Jesus' Purpose (Luke 4:16-21)

Luke 4:16-21 ¹⁶ When Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."  ²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

This may be my favorite scripture in the Bible.  Jesus is in his hometown.  In the same way that a candidate runs for office, Jesus takes this opportunity on the Sabbath day in a public place to announce that he is the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies.  It is an unspoken invitation to those present to support him in his purpose.  And in doing so he tells them what his purpose is:  Through the Holy Spirit's power, he will release the captives, heal the blind, and free the oppressed.  The work he will do during his life, on the cross, and in the resurrection - is done in order to accomplish these things.  Jesus is the social justice candidate.  And yet, not a candidate at all - he has been anointed to this purpose.

The other thing that Jesus proclaims is that this is "the year of the Lord's favor" which indicates that not only is the scripture is being fulfilled now, but this is a reference to year of Jubilee.  Every fifty years debts were forgiven and slaves were set free (Lev 25:8-17). If your family had lost its land - it was given back to you.  If you had borrowed money that you could not repay, it was forgiven you.  If you had commited a crime, you were pardoned.  Jesus has come to give us freedom from our failures and a new life in him.

This is what Jesus is all about!  How can you serve the Christ who came to release the captives, heal the blind, and free the oppressed?  How can you celebrate Jublilee every day now that Christ has pardoned you?