“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 4:18-19
This scripture from Isaiah, quoted by Jesus, is so filled with truth and understanding. It gives us some insight to the heart of God. Look who he came for: the oppressed, the broken hearted, the poor, the blind. Did you fall in to one of these categories? Well, Jesus came for you. The phrase, “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,” well, this phrase would have been understood by the hearers of Jesus on that day. They knew it referred to what was called the Year of Jubilee and a special time in Israel every 50 years where all debt was forgiven and all prisoners were set free. Jesus came to proclaim that that year would be from that time forward. We live in the Year of Jubilee by faith in Jesus Christ. There is one last phrase that Jesus didn’t quote from the original Isaiah text. It is the last statement from that verse that reads “and the day of vengeance of our God” That is because that day will not come until the end and He ushers in that day to the enemies of God. So if the heart of God is for the broken hearted, the poor, the blind and the oppressed, than so is mine.
God Bless You this day,
Pastor Rick
Tomorrow’s Reading: Gen. 12-14; Luke 5
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My wife & I saw a recurrent theme in the first few chapters of Luke – that being; even though we find favor with God, our lives will still experience pain & hardship here on earth.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the Spirit leads us beside quiet waters (for a time of rest or refreshment – Ps. 23:2), while other times we are led into the desert for times of testing (as Jesus was in Luke 4:1-2). We shouldn’t be surprised (caught off guard – 1 Peter 4:12) when we face painful trials – they are a normal part of our Christian life. When we face tough times it is good to remember that God has not forsaken us, quite the contrary, He disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:1-11). Luke 1:30 proclaims that even though Mary found favor with God, we know that she experienced much pain and sorrow in her life. None of us is exempt – it is a normal part of our Christian experience. We are reminded to not lose hope, submit to our heavenly Father, for some day the difficult experiences will produce for us a harvest of righteousness and peace (Heb. 12:11)!