Another Word from Luke 4

If somebody asked you, "Why did Jesus come from heaven to earth?" how would you answer?

Would you tell them that Jesus came to teach us God's ways and to demonstrate God's love? Would you say that he came to die on a cross and save us from sin? Would you answer that Jesus came so that we could have the hope of living eternally in his Father's kingdom?

Well naturally, all of those are good answers. And those are reasons that Jesus came! And yet, in today's word from Luke 4, Jesus expressed the purpose for his coming with words that we sometimes forget ~ or that we seem to "spiritualize" in a way that makes them all about the world to come and not about the world we're in.

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me," he said, "for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” (Lk. 4:18-19)

And I can't help but ask myself: What we would do today if we wanted to make it clear that we've been sent to do the same things Jesus came to do? With the Spirit of the Lord upon us, what would it look like for us to bring good news to the poor and release to captives? To bring sight to blind eyes and freedom to the oppressed? 

You see, Jesus did come to give eternal life to those who trust him. But eternal life isn't just about a place we go to someday. It's about a person who abides with us today! And we get to help Jesus share eternal life by creating the conditions here and now that all creation will experience then and there.

So, may the Spirit of the Lord be on us today! And may the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed rejoice because of it. Amen.