Luke 4: 16Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read, 17the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:
18“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
because He has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Mee to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”f
20Then He rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him, 21and He began by saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
This was a direct quotation of Isaiah 61:1. The book of Isaiah was initially addressed to the exiles, as they were returning to Jerusalem, and promising them future greatness. Their Messiah at that time was Cyrus the Great, who freed them from captivity. However, Jesus, by proclaiming these words, applied them to Himself, and took upon Himself the title of Messiah.
And rightly so. Right through the history of Israel, God has done this. He has set the captives free, He has released the oppressed, He has cared for the poor, and the sick. He freed them from Egypt, and from their various captivities since then. And finally, His Son has done the same for us, and for all His followers.
When Jesus started His ministry, the nation of Israel was under the government of the Romans. Many thought He would deliver them physically, He would lead a rebellion, and set up an earthly kingdom, and Israel would be great again. We hear this today with regard to the politics of various countries. If only this would happen..and our country will be great again.
But Jesus’ ministry and His goal was not political, it was spiritual. He came to be a sacrifice, and to save us from the wages of sin. To present us as worthy before His Father by His imputed righteousness. He came to preach His good news to the poor, and the down trodden. To release those in captivity…not necessarily physically, but those bound down in chains to anything that imprisoned them…to give the blind sight. How many are blinded by false religion? They do not worship God, but an idol of their own making, or they have been deceived to believe their idol is God. He came to release the oppressed, and to comfort those who are broken hearted.
And this He has done. Many have heard His words and believed, and some have given their lives as a witness to what He has meant to them, and what He has wrought in their lives. Their lives have born good fruit. Christianity is the most persecuted of all religions, even today, but those imprisoned or killed count it an honour that they are able to witness for the One who has given all for them.
Jesus issued us a commandment. That we carry on this work, that we proclaim His good news to the whole world. And He also said we should love God, and love humanity. To love humanity, we need to proclaim the good news to the poor. We also need to set the captives free (figuratively and spiritually as well as physically). Also we need to restore sight to the blind (again figuratively and spiritually as well as physically)
If we love our neighbour, we cannot help but do these things. This also shows we love God. Love is the sign of our obedience.
He has set the captives (us) free. He wants us to proclaim His Gospel so that others will be set free as well. He wants us to show the world His love.
As He did long ago.
He set the captives free.
Light of Christ 