Sermon Tone Analysis

We have been looking at the passage of scripture in Luke 4:18-19, where Jesus was in the synagogue at Nazareth.

The scroll of Isaiah was handed to Him and He found the place in Isaiah 61:1-2 and read it.

Then He sat down and declared that He was the Messiah (The Anointed One) who had come to declare the Year of Jubilee.

We have learned that the Year of Jubilee, which occurred every 50 years, brought *liberty*, *restoration*, *release*, *rest*, *thanksgiving*, and *faith* to God’s people.

Jesus said that His mission was to:

1.  Preach the Good News to the Poor—Poverty (Physical & Spiritual)

2. Heal the Brokenhearted—Sorrow~/Grief (Emotional)

3.  Proclaim Freedom for the Captives—Bondage (Spiritual)

4. Recovery of Sight for the Blind—Blindness (Physical & Spiritual)

5.  *Release the Oppressed*—Oppressed (Physical & Spiritual)

In this final message on this passage we want to look at the phrase *to release the oppressed (prisoners)*.

Luke 4: 18-19 (NIV) “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to *release the oppressed*, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Isaiah 61:1-2 (NIV) The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and *release from darkness for the prisoners*, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

 

Two weeks ago we looked at the phrase proclaiming freedom to the captives.

At first, it appears that the phrases *proclaim freedom for the prisoners* and release the oppressed (NIV) are the same.

Or in Isaiah *proclaim freedom for the captives* and release from darkness for the prisoners (NIV) are the same.

However, as we look at the words that are used we will discover that they are different and have different meanings.

We learned that a captive is one who is carried or lead away against their will.

We saw how Israel had been carried into captivity twice (Egypt & Babylon).

They lived in the land as slaves, yet they were not in prison at the time.

A *prisoner* on the other hand does not have to be a captive.

A *prisoner* is one who is *bound* or *tied up* and *put in prison*.

Often, the Hebrew word /asar/ is used to describe the “binding” of prisoners with cords and various chains (e.g.

Joseph bound up his brother Simeon Gen. 42:24).

In fact, the first use of the word is in Gen. 39:20, which tells how Joseph was “imprisoned” after being wrongfully accused by Potiphar’s wife.

What is one of the greatest stories of the Old Testament that talks about a man being *bound* up and put in *prison*?

Hint:  he was a very strong man, he killed many Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey, he solved riddles, and he was able to break any binding put on him until the secret of his strength was discovered— that his hair had never been cut.

Why of course—Samson!   Samson was bond with new ropes (Judg.

15:10, 12-13), yet when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, he broke them like they were nothing more than flax (which was used as thread on a spinning wheel).

He misled Delilah as she asked for the secret of his strength, telling her to “*bind*” him with bowstrings (Judges 16:7 NLT, NKJV) and new ropes (Judges 16:11), none of which could hold him.

King Zedekiah was captured by the Babylonians and *bound*, then put in *prison*.

So here is an example of both a captive and a prisoner.

Jer 52:11 (NIV) Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, *bound* him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in *prison* till the day of his death.

But Jesus would not have read this passage from Isaiah without knowing that what He was saying might seem repetitious to some.

So what was Isaiah saying in this verse?

He was trying to make sure that they understood that the Messiah would come to not only set them free from their captivity to sin but also to release them from the prison that they were in of bondage to sin.

The Hebrew word /asar/ that is used for *bind* is also the same word that is used to tie up horses or donkeys or harness oxen with a yoke.

*631 **אָסַר* [/’acar/ ~/aw·*sar*~/] v.

A primitive root; TWOT 141; GK 673; 72 occurrences; AV translates as “bind” 47 times, “prison” four times, “tie” four times, “prisoner” twice, and translated miscellaneously 15 times.

*1* to tie, bind, imprison.

1a (Qal).

/1a1/ to tie, bind.

/1a2/ to tie, harness.

/1a3/ to bind (with cords).

/1a4/ to gird (rare and late).

/1a5/ to begin the battle, make the attack.

/1a6/ of obligation of oath (figurative).

1b (Niphal) to be imprisoned, bound.

1c (Pual) to be taken prisoner.

*TO BIND *

/˒asar/ (אָסַר, 631), “to bind, imprison, tie, gird, to harness.”

This word is a common Semitic term, found in both ancient Akkadian and Ugaritic, as well as throughout the history of the Hebrew language.

