The poor – Jesus came to set the captives free, but He also came for the poor.
Yesterday, I was helping at a local food bank, and I was struck by the diversity of people in need. The families, the old, those with mental health issues, there were students, and immigrants from many countries.
Jesus stood up in His hometown’s synagogue and read this:
Luke 4:18-19
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
I thought of those who are bound, who can’t see, and who are oppressed. These are the poor. What a picture of not only physical poverty but of spiritual poverty.
Bound by sin, blinded by the god of this world, oppressed by their false beliefs and being taken advantage of by others. Spiritually poor.
Jesus wants us to bring good news to the physically poor and the spiritually poor.
To think this is what His coming was all about.
Luke 4:24
and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Are we like Jesus, as those who follow Him? Are we bringing good news to the poor? Physically poor and spiritually poor? Are we imitators of Christ?
Let’s love those around us and bring them the good news of Jesus. He is the fulfillment of this prophecy.
