In the foregoing message we saw that in the fulfillment of certain Old Testament prophecies Christ is both God and man. Christ is the God-man for the purpose of bringing God into man. As the God-man, He has prepared the way for God to dispense Himself through humanity into His chosen people. If we have an inclusive view concerning Christ as the One who is both God and man, we shall see that He, the very God, became a man so that God may have a way to dispense Himself into us. For this dispensing it was necessary for Christ to carry out His ministry. Let us now consider some prophecies related to Christ’s ministry.
In His ministry Christ is the Lord before whom Elijah came to prepare His way. This is prophesied in Malachi 4:5 and 6: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” This word is fulfilled in Matthew 3:1-3 and 17:10-13. Malachi 4:5 prophesied that Elijah would come. When John the Baptist was conceived, it was said that he would go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17). Hence, John may be considered “Elijah, who is about to come” (Matt. 11:14).
According to Matthew 3:3, John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord, to make His paths straight. This was to change the mind of the people, to turn their mind to the Lord and to make their heart right, to cause every part and avenue of their heart to be straightened by the Lord through repentance for the kingdom (Luke 1:16-17). John the Baptist prepared the way so that Christ could come to dispense God into all those who would be called by Him.
In Matthew 17:10 some of the Lord’s disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” The matter of Elijah coming first is according to Malachi 4:5-6. In Matthew 17:11 the Lord replied, “Elijah indeed is coming and will restore all things.” This will be fulfilled at the time of the great tribulation, when Elijah will be one of the two witnesses (Rev. 11:3-4). In Matthew 17:12 the Lord continued, “But I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished.” This refers to John the Baptist (Matt. 17:13), who came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:13-17) and was rejected (Matt. 11:18) and beheaded (Matt. 14:3-12). On the one hand, Elijah has come; on the other hand, he has not yet come in full. John the Baptist was Elijah, but he was not Elijah in full. The full coming of Elijah will take place in the future.
In the Bible the fulfillment of prophecy is often like this. First there is a partial fulfillment, then the complete fulfillment. In His ministry Christ was the One before whom Elijah came to prepare His way.
Isaiah 61:1-2a says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” This is a prophecy of Christ being the Lord’s Anointed to bring good news to the poor and to proclaim the Lord’s jubilee. This prophecy is fulfilled in Luke 4:18-19. The Lord came to Nazareth where He had been brought up. According to His custom, He entered on the Sabbath day into the synagogue and stood up to read. The book, the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, was handed to Him. He opened the scroll and found the place where it was written concerning Him as the One anointed to bring good news to the poor and to proclaim the jubilee. After reading this portion, He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. Then He declared, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21).
The Spirit of the Lord was upon Christ because God had anointed Him to bring good news to the poor. The Greek word rendered “bring good news” in Luke 4:18 is euaggelizo,which means to evangelize, to announce good news. To preach the gospel was the first commission of the Lord as God’s anointed One, the Messiah. The good news was to be preached to the poor, that is, to the poor in heavenly, spiritual, and divine things (Luke 12:21; Rev. 3:17; see Matt. 5:3).
Luke 4:18 speaks of captives, the blind, and those who are oppressed. The captives are prisoners of war, as exiles and prisoners under Satan’s bondage (Isa. 42:7). The blind include those who are physically and spiritually blind (Zeph. 1:17; John 9:39-41; 1 John 2:11; Rev. 3:17). Recovery of sight is related to release from the power of Satan (Acts 26:18). The Greek word translated “oppressed” comes from a verb meaning to break in pieces (Matt. 12:20). Those who are oppressed are those oppressed under Satan in sickness or in sin (Luke 13:11-13; John 8:34).
In Luke 4:19 we see that Christ was anointed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. This acceptable year is the New Testament age typified by the year of jubilee (Lev. 25:8-17), the time when God would accept the returned captives of sin (Isa. 49:8; 2 Cor. 6:2) and when the oppressed under the bondage of sin would enjoy the release of God’s salvation.
In Luke 4:18 and 19 Christ proclaims the jubilee of grace. The term “the acceptable year of the Lord” denotes the jubilee described in Leviticus 25. According to this chapter, the year of jubilee was a time when slaves were released and property was returned to the rightful owners. Hence, the year of jubilee was a year of release, freedom, and return of lost property. Those who had been sold into slavery were released during the year of jubilee.
Every Israelite was allotted a portion of the good land, which typifies Christ. Therefore, to lose one’s right to the good land is to lose the right to enjoy Christ. Every fallen human being has lost the right to enjoy God as the tree of life and the right to enjoy Christ as the good land. Furthermore, every fallen one has sold himself to sin, the world, and Satan. All fallen people, therefore, have lost their right to enjoy Christ and have sold themselves to negative things. But the year of jubilee indicates that we can be released from bondage and recover the right to enjoy Christ as our portion. At the start of His ministry Christ declared the jubilee, the acceptable year of the Lord. This indicates that the entire New Testament age is actually a single year, the year of jubilee, the year for Jehovah to accept fallen human beings.
The proclamation of the jubilee is the real gospel, the rich and whole gospel. A partial gospel tells people that they are sinners destined for hell, but Jesus loved them and died on the cross for them, and that if they believe in Him they will have eternal life. This is only a part of the jubilee. The jubilee is a proclamation of release from slavery and of the recovery of our spiritual birthright. In the jubilee we are recovered to the enjoyment of the Triune God as our portion. Our birthright, which had been lost, has been recovered in the New Testament jubilee. In the jubilee we are also released from bondage. Once we were captives, but we have been released from slavery and brought back to the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
According to Leviticus 25, in the year of jubilee everyone was restored to his original condition. Since the New Testament age is the real year of jubilee, this means that God will restore us to our original condition. In Adam we became lost, and we sold ourselves to sin as slaves. But Christ has come and has brought in the acceptable year of the Lord. This acceptable year is, in the New Testament, the fulfillment of the Old Testament jubilee. In this year we are released, and our lost birthright is recovered, redeemed, and restored.