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Episode 675: In this episode, Chris and Jeff dive into Isaiah 61, which Jesus quotes in his first recorded message in the synagogue. Chris and Jeff reflect on the powerful themes of hope and restoration found in this passage, emphasizing how Jesus' ministry was rooted in bringing good news to the oppressed, healing the brokenhearted, and proclaiming freedom to the captives. They highlight the significance of this first message, noting that it sets the foundation for Jesus' entire ministry.
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You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, everybody, we're back. We are back than ever and we we're the Bible Guys. We want to welcome you here. If this is your first time, I'm Chris, this is Jeff, and we are the Daily Bible Guys. That's right. Our title is Daily Daily, but it's it's really only. Five days a week. We're the five days a week Bible Guys. You know what, it's false advertising. Yeah, it's not really true. Daily. We have so much content you can go back and listen to us for years. Daily. Oh well okay, sure, okay, if you want to a little lawyer in your brain justifies the word daily. Yeah. I think we put Daily Bible Guys there because there used to be some other Bible guys. That's exactly why we did it. That's why we did it. Now we're just the Bible Guys. That's right. That's right. So today, by the way, I don't think anybody knew that that was new information. Sure, anybody looked up the Bible Guys to find out other Bible guys. Yeah, okay, yeah. So today Desiree put together a segment and the segment is. Called mail bags. Mail bags is just if you have a question or a comment that you would like us to address. Heck, we just like comments and questions in general anyway. There comments and questions are our favorite. They are and they're not always for the purpose of mail bags, but sometimes Deziel grab them and throw them in here. That's right, We've not even read this. People send us stuff all the time, nice things, nice yes, yeah, yeah, fun things. So this one is from Marissa L. Hey, I have a niece name Marissa. Oh do you really? I do? Wow? Thanks for that random piece of information. You said like it was gonna be this big story. Hey, I have a niece named Marissa. Thanks. Here's what Marissa says. If Jesus showed up in your town for a day, where would you take him and why? Wow? Oh that's a hard one. Well, I mean I wouldn't take him anywhere because he'd know. Yeah, but you still want to have fun, you. Know, Jesus. Look, I got to show you downtown Detroit. I've seen it. Mm hmm. Hey have you ever seen that? But you don't think he'd want to spend time with you, doing stuff with you. Sure, because he went places even though he'd already seen it when he was on earth. Well, you know what I would do. I would, Well, he's seen it, he sees it now, that is what he saw it before, I know. And he did stuff and he'll see it tomorrow. And he went places with you know, James, John, You or. I would do. I would want to do what Jim Carrey did in Brush Almighty? Which is which is? Which is? Uh uh? Morgan Freeman said, come take a closer walk with me. Remember it's so great. It's so great, And then they walked on the lake. They were walking on the lake. So you want Jesus and take your like out on Stony Creek Lake like La Saint Clair, Like Saint Clair. Just go for a walk. Yes, walk over to Canada. That's where I would do. That's what you do. That's you would take him to. I think I would take him someplace for like a really good fish dinner. Because he likes he said a lot of those. Yeah, but even after he resurrected, he went back and fixed the fish dinner. Okay, where would you take him? I don't know because I'm not a big fish guy. Yeah, so I would struggle with that one fish leos for fish and chips. Wow, fish and chips. Hey, Jesus, have you ever heard a little. Bit of vinegar? Yeah? Yeah, they're so good. Okay, but she said where would you take him? So, so you'd go for a walk on Lake Saint Clair. I'd take him for a good fish dinner. Oh oh, no, you know what I do. I'd bring him in my house and I would do a cedar plank to salmon. Oh there, yeah, smoke it on cedar plank. That's better. And Jesus would appreciate it. Yeah, with some lemons and some dill, yeah, parsley, Yeah, that'd be good. Did you hear me? Like a wind sauce? Did you hear me? Just suppose what Jesus would appreciate this? He like that? Yeah? Yeah? And then would you want to would you? Uh? Would you take you to meet your family? Well they already know him, but yes, in person, I would, Yeah, for sure, it'd be cool. Yes, okay, well I'd never thought of that before. You know, where would you take Jesus? Neither? And by the way, once again, I thought of that goofy song. My Redeemer lives because remember the very end before it fades out, She goes, I. Spoke to him this morning. Yep, ye, so yeah, okay, well, Marissa, l great thoughts. Thank you for asking us that question. That was a. Challenge exercise of the brain. I know I had never I don't think that thought has ever gone through my head before. Yeah, and that's rare because I have lots of thoughts. Right, Yeah, did I say you? I think I told you this when I was in Israel. Uh, you know the Dead Sea? You jump in it, you float because of it's all content. Don't jump in the dead Sea. Why you don't want to go under the water? Why because it burns your eyes? Oh? I went underwater? Well that wasn't smart. Didn't you see all the signs everywhere? Don't go underwater? Yeah, there's signs everywhere. Yeah, don't go under the water. Yeah. Okay, So anyway, it when I said, when I said to our tour guide, who has to be very very very very educated, right, and all three Wold religions and everything else. And I said the tour guide, I said, how long has the Dead Sea been the Dead Sea? And he says, well, it's as long as biblical times existed, right, because it refers to the Dead Sea, even the Old Testament. So it's been dead for it's been like this. And I said, so you're trying to tell me that even when Moses was alive, that people when they got in this water, it was magical, like it floated, you could float. And he said, yes, absolutely, we could definitely say that. And I said, so, I said, I wonder why anybody would walk around the Dead Sea. Why wouldn't they take their armies and just say, let's just float across the other side, because walking around it would take, you know, much longer than cooling off and just floating because it's very cool. And uh. And he looked at me and he said, what you just said. He looked at me and said, I've been doing this for thirteen years and nobody has ever asked that question, nor have I ever. Had that thought, he said. But now I'm picturing people of the Old Testament floating across the Dead Sea, he says, And of course they did. Why wouldn't they, he said, of course they did. Yes, So there you go. Okay, well you just said that. No, No, I'm following you. I was following my comment was much. But I just haven't thought about your niece having the same name. Okay, yeah, you know it was. It was. I was still thinking about it, Okay, I was. I was just caught up in thought. Well you said this was, Yes, it was, and it reminded me of this brilliant man. I know, you're defending a thing you don't need to defend on I'm with you. I was amazed by your thinking. You were bored, you're changing. No, no, no, no, that's not true. That's true. I was actually thinking, I think if armies floated across the water is so caustic that one, it would take you too long to get all the way across, because it was much bigger back in Jesus Stay than it is now. It's only like a third of the size of what it used to be, right, So that'd be part of it. But the other part was it seems like it would ruin all their metal. Well then then fine, that maybe not armies, but maybe tribes of people walking there. Yeah, yeah, I bet they would. Yeah, I bet they would. It's cool. Hey, wonderful question, Chris, Yes, thanks, thank you. Almost as good as Marissa's. Uh well, Marissa believe or not. That was a that's a that's that's a new thought. Yes, speaking of new thoughts. Oh, Jesus in his very first message that he preached in the synagogue, Oh, was not trying to bring a new thought. Oh terrible. He quoted terrible from Isaiah chapter sixty one. Jesus didn't have a new thought. He did have a new thought. But in this moment, on his very first message you ever preached in synagogue, he quotes from Isaiah sixty one. Was that a rough transition? I was looking forward to it. If you're a new listener, one of our goals is to have the roughest transitions possible. Yeah, let me down. Yeah, they'll let you down. You know. Really, I'm sorry, satisfying, I'm sorry. Here you go in Isaiah chapter sixty one, and I think this is going to be the last that we read from Isaiah. There's many other good things, but we're going to move on anyways. It says here in Isaiah chapter sixty one, the spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me. For the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the broken hearted and proclaim that captives will be released, and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time the Lord's favor has come, and with it the day of God's anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, you will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise, instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. They will build the ancient ruin, rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities long ago. They will revive them, though they have been deserted for many generations. Foreigners will be your servants, and they will feed your flocks, and plow your fields and tend your vineyards. You will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God. You will feed on the treasures of the nations and boast and their riches. Instead of shame and dishonor, you will enjoy a double share of honor. You will possess a double portion of prosperity in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing, I will faithfully reward my people for their suffering and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be recognized and honored among the nations. Everyone will realize that they are a people. The Lord is blessed. I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord, my Godfrey has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and drape me in a robe of righteousness. I'm like a bridegroom in his wedding suit, or a bride with her jewels. The sovereign Lord will show his justice to the nations of the world, and everyone will praise him. His righteousness will be like a garden in the early spring, with plants springing up everywhere. Well, there you go. That's good news for the oppress. Good news. Yeah. So the Life Application Study Bible, there's a note that says, under the Old Covenant, God ordained the priests of Israel to stand between him and his people. They brought God's word to the people and the people's needs and sins to God. Under the Old Covenant, all believers and priests of the Lord and one Peter two five, reading God's word and seeking to understand it, confessing their sins directly to God ministering to. Others, and he's referring to. The verse number six when he says, you will you will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God. So that's pretty cool. That's great insight, isn't it. That is cool. Yeah, So that we believe in the priesthood of every believer, don't we? Yes, we do. And you know, there's a there's a book that I read that pretty much changed my life. It was Oh, come on, it was a good one. Oh, I can't believe I said. It just pretty much changed my life. And I can't remember this. That's one of the best moments I've ever experienced. Terrible anyway, Uh, but but but it talked about the priests of every believer, and it talked about you know, to some he was he gave apostles, prophets, pastors. Right, that's right. And and it's actually Alan Hirst, yeah, who wrote But anyway, and I'm not advocating everything that he writes, but this book was phenomenal. And anyway, what he said in this book is he broke down the practicality of the application of that verse and said that's the reason why, Uh, most of us grew up with pastors thinking that they should be good leaders, that they should also, you know, have the gift of teaching at the top of that, they should have the gift of counseling, and the pastors shepherd and they should also, uh, you know, have discernment. And when actually the Bible says that God you know, disperses those gifts to different leaders in the church, and he disperses the different spiritual gifts to members of the congregation. And so therefore it's silly to think that one leader that we hire called pastors should have all of those things. One person doesn't have those gifts. One person excels in maybe one or two of those leadership gifts. And the same is true with spiritual gifts. Right. So you know, that's the reason why when you call the church and you say, hey, I need counseling, chances are it's not Christ or Jeff. It's going to be meeting with your right because that's not our spiritual gift. So therefore, we have people on staff who are gifted and that is their number one spiritual gift. They have the pastor or the pastoral or the shepherd gift. And so anyway, all that to say, the priests of every believer means that God has gifted every one of you. If you're a Christian and you are a believer in Christ, you have been given a spiritual gift. And so therefore God is calling you to use that gift in the church. So it's not for church leadership, it's for you. You are a pastor, you are a leader. You are an apostle. You are a prophet in the sense where you have discernment from God right right, and and you know the ability to start new things. That's the apostle gift to you, to venture off and start new things. So so yeah, ap prec of the believer is a huge thing, and so yeah, this is a great reference to that. So that you know, it's funny. One of the things that happens a lot of times is people want to counsel with me and they're like, oh, Pastor Jeff, I really identify with your teaching and all this stuff. We're just alike, would you counsel And then they're so disappointed when they actually counsel with because I'm not a very good counselor, right right, And then they're always like, hey, is pastor Kevin available because he's such a good counselor he's a gift that he's trained, he's skilled at it. Yeah, you know, so some of us are teachers and evangelists and apostle. Gifted by God. Yeah. The Forgotten Ways, Oh, forgotten Ways, that's the name of the book. It's hysterical. You forgot the name of a book called forgotten the Forgotten Ways, and those ways changed your life, right, those forgotten ways that you forgot about change your life. That's fantastic. It's so ironic. