So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “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 heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (Luke 4:16-19).

Why did the Jews kill Jesus? They killed Him: because He claimed to be King – because He claimed to be the Son of God – because He preached to the poor (the truth) – because He healed the brokenhearted – because He proclaimed liberty – because He gave sight to the blind – because He came to set at liberty those who are oppressed. The temple leaders stirred up the people against the Messiah that came to set them free. By His death and resurrection their freedom came, and with His ascension their Help (the Holy Spirit) was sent. The Jews had Jesus killed by the Romans because their hearts were against God and God’s order and to protect their order.

Jesus had come to give the people direct access to God and forgiveness of their sins. There would be no need for the temple sacrifices and the once a year trip into the Holy of Holies. A common man would have access to the inner sanctuary of God. God was fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel chapter 34. The temple leadership had cruelly represented God to the people and His Son had come to set things in God’s order. A man that was a tax collector was given a personal audience with the Son of God, as were prostitutes and reprobates of all types. His followers ate without washing their hands and picked grain on the Sabbath. They did not heed the voices of the temple leaders, except for the one that betrayed Jesus.

Jesus was not long in the grave, but rose, and ascended into glory. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus “(Ephesians 2:4-7). He made (past-tense – already done) us to sit in heavenly places together with Christ (because He is rich in love and mercy), and that is just a start. In the ages to come He will show us exceeding more riches of His grace. By His love and mercy we sit with Christ in the heavenly places and in the ages to come (eternal) we will be shown the extent of the riches of His grace.

The Jews killed Jesus because He threatened their oppressive perceived authority, with His teachings on the servant ministry. The temple leaders loved their titles and prancing around like kings before the people, and Jesus said, “…he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves” (Luke 22:26b). The temple leaders loved to call people before them and make them stand while they accused them. The Church is the people and the head is Jesus. By God’s mercy we sit in heavenly places with God, and nobody shall take God’s mercy from us to make us sit under a man or stand in their judgement. The Jews killed Jesus to maintain their high seats, but no man sits over the heavenly places where we sit in Christ Jesus joined at the right hand of the Father.

© 2008, 2017 Tim D. Coulter Sr.