Luke’s account of Jesus’ public ministry opens with a sermon in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:16–30), introducing four themes that characterize Jesus’ ministry as a whole: (1) Jesus’ authority as Messiah to “proclaim liberty to the captives” and actually “to set [them] at liberty” (v. 18b); (2) Jesus’ saving power to perform miracles; (3) Jesus’ willingness to extend salvation to the unclean, the outcast, and even to Gentiles;
Page 27