Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the surrounding countryside. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by all. Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:14-19 — New English Translation)
At the very beginning of His ministry Jesus announced what He had come to do. He did not come into the world to be treated like an earthly king, to live in a palace, or to gain anything for Himself — He came to help the troubled and oppressed. That is why, on His first return to Nazareth after starting His ministry, He opened a scroll of Isaiah and read a prophecy about the Messiah out loud, and then made the bold declaration that He was the fulfillment of that prophecy.
For some it is easy to look at the description of the group of people that Jesus came to help and think that they are not included… they are not poor, captives, blind or oppressed. But this would be a huge mistake. We all, in some way, have those problems and need the Lord Jesus and His work on the cross to save us. No one can say they are not blind to anything, or that we are never captives to any negative thought or fear, or that we are never poor in any way, or that we are never oppressed. We fight these attitudes and feelings every day, and only with Jesus’ help can we ever hope to be free and strong.
When Jesus mentions the year of the Lord’s favor at the end of this passage, he is alluding to the Year of Jubilee — every fiftieth year in Israel, when all debt was cancelled, slaves were freed, and ancestral lands were returned to their original families. Jubilee signified a new start for people, which is precisely what Jesus came to do, physically and spiritually. The difference now is that we don’t have to wait fifty years to start over, we can do it anytime we want — all we need is to have faith and to believe in what Jesus promised.
Don’t put up with poverty, captivity, blindness or oppression — the Lord Jesus came into the world to set us free from these things, and paid a high price to make it a reality. Grab a hold of this and fight for your life to change.
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