The word occurs around 70 times in its verbal forms in the Hebrew Old Testament. . . .

The common word for “tying up” for security and safety, /˒asar/ is often used to indicate the tying up of horses and donkeys (2 Kings 7:10).

Similarly, oxen are “harnessed” to carts (1 Sam.

6:7, 10). . .

*/‘asar/ *also refers* to those who are spiritually “bound” *(Ps.

146:7; Isa.

49:9; 61:1).

[i]

 

Jesus reads from Isaiah 61:1, 2 and inserts a phrase from Isaiah 58:6, following the Septuagint version (Septuagint or LXX was a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures named after the 70 translators.

This is why sometimes the there is a difference between the Old Testament passage and how it is quoted in the New Testament.

In the New Testament, it is usually quoted using the LXX.)

Isaiah 58:6 (NIV) “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and *untie the cords of the yoke*, to set the oppressed free and *break every yoke*?

* *

*6585* עֹל (/˓ol/): n.masc.; ≡ Str 5923; TWOT 1628a—LN 6.4-6.9 *yoke*, i.e., *usually wooden bar and frame with straps, used on beasts of burden for plowing and pulling loads* (Nu 19:2), note: often as a reference to oppression or burden, see also domain LN 22.21–22.28[ii]

“In prophetic writings, the yoke of bondage was generally associated with divine judgment (Lam 1:14), so that deliverance was represented as God breaking the yoke that had enslaved Israel (Is 9:4; 10:27; 14:25; 58:6; Jer 2:20; 5:5). . .

In the NT, Jesus transforms “yoke” into a positive term by calling on people to take up his yoke, which is not burdensome, and he will give them rest for their souls (Mt 11:29–30).”[iii]

Now I think we are starting to see the true meaning of what Jesus was saying.

As the Messiah He came to not only *preach* the good news to the poor, *heal* the broken hearted, *proclaim* freedom to the captives, *bring* recovery of sight to the blind, but also to *release* those who have are *bound* by the yoke of sin--“every yoke.”

He came with the authority of God that He had the power to not only forgive sins but also to set us free from its oppression and weight.

Have you ever felt like you have a harness (yoke) around your neck?

Even as a Christian?

There is something that keeps you bound and drags you around like you are part of a team of horses?

You want to break free, but you cannot.

Jesus came to set us free from that yoke of bondage—whatever it is!

Jesus said that He did not come to put a heavy burden on us, but to bring us rest from our burden.

As we yoke up with Him, He carries the burden and sets us free.

Matt 11: 28-29 (NIV) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

What a paradox it is—to be yoked with Christ means freedom!

That is because He is the one who carries the load, not us.

To be yoked to Jesus is to make ourselves subject to His direction and guidance, learning from Him and being obedient to Him.

It is in our obedience to God’s Word and His Spirit that we truly learn to be set free from the bondage of sin.

Here is another great exchange—He takes our yoke upon Himself, and gives us His yoke that is light so we can have rest for our souls.

What amazing grace our God gives to us!

 

Now let’s not miss the symbolism here in using the word yoke—God was in an amazing way demonstrating how He would set us free.

The yoke is a piece of wood that was a bar that would go across the backs of the animals so that they could carry the burden of a wagon or plow or heavy load.

There was a bar placed across the back of Jesus when He was lead to the hill of Golgotha to be crucified!

Do you see that Jesus took the yoke of sin upon Himself when He was crucified upon the cross!

He bore the heavy burden that we were carrying and it was nailed it the tree.

“As further humiliation for the victim and as a deterrent to potential offenders, the person condemned to crucifixion was first flogged, then ordered to carry the horizontal crossbeam to the place of execution, where it was hoisted onto the vertical pole.

Accordingly, Jesus carried his own crossbeam (John 19:17), though he was later relieved by Simon of Cyrene (Matt.

27:32 par.

Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26).”[1]

“. .

.the cross is the symbol of our union with Christ, not simply in virtue of our following his example, but in virtue of what he has done for us and in us.

In his substitutionary death for us on the cross, we died ‘in him’ (/cf./ 2 Cor.

5:14), and ‘our old man is crucified with him’, that by his indwelling Spirit we might walk in newness of life (Rom.

6:4ff.;

Gal.

2:20; 5:24ff.; 6:14), abiding ‘in him’.”[2]