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's so good. Well, this message and I was looking it up here in uh it's in Luke. Chapter four is where Jesus shows up. Let me let me pull it up for you because I love the fact that Jesus quotes this passage. Look four and then it's like eighteen or something. So Jesus goes off and goes out into the wilderness and is tempted in his mystery. Remember he gets baptized. Yeah, immediately goes off. Before he's baptized, John the Baptist says, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Right, and then Jesus comes to be baptized. And John says, I don't deserve to baptize. You should baptize me. And Jesus said, no, this is the right thing. And so Jesus gets back to fulfill all righteousness, and he gets baptized, and coming up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord descends like a dove and says, and from heaven a voice says, this is my beloved son and whom I'm well pleased. And this is in fact. Now you've got the Father's son and Holy Spirit all in the same place at the same time, right, And it kicks off Jesus kind of recognition. As now John the baptist is handed off kind of this prophetic leadership to Jesus. And then the first thing God does is he takes him into the wilderness for temptations. So Jesus fasts in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights, and during that time the devil comes and tempts him with bread and with power, and you know all those things, I'll give you all the lands. And Jesus keeps quoting Scripture to him. Yes, now, this is one of the reasons that you and I talked about it when we got to that passage before. It's one of the reasons why scripture is so important. Your opinion or your feelings, you're even your best arguments won't hold up when you're at your weakest moment physically and spiritually against the devil. But what does hold up is God's words, right, And so Jesus quotes the word back to him and defeats Satan. Because because the power is in God's words, not in our own. That's right, right, And so then the devil, it says in verse thirteen Luke, chapter four. Then the devil, when the devil had empted all the temptation, he departed for him from him for a season, and Jesus returned in the power of the spirit. Now he's got God's Holy Spirit in him, the power of this Holy Spirit into Galilee. And there went a fame of him through all the region I'm reading from King James round about, and he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And then he came to Nazareth, where he'd been brought up, and he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. It's interesting, did you go to Nazareth when you were in around Galilee. Yeah, and did you go into that little synagogue that was there, right, isn't that neat? It's amazing? Yeah, yeah, that was that the synagogue that was built upon the other foundation. It was, Yeah, that's in compernaum. This is this will though it was a model of this of the synagogue that was in Nazareth. That's right, that's right. And so then they hand him the Book of Isaiah. And then he opened the book and he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel of the poor. He sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recover the sight to the blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed it, and he gave it to the minister, and he sat down, and all of the people in the synagogue were watching him, and he began to say to them, this day is the day the scripture is fulfilled in your ears. Right. So sometimes you read prophecies and you go, ah, that might be talking about Jesus. Jesus gets up reads that passage and goes just so you know that's me and that's today, right, right, How cool is that? And then they all were amazed and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth. And yeah, so it's just really really amazing. So that's the thing. And there's a thing in Bible study called the law first mentioned, right, and you know that, right, So the first time I thought about that. Yeah, the first time the Bible talks about a thing, it sets the foundation for the thing, and it will never contradict the first time it talks about it. It may expand, it might make it bigger, it might go into more detail, but it'll never go against that Genesis one one in the beginning God. From that point on, God's the boss, right, and he created everything. So it's the time when sin is mentioned the first time, or when humanity is mentioned. We're made in his image and we're to be fruitful and multiply. He gives us a job. Now from that point on, his plan for humanity never changes, right. And so as you come up to a thing the first time it's mentioned, from that point on, it may expand, but it will never contradict. So It's very important when you read this. This is the first message Jesus preaches after the Holy Spirit came on him, after his baptism and the temptation. Well, he goes home and this is the first message. You want to know what jesus ministry was, This is it. It could be argued that this could be his first message. It was yeah, yeah, yeah, at least the one recorded, but probably his first one. Well, the way that passage reads is that he went directly from his temptation and goes straight to Nazareth, yeah and preach. Well, then yeah, this would have been his first message. There is nothing else included anywhere else that is before this. It seems like so this is the first mention. So whether he preached other messages or not, this is the first mention. The love first mentioned is that nothing will go against it. So if you want to know what jesus ministry was, it was in the power of the Holy Spirit. God anointed him to preach the gospel that's the good news, and who is it for the poor, the broken hearted, people who are captive in their sin, those that are