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 liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” [luke 4:18-19]
when Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah in luke 4, he is point-blank telling the jewish leaders of nazareth who he is and what he has come to do.
- by the Holy Spirit Jesus is proclaiming good news for the poor–not the privileged and rich.
- Jesus is proclaiming freedom for the hopeless who are enslaved to sin.
- Jesus is proclaiming sight to those who are physically and spiritually blinded to God.
- Jesus is proclaiming freedom to those who suffer oppression.
- Jesus is proclaiming that God’s kingdom is coming, that sin and death will be crushed, that the time is favorable and the day of salvation is now (2 cor 6:2).
we are always proclaiming. we proclaim how great a new show is, or how good the take-out is from a restaurant. we proclaim the glories of our favorite sports team or athlete. when we proclaim these things, people will not want to kill us or sever a relationship because of it.
but when we start proclaiming Christ, it will cause either worship or stumbling (1 cor 1:23). the result of Jesus’ proclamations in luke 4:18-19 resulted in them wanting to throw him off a cliff.
we may lose family members when we proclaim Christ and him crucified (matt 10:34-36). we may have friends turn on us, we may lose jobs and livelihoods, we may lose our lives.
but…what we gain is so much more –
we get to be front row to watch the enslaved being set free, the blind see, the oppressed released. but more than all of this-we get Christ!
therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. (heb 13:13-15)
~ conor eastman