Jesus declares he is the prophesied anointed one from Isaiah 61
Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing to you O Lord, our rock and redeemer.
Are you impatient and find it hard to wait? Especially when you’ve been told something is coming, but you don’t know when and it’s taking longer than expected! Michael and I are currently waiting to sell our house, we don’t know how long it will take and we are impatient as we want to be able to buy one in Cowes and lock in dates! We trust that God has called us to this new ministry and so we must trust in his timing for everything.
David had been anointed by God, via the prophet Samuel, to be King over Israel in his youth when Saul was still King. He waited a very long time before he became King. He endured persecution from Saul as we have heard in the past couple of weeks, but trusted God and did not take things into his own hands, refusing to kill Saul even though Saul was seeking to kill him.
Last week we reflected on how David mourned the death of Saul and his friend Jonathan. He did not immediately seek to become King and at the beginning of 2 Samuel 2 we read, that “in the course of time, David enquired of the Lord” as to his next steps. The Lord told him to go to Hebron and so he did, he settled there with his family and men. He did not take the Kingship by force as often happens, but rather the men of Judah came to him and anointed David King over them.
Over the next few chapters David is in the background as wars between the house of Saul and the house of David play out. There are a range of incidents of death, deceit, intrigue, unkindness, murder and general mayhem! Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth had been made King over the northern tribes after Saul’s death. The conflict seems to have been raged mainly between both King’s commanders of the armies. Joab for David and Abner for Ish-Bosheth. Joab thinks he is acting on David’s behalf, but David is not pleased when he murders Abner, who in fact in chapter 3 had gone over to David’s side and was conferring with all the elders of Israel encouraging them to make David King.
In chapter 4 we read that Ish-Bosheth is murdered by warriors who think they are doing David a favour and that he would be pleased. But again, David is not pleased, he had continued to honour the line of Saul. We later read of David’s kindness in taking the last of Saul’s sons into his palace to care for. Mephibosheth, who was crippled.
After all the mayhem, the stage is ready for David to become King of all Israel. Again, he did not seek the kingship but waited for the Lord’s timing. We read that all the tribes of Israel came to David asking him to be King over all of Israel, not just Judah.
They acknowledge that they are flesh and blood, their ties of kinship are strong, though David is particularly from the tribe of Judah. They acknowledge that David is a proven military leader. From his first victory against Goliath, David had led Israel successfully on their military campaigns until he had to flee from Saul.
But most importantly they acknowledge that David had divine approval. We wonder if the story of his initial anointing by Samuel had been heard and shared at some point. They did know that the Lord was with David in everything he did even protecting him from Sauls attempts to kill him. And David always gave glory to the Lord, as he went to face Goliath he declared that he came against him in the name of the Lord Almighty and that it was the Lord who would deliver him into his hands.
The tribes of Israel acknowledge David’s divine appointment as they say, “the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”
A shepherd was a familiar symbol of the duties of a ruler in the Ancient Near East. Kings and religious leaders were supposed to provide leadership and protection of their flocks like a shepherd, to be trustworthy and show tender care. Often, they failed in this duty, but David was to be an exception.
Maybe David was an exception because he knew who the real shepherd of Israel was. He acknowledges the Lord as his shepherd. If only all leaders acknowledged this and followed the true leader. God is called the shepherd, the Rock of Israel in Genesis 49:24, and in psalm 78:52 he is remembered as the Shepherd who led his people out of Egypt and through the wilderness. And of course we are all familiar with David’s psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd”.
David makes a covenant with the elders of Israel as they anoint and make him King. We don’t have the details of this covenant agreement, but we can assume it was based on the ‘shepherd’ model of leadership – of faithfulness, justice and loving kindness, guarding against the oppression commonly associated with Kingship. You might remember Samuel warned the Israelites that they may be oppressed when they asked for a King, for Kings will demand taxes and make people slaves. David would be a different King – chosen as one after the Lord’s own heart.
As David is made King, we see unity restored in the tribes of Israel – for a while anyway!
So, after a long wait, David becomes the Shepherd ruler over all of Israel. He is remembered as the greatest King. But he is not perfect and there is a much longer wait until the one and only perfect long-awaited Messiah comes to shepherd and rescue all people of every nation, not just the Israelites.
In John chapter 10 Jesus declares himself as the good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. He will bring in all the sheep and there will be one flock. As the sheep follow him, he will give them eternal life.
Jesus had been spoken of as the one true Messiah King even before his birth by the Angel Gabriel. At his birth the Angels appeared to the ‘shepherds’ who were watching over their flocks that a Saviour had been born in the town of David, one of David’s line. But like David it was many years before his time came to lead the people. Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit at his baptism. He is led into the desert where he is tested by the devil and then emerges ready to start his ministry.
David was made King we are told at the age of 30. Jesus was also 30 when he began his ministry.
As we heard from our gospel reading from Luke 4, Jesus goes to the synagogue in Nazareth where he had lived as a child and declares that he is the Lord’s anointed one as spoken through the prophet Isaiah. No doubt he had been in this synagogue many times as a child or youth, but now in God’s timing Jesus declares and begins his mission to proclaim the good news.
He had been handed the scroll of Isaiah, but it seems he was able to choose which verses to read. And he reads this from Isaiah 61;
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus was and is still the good shepherd. He is the King of Kings, not an oppressive ruler but one who came to bring freedom, to bring healing, to preach a message of good news. Jesus declares that he himself is the fulfilment of this prophecy.
Jesus leaves Nazareth where he is rejected and shows how he is indeed the anointed one. He heals the sick, he feeds the hungry, he makes the blind to see, he preaches good news. He proclaims the year of the Lord’s favour. Jesus could be referring to the year of Jubilee as described in Leviticus 25:10. It was to occur every 50 years in Israel when the land was to lay fallow, all debts forgiven and all slaves free. Jeremiah 34:14 suggests that the year of Jubilee had not generally been adhered to by the people.
However, through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus offers true freedom from slavery, and forgiveness of all our debts. He is indeed the good shepherd who loves his flock and longs for all to follow him and receive freedom for all eternity.
David was anointed by God to be shepherd and King over Israel; he waited many years for the fulfilment of the initial anointing.
Jesus was sent by his Father and anointed by the Holy Spirit to bring good news to all people and to lay down his life for the sheep bringing healing and freedom.
We can choose to follow the good shepherd and receive abundant life in him, both now and for eternity. We also wait for Jesus to return to bring final justice and peace for this world. We don’t know how long he will take, but as we wait, he anoints us with the Holy Spirit and sends us out to preach the good news and pray for healing and show justice and care for the oppressed.
Let’s pray: Lord we thankyou for the example of David, a man after your heart who you called to shepherd your people. May we like David, acknowledge you as the good shepherd, may we put our trust in you, especially when we are impatient and find it hard to wait for you to answer our prayers. May we shepherd and care for those people you put in our trust and proclaim and live the good news as we wait for your return. In the name of Jesus, the good shepherd, we pray. Amen.