The year of the Lord's Favor (Mark 6:1-6)

[Stephan Choe]

November 23, 2024

Key Verses, Mark 6:2: “And when the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many that heard marveled, saying, Whence did he get this? And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? And such mighty deeds done by his hands?”

Luke 4:17-21: “Then the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. And when he opened the book, he found the place where it is written (Isaiah 61:1-2):

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor(or: grace).

And when he closed the book, he gave it to the servant and sat down. And every eye in the synagogue looked upon him. And he began to speak to them: Today this word of Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus Christ came into the world as the Savior to save us. The first message of Jesus was the proclamation of the year of the Lord's favor. He announced that with his coming the year of God's favor had begun. All who believe Jesus as God's Son will experience the pardon of all their south, become God's children and receive God's kingdom. This is truly good news for all the people of the world.

1. The proclamation of the year of grace (1-2)

 According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus began his ministry in Nazareth.

 Everyone loves the city where they grew up. Timothee, my second son, was born in Dortmund, but when he was 3 years old he moved with us to Bochum and grew up in Bochum. That's why he became a VFL Bochum football fan.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem but grew up in Nazareth. That's why he loved Nazareth more than any other city. He wants the residents of Nazareth to be the first to hear the good news of God’s favor and to become children of God.

That's why he visited Nazareth with his disciples and wanted to lead the residents to believe in the gospel.

Luke's Gospel chapter 4 tells us in detail what he did there. He announced the fulfillment of the year of the Lord's favor in the synagogue of Nazareth:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

And when he closed the book, he gave it to another and sat down. And every eye in the synagogue looked upon him. And he began to speak to them:

<Today this word of Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing>”(Lk. 4:18-21; cf. Isaiah 42:7, 3; Moses 25:10).

To understand this announcement of the year of the Lord's favor, let us learn the story of the year of the Lord's favor.

Moses had already ordained the year of favor as follows: “And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim a release in the land for all who live therein; it shall be a year of remission for you. Then every one of you shall return to his possessions and to his family” (Leviticus 25:10).

So all debts should be canceled every 50 years. All those who had become slaves to others because of debts should be set free. All debts should be canceled. All land taken because of the debt was to be returned. That was the commandment of the year of favor.

But in Israel's history this commandment has never been properly observed. And we can well understand why this commandment of God could not be kept.

About seven hundred years before Christ, Isaiah prophesied in Isa. 61 the coming of the year of the Lord's favor:

“The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and freedom to those in bondage; 2a to proclaim a year of favor from the LORD” (Isaiah 61:1-2a).

Isaiah's announcement then transferred the regulation of the year of favor in the 25th chapter of Leviticus to Israel's current situation. His message was no longer aimed at impoverished individuals, but at all of Israel, in order to bring about a comprehensive end to all hardships in the desolate post-exile period and thus the beginning of the final period of salvation (cf. Isa. 60-62).

Now Jesus appears and announces that Isaiah's prophecy in Isa. 61:1-2 is fulfilled and the year of favor has begun with the appearance of Jesus:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom and freedom to those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4: 18-21)

So Isaiah's message was fulfilled in the truest sense through the coming of Christ.

The year of favor has begun with the appearance of Jesus: prisoners will be free, the blind will be able to see again and the broken will be free and single again. For Jesus, the true King and the Messiah; he accomplishes all this and restores the kingdom of God.

God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and sent him into the world. He is the anointed one, therefore the Christ and the Savior. He came into the world to proclaim the year of favor with the Gospel to all people: He proclaims to people freedom from sin and the power of death. He restores the eyes of the spiritually blind so that they can recognize Jesus as their Savior and Christ and see the wonderful kingdom of God. He wants to set free of the broken, desperate people and make them happy.

Jesus proclaims the gospel to all people so that they may be freed from the power of sin and the power of death and receive the kingdom of heaven. So he announces to everyone the year of the Lord's favor.

Now the carpenter's son Joseph stands there and says: "Today this word is fulfilled."

Those who hear it are amazed. There are many prisoners among the people, many are blind or otherwise ill and there is a lot of suffering among the people. But in their eyes, Jesus is a simple person. How can he fulfill this word?

They all don't understand what Jesus is saying.

But the year of the Lord's favor is different from what people hope for. The year of grace that Jesus proclaims is the real blessing of God.

2. Rejection or acceptance of Jesus? (3-6)

 Unfortunately, the people of Nazareth viewed Jesus as human only. At first they were amazed at Jesus' gracious message. But they began to treat Jesus as human, saying, “Is he not the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us too?”

They were offended at Jesus.

Jesus was amazed at their unbelief.

We should now decide whether we reject Jesus or accept him and experience his year of grace.

How should we behave towards Jesus? Do we want to reject him? Or do we want to accept it and enjoy the year of the Lord's favor? Rejecting the grace of Jesus is the fatal path to damnation. But accepting the grace of Jesus is the way of God's blessing.

Do we not want to receive the year of the Lord's favor through Jesus Christ?

Are we trapped and entangled in sin? Does a sin or mistake block our view of God?

Are we blind? Do we no longer see the right path to peace? Are we taking a wrong path that will lead our lives to the abyss?

Or are we broken? Are we worried about anything? Don't we know what our future will be like? Do conflicts with someone weigh on us? Do we have problems in our marriage that are strangling us?

It is precisely to us that Jesus announces the year of the Lord's favor. He is the one who wants to lead us out of our sin, our mistakes and our addiction. He wants to give us divine forgiveness, deliverance and blessing. He wants to take all our burdens off our shoulders and carry them for us. He wants to free us again from all worries and all captivity and lead us to the path of freedom and blessing. For God loves us so much that he gave his Son Jesus Christ for our sins and guilt (John 3:16). He wants to faithfully accompany us throughout our earthly life and make all things that happen to us for the best (Rom. 8:28).

He warmly accepts us as His children and blesses us with heavenly peace and fullness of life. He wants to give us the kingdom of heaven.

That is why we should accept Jesus as our Savior and Son of God and thank him for his grace.