Luke 19:10

For the Son of Man came to Seek & Save that which was lost.

Luke 4:14-22

Then Jesus returned in the power of the Holy Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.  And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.  And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 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; 19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.  20 Then He closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  

21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  22 So all bore witness to Him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And thy said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

The six things the coming Messiah was anointed to do were:

1. Preach the gospel to the poor

2. Heal the brokenhearted

3. Proclaim liberty to the captives

4. Recover sight to the blind

5. Set at liberty those who are oppressed

6. Proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord
   

Poor

When verse 18 talks about the poor, besides not having lots of “stuff”, we often hear that it means being humble, meek, tenderhearted. It does mean all of that but it also means lacking resource, not just physical resources like money, but rather spiritual, mental, and emotional resources. 

The word of the Lord and intimacy through prayer are what rebuild our drained bucket, our poverty. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3 

Have you ever felt so drained that you just couldn’t pray, or to busy to read the Bible? What changed?

Broken-hearted

The word broken-hearted means injured or wounded. Our Emotions break just like bones do. 

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34:17-19

Have you ever heard of kintsukuroi? It is a Japanese artistic tradition that takes broken pottery and cements them back together so that they can be used again. However, they are cemented back together using … Gold. And the vessel is more the treasure for the breaking. 

God is the Potter that created you and the Gold that is renewing your vessel into a treasure.

Did you know that God treasures your breaks? 

Set the Captives Free

Liberty to the captives speaks of deliverance from sin and bondage, relationally, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.  

It highlights the difference that healing from brokenness is different than deliverance from bondage. Sometimes we are in bondage to our past. 

For instance, after an especially brutal car accident, some people have a very difficult time getting back behind the wheel of a car because of the fear of the experience. Also, PTSD is a very real bondage to anyone who has experienced Trauma. 

Some people have a tendency to say to people, “Just get in the car already!” But God is so much more compassionate than that, He wants to set them free, whether it is relationally, physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. 

How can we be His hands and feet to someone trapped in trauma? 

Sight to the blind can be physical or spiritual blindness.

Pastor Steve described how different and debilitating blindness was in historic Israeli times. No solutions were available to restore blindness and there were so many causes. A blind person did not have quality of life, they barely had life. Now, that is the same with spiritual blindness. But many with the disease of spiritual blindness don’t know they are blind. Christ is the light of the world and He lights our spiritual world. 

What has God been shining a light on in your heart’s basement?

Liberty to the Oppressed

Our ministry is to people who are in an absolutely hopeless state, who are powerless to overcome their situation.  Our ministry is to people who are enslaved, overwhelmed, terrorized by situations, behaviors and life circumstances.

What can tangible thing can we do right now to lift up those oppressed around us? 

Declare the Year of Our Lord

The Year of the Lord was a year of Jubilee that occurred every 50 years. If debts occurred, one could sell their land or themselves to pay the debts. But on the Year of Jubilee, all debts were erased. Jesus was saying that He is the Jubilee, a never-ending Jubilee.

What needs a reset button, in your life?

What did Jesus just say about himself?

When Jesus read from Isaiah and then spoke verse 21, He was declaring Himself, the completion of this Prophecy, The Messiah.

What prevents people from believing He is the Messiah?

We are Commissioned

When Jesus ascended to heaven, he commissioned us to work together with Him and with one another to fulfill His mission on earth.  We do this 1) according to the Will of the Father, 2) by the Word of the Son 3) with the Work of the Holy Spirit.

The Questions

• What was your Ah-Ha Moment?

• What has God Been Talking to you about lately?

• What is the next step God wants you to take?