Luke the physician shared how Jesus, “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 for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, ...”, and in chapter four and verse eighteen of his book Luke shared how Jesus read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” where we read:
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 preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
The verse reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;” Luke began with the words, “the Spirit” or “the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit who is coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Son” “of the Lord” which means “belonging to the One to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, and the title given to God the Messiah” “is upon me” which means “is on the Messiah”, “because he has anointed me to preach” or “since and on account that God has consecrated the Him to the Messianic office and furnished him with the necessary powers for its administration in order to herald, announce and bring forth” “the gospel” which means “the glad tidings and good news of God” “to the poor” or “toward people who are begging, asking, destitute of wealth and Christian virtues and eternal values”. Luke shared how Jesus read from Isaiah's prophetic words concerning the Messiah that declared He would be “consecrated” not only to “administer” the office of the Christ but also to proclaim the “good news” of the Kingdom of God to the world.
The verse continues, “he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, ...” Luke added the words, “he has sent me” which means “God has appointed, discharged and set at liberty the Messiah” “to heal the brokenhearted” or “to cure and make whole people who have been crushed, torn, tread down and trampled upon”, “to preach deliverance” which means “to herald, announce and bring forth release from bondage or imprisonment, forgiveness and pardon” “to the captives” or “to prisoners”, “and recovering of sight” which means “and restoration of sight” “to the blind” or “to the opaque as if smoky or physically and spiritually people who are unable to see”, “to set at liberty” which means “to order, send away and dismiss through release, forgiveness or pardon” “them that are bruised” or “people who are broken, shattered and smitten”. Luke shared how Jesus read where the Messiah was to “cure and make whole” people who have been crushed, torn and trampled upon. He also was sent to declare “freedom, forgiveness and pardon” to people who are “bound”, restoration of sight to people who “cannot see” both physically and spiritually and “set free” people who who have been “broken and smitten down”.
When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we see how the traits prophesied about the Messiah were carried out completely by Jesus. Jesus was and is the answer to the problems people encounter. God's Spirit was upon Him, and He was given the ability to declare the riches of God's Kingdom to those who have little in this life. He can bind up people who have their “hearts broken”. He declares “freedom and pardon” to people who are “prisoners” and have been “smitten down”. God loves people, and He knew they would endure great hardships in their lives. This is why He sent Jesus as His Messiah who declares “salvation” and “rescue” to the world regardless of the difficulties they encounter.
Next time Luke shares how Jesus continued, “to preach the acceptable year of the Lord”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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