blind, those that are imprisoned, right, and then to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Yeah right, isn't that great? And then he closed it. He gives it to the minister and goes, that's me and that's right now, that's today, right, So that's that was his whole ministry the whole time. I love it. I love the fact that Jesus goes back seven hundred years and goes, that's prophesied today. And what he's doing is he's going back to the same book that announced he's also going to be born in Bethlehem, right right, well, no, no, no, Micaeh was he's gonna be born in bestlao o yah yah. That's right. But he goes back to the same book where he where it also highlights how he's going to die. Right, So the beginning and the end are both in the Book of Isaiah. That's great Jesus is affirming and the other by affirming this, and. It's it reminds me of that message that we just got through on Palm Sunday where he breaks the bread and that's really what he was saying during the Last Supper. He was saying, this is me. Yeah, right, You've been doing this for hundreds of years, right, well, actually, how long ago was Exus twenty in the thousands, a thousand years. Yeah, so was uh Over, Yeah, fifteen hundred years. So for that long people have been observing Since Leviticus, they've been observing the Passover feast and every year those Jewish boys would have done that, right, And then Jesus finally connects the dots and says, this is the day as he wrote into Jerusalem on the donkey, that would have been Zechariah chapter nine's fulfillment. This is the day so. Many things that Jesus had that perspective of It's like as he's fulfilling prophecies, as he curses the fig tree, right, I mean, you know, just the little things, but he knows this is the day that was set into motion. This is the time, it's during your lifetime. And so yeah, I saw once again. I'm referencing the Chosen twice this week. But this was one of the most uncomfortable things because you know, what the Chosen does. It's not straight gospel. What it does is it sort of supposes, it feels. It's the storytelling side of it. It's the story where the scripture is silent. It adds like it could have been, It could have went down this way kind of thing, right, But it doesn't contradict anything in the Bible, at least not that I'm aware of. And in terms of like, it doesn't change the facts. Right, So when when this moment did you see that? Did you see this episode? I did not? Okay, there's a moment where Jesus opens the scripture, he reads this, closes it, and he says, this is about me, and all the people who were with him, who are like lifetime friends who known him his birth, they're like, uh, you. Better recant that. They're like, you better change because actually right afterwards, what they did was they decided they wanted to kill they wanted to kill him, and they took them in the back. They were going to throw them off a cliff. And then it says that Jesus walked right through the crowd and nobody touched him, right, they touched him. So in the spirit of the Lord, Jesus said, you're not doing this today, and then today not today, this isn't going to happen, and then everybody just stopped. But anyway, all that to. Say to watch this actually play out, like come on to be in the temple and then to make the claim this is me. Imagine people's reaction, right, So they played that. Out on film, and I'm telling you it was one of the most like wow moments ever. Amazing, It was amazing. Yeah. So that's it. And so one of the things I love is the very same Book of Isaiah that Jesus read yep is word for word the Book of Isaiah that you and I have, which is what we talked about yesterday, right. So I love the fact that Jesus roots his ministry in maybe one of the most trustworthy books in the Bible. So you can trust these things and you can understand that, Hey, if you feel like you're stuck in blindness, if you feel like you're stuck in hopelessness, if you're you're trapped and imprisoned, or whatever the metaphor you use for your life, Jesus said, that's why I'm here, and I'm here for you, and he delighted in it. And so then nothing in his ministry would deviate from that. His ministry expanded from that, but it didn't deviate from that. That was his primary focus was to bring you good news. That's the gospel. The gospel means good news, and yeah, yeah, that's great. So I love the fact that we're reading it from Isaiah. But there's so many things that we didn't even touch on. But you know the verse number three where it says he would give a crown of beauty for ashes. Do you remember that old song by Crystal Louis. Yeah, Beauty for ashes, Strength for fear, gladness from mourning, peace from despair. That's what the lyrics are. So anyway, yeah, look it up. It's called Beauty for Ashes Crystal Lewis, crystalis. But it's written from this verse, yes, And it's the idea that like God can bring beauty from ashes, beauty from broken things, that's what God does. I mean, that's an old sermon in itself. Beauty for ashes could be the name of the sermon. So anyway, a. Lot in there. But that's our time. So we will see you next time, hopefully on the bubble guys. M