“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Isaiah 61:2/Luke 4: 18-19)
The ministry of God’s promised Messiah was very specific and found its absolute and complete fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. Everywhere Jesus went, crowds followed Him. He was teaching the good news of the Kingdom of God. He forgave sin, raised people from the dead, healed the lame and the deaf, cast out demons, and fed thousands with just a few fish and loaves of bread.
Many consider Jesus a good man and teacher, maybe even a prophet. But then, as now, He’s only welcomed into one’s life when He can fulfill an immediate need. All the miracles Jesus performed were proof of His deity, for no one can do such things apart from God Himself. But Jesus came to do much more than heal physical infirmities; He came to heal and transform broken, lost souls—the very heart of man. Most people, however, do not want this part of what He offers because it requires repentance, humility, and dying to self.
However, the Gospel is the good news of God. It originates with God, not with man, and meets man’s deepest need—forgiveness of sins and freedom from the fear of death and God’s judgment—all this through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, when Jesus said, “I have come to preach the Gospel to the poor,” He’s speaking to those who are poor in spirit, those who recognize their complete spiritual emptiness and deep need for God. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5: 3)
Additionally, He releases captives and gives sight to the blind. “Oh! I’m not captive, nor blind,” you might say, but Jesus says we were all born that way. The apostle Paul puts it like this: “There is none that seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” (Romans 3: 11-12)
Jesus promises to free us from this prison of sin and enable us to perceive spiritual truth—something we can’t do unless we surrender our life to Him. Do you feel the weight and anxiety of this oppressive world? Jesus promises peace amidst the turmoil. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (John 14:27)
“Now is the day of salvation, now the acceptable time; God may not give thee the morrow – only the present is thine.” (W.B. Williams – taken from 2 Corinthians 6:2)
