Good news to the poor

“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 4v18-19).

The Scriptures tell us that one Sabbath day, as His custom was, Jesus went into the synagogue in Nazareth where He had been brought up. That day he read from the book of the prophet Isaiah, what we may consider to be His mission statement. He began by declaring, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor”; … and “… to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” When He finished reading from the text, and with all eyes fixed upon Him, Jesus declared: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” The Gospels bear witness to the fact that the words of Jesus were not merely a declaration but a reflection of both proclamation and demonstration of the good news of God’s saving grace.

Today we are also called by the Lord Jesus Christ to preach good news to the poor, as well as to work at all that is contained in the text of the prophet Isaiah that Jesus read from in Nazareth that day. The audience in the synagogue must have listened attentively as He declared all that the Spirit of the Lord upon Him called Him to proclaim. There must have been several that were poor in spirit as well as materially poor listening eagerly for some Good News. Among them may also have been some that were economically disadvantaged and marginalised. His words concerning prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed would have resonated well for those who have waited so long for the Good News of “the year of God’s favour”. For several of such, the year of God’s favour would include the year of Jubilee when the nation was to experience God’s restoration.