfilled the office of “the Anointed One,” the Messiah, in his hometown of Nazareth. In our Luke 4 reading, he read from Isaiah 61:1-2, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me.” And to the shock of all those in the synagogue, he said, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled,” clearly declaring himself as the promised Messiah.

Jesus was revealed by his Father as “the Anointed One” at his baptism (Lk 3:21-22). The psalmist talks about the Father anointing his Son as King, “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions” (Psa 45:7).

Our Heidelberg Catechism reading expounds two things about Jesus as Christ. First, why he is called “Christ.” Second, why we are called Christians. Q&A 31 tells of Jesus’s three offices: (1) he is our chief Prophet and Teacher; (2) he is our only High Priest; and (3) he is our eternal King.

Revelation 1:5 has a summary of Christ’s three-fold mission: as Prophet, he is “the faithful witness”; as Priest, he is “the firstborn of the dead”; and as King, he is “the ruler of kings on earth.”

Q&A 32 then gives us three reasons why we are called “Christians,” a term first used of disciples of Christ in Antioch (Acts 11:26). As Christians, we have also received the anointing from Christ that “teaches you about everything” (1 John 2:27). This anointing is by the Holy Spirit, whom God started pouring out on his people on Pentecost Sunday, as Joel promised (Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28). We are Christians because we are members of Christ and are anointed by him. Like him, we also perform three duties: first, as prophets, we confess his name; second, as priests, we performs sacrifices of thanksgiving to God; and third, as kings, we fight against sin.

So this afternoon, we will briefly meditate on “Three Mission Goals of Jesus the Christ and Believers as Christians,” under three headings from Luke 4:18-19: first, “To Proclaim Good News to the Poor”; second, “To Proclaim Liberty to the Captives”; and third, “To Set at Liberty Those Who are Oppressed.”

“To Proclaim Good News to the Poor”

As early as in the Exodus from Egypt, Moses already prophesied a coming prophet, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers””it is to him you shall listen” (Deu 18:15). Jesus himself said that one of his mission goals is prophetic: to reveal his Father to his people (John 1:18; 15:15). In his first sermon, Peter also attested that Jesus is the great Prophet that Moses promised (Acts 3:22).

Jesus told his countrymen that he was the Messiah who would “proclaim good news to the poor.” Was he saying that only the poor people in this world would receive good news? In the Old Testament, the poor are said to be blessed by God, and God always defended them. This is true in the sense that many Israelites who were poor trusted in God more than the rich to provide for their basic needs. This is why Jesus also said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The poor in spirit are those who acknowledge that they are spiritually poor, needing salvation and forgiveness. And the good news is that because of their faith and trust in God, they are forgiven of their sin and saved from God’s wrath.

This is the foremost duty of a prophet: to proclaim God’s good news of salvation and forgiveness of sin (Isa 40:1-2). The prophet revealed God’s Word to the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD.” But he also warned the people of coming judgment if they did not repent of their sin (Isa 1:4). As the final and all-sufficient Prophet, Jesus himself is God’s Word (Jn 1:1).

As Christ made his Father known to his people, Christians are to make Christ known to the world. Proclaiming the good news to sinners like us is the foremost instrument of salvation. This is why Paul declares, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Rom 10:9-10). Heart and mouth, zeal and knowledge, Spirit and Word””they work together in salvation. We think Pentecostals have zeal without knowledge. But we Reformed sometimes have too much knowledge and not much zeal. There must be both!

As Christ the preeminent Prophet proclaims good news to poor sinners, so must Christians.

“To Proclaim Liberty to the Captives”

The second mission that Jesus mentioned in the Nazareth synagogue was “to proclaim liberty to the captives.” As with the first mission, “to proclaim good news to the poor,” these words are also used by liberals to teach that Jesus came to help the poor and the political prisoners. Theirs is a socioeconomic gospel, without any reference to salvation from sin.

In the Old Testament, captives usually referred to God’s people who are exiled and enslaved in foreign lands, e.g., Israelite slaves in Egypt and captives in Babylon. They can even refer to slaves in Israel. The quotation from Isaiah 61 refers to the Jubilee Year when all debt and slaves are released.

Slavery in the Old Testament is often used by the New Testament as a picture of slavery to sin. How does Christ set captives free? Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 31 says that as our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, “by the one sacrifice of His body, has redeemed us” from slavery. The high priest in the temple was the mediator between a holy God and his sinful people. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest enters the Most Holy Place to offer animal sacrifices for the atonement of all the past sins of the people of Israel (Lev 16:34). When Christ came, “he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Heb 9:11-14). Unlike the temple high priest, Jesus offered his sacrifice only once for all the sins of all God’s people. And unlike the temple high priest, Jesus offered his own body and blood for our sin, not animal sacrifices.

After he finished his atoning mission, he ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of God (Heb 10:12), where he “ever lives to make intercession for us with the Father.” This is why the psalmist sings of the Father’s oath that Christ is “a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psa 110:4; Heb 7:17, 21). And the writer of Hebrews also says, “He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25; Rom 8:34).

All of us Christians were formerly slaves of sin and Satan. We used to be children of wrath doing the works that the devil wants us to do (Eph 2:1-2). Now that Christ has redeemed us from slavery to sin, we are to evidence this redemption through holy and righteous living in the midst of this wicked world. Though we are in the world, we are set apart by God from the world to reflect this redemption in our lives. The Catechism says that as individual priests to God, we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices of thankfulness to Him. Again, the Hebrews preacher says, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,” through word, deed and thought (Heb 13:15).

As Christ is our Ever-Living Prophet and High Priest, we are to reflect his image in us as those who are known by his most holy name: “Christians” who are prophets and priests to God.

“To Set at Liberty Those Who are Oppressed”

Finally, Jesus proclaimed to his hometown that he was anointed by the Lord “to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” This is very similar to the previous declaration, “to proclaim liberty to the captives.” As King, Christ crushed the head of Satan at his resurrection, freeing his people who are captive to sin and the devil, so that “through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15; see also 1 Cor 15:54-55). Paul confirms this in Ephesians 4:8, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives.”

In addition to setting his people free from captivity to Satan and sin, Christ as King also proclaims liberty to the oppressed. In the Old Testament, the oppressed included the poor, slaves, outcasts such as lepers, those with physical disabilities, the demon-possessed, prostitutes, and prisoners. The LORD is “a stronghold for the oppressed” and the poor, and he “does justice to the fatherless and the oppressed” (Psa 9:9; 10:18; 103:6). He gives food to the hungry, sets the prisoners free (Psa 146:7), and opens the eyes of the blind (Psa 146:8).

Jesus’ earthly ministry included giving help and comfort to all these outcasts and oppressed of society. The conditions of these people are merely evidences of a fallen world under the captivity of Satan, sin and death. Jesus came to restore God’s creation to its state before sin and death came. The Bible frequently speaks of this restoration as being released from bondage to sin, being forgiven of sin. The restoration that Jesus inaugurated in Nazareth’s synagogue consists of both physical and spiritual restoration.

His Father gave him kingly authority over all things. This is why he came to “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,” the proclamation by the King that the Year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:10) has arrived. All debts and prisoners will be set free!

The Old Testament promised this King in Zion who will destroy the rebellious kings of the earth (Psa 2:6). In his first coming, this King came humbly mounted on a donkey (Zec 9:9; Mat 21:5). After his resurrection, God gave him all authority in heaven and on earth (Mat 28:18). So when he returns, “he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33). At his appearing, his name will be “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 19:16). So the angelic host will sing, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come” (Rev 12:10).

As kings, Christians will always be fighting a war against sin, temptations and evil powers. This war will not end until Christ returns to fight his last battle against Satan and his wicked forces. Until then, we are comforted that Christ “governs us by His Word and Spirit, and defends and preserves us in the redemption obtained for us.” Christians will never be under bondage again to Satan and sin. He will then make his enemies a footstool under his feet. Then, Christians finally will “in eternity reign with Him over all creatures.”

Dearly Beloved Christians: Christ has three mission goals as Prophet, Priest and King. As you image Christ in this life, you too have these three mission goals. And as you faithfully discharge your three offices faithfully as members of the church, the church will never be under the yoke of sin and all evil forces.

Through officebearers and members like you, the church also proclaims good news to the poor in spirit. As Christian prophets like you proclaim the true gospel to your family and friends, sinners are released from their captivity and oppression under sin and Satan. They then carry the name of Christ in their words, deeds and thoughts as members of the church.

As our High Priest, Christ offered himself as sacrifice for sin. As priests, you also are to offer your lives as living sacrifices of thanksgiving to God by your holy living and good witness to the world. As Christ is in heaven interceding for us, we as a church must offer humble prayers for our brethren: those among us who are suffering, and those in foreign lands who are persecuted. As well, you are to teach, encourage, comfort, and assure brothers and sisters so they become mature in their faith in Christ.

And as your King, Christ leads you in your war against sin. He protects and defends you. As a church, we are to lead our kingdom citizens in our spiritual battles. United under Christ, let us fight against all kinds of sufferings, temptations, and evil forces that would try to snatch our brothers and sisters in the faith from Jesus our Great Eternal Prophet, High Priest, and King.