Like Jesus Part 2

Righteous Revolutionaries Part 6

To be like Jesus, we must first know and understand Jesus’s mission. Many assume His mission was to die for our sins, but it was much greater than dying for our sins. One of the most important messages regarding understanding Jesus’s mission on earth is Luke 4:18-19. In Luke 4, Jesus was tempted by the enemy, started His ministry, and went back home. While at home, He goes to the synagogue, opens a scroll given to Him, finds what He wants to read, and begins to read,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” -Luke 4:18-19

Then He rolled up the scroll, gave in back, and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).

Let’s break this down using BlueletterBible.org. Jesus first starts with, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me. Jesus didn’t come on his mission. He came to fulfill what God called Him to fulfill. The first thing we learn is to do what God anoints us to do: be led by God.

Then Jesus begins to list what He came to do. He came to…

1. Proclaim Good News (or the Gospel) to the Poor: Jesus came to bring good news, to announce glad tidings to the Poor. According to BlueLetterBible.org, the poor include those destitute of wealth, influence, position, and honor and the lowly, afflicted, and destitute of the Christian virtues. This includes the helpless and powerless. Poor isn’t limited to lack of wealth or Christian virtues, Jesus came also for those who are low in status (lowly), lack influence and position, and those who are facing problems or illness causing pain or suffering (afflicted).

2. Proclaim Liberty (or Release) to the Captives: Jesus came to release from bondage and imprisonment both physically and spiritually. To bring forgiveness or pardon of sins and remission of the penalty. In whatever way we are captive, Jesus came to proclaim liberty.

3. Recovering of Sight to the Blind: Jesus came to bring back the ability to see both physically and mentally.

4. Set at Liberty those who are oppressed: Jesus came to order or send away (to set) free or release from bondage or imprisonment (Liberty) those who are broken in pieces, shatter, broken by calamity (oppressed). Calamity is defined as an event causing great or often sudden damage or distress; a disaster (Oxford Dictionary).

5. Proclaim the Year of the Lord’s Flavor: Jesus came to officiate, publish, and proclaim openly for some fixed and definite period of time (Year) of the Lord’s the accepted or acceptable (favor).

To be like Jesus, we should care about and do all these things as well. If He came for the poor, captive, blind, and oppressed, we should be concerned for and act on behalf of the poor, captive, blind, and oppressed. Many American Christian spaces focus on the concerns of these groups of individuals spiritually, but Jesus was concerned with the physical needs as well. That is why Jesus told the rich young ruler to give away all his possessions to the poor (Mark 10:17-27). Yes, it was about him surrendering all he had for Jesus, but it was also about providing for the poor. Our full surrender to the Lord provides an opportunity for us to provide for the needs of God’s people. It is also why Jesus recovered sight to the blind (Luke 18:35-43). This recovery of sight wasn’t just physical, it provided this beggar an opportunity to follow Jesus. Jesus addressed the physical needs of these people while also addressing their spiritual needs. To be concerned about the physical needs of people created by God is to be like Jesus. To ignore them is to not be like Jesus.

Righteous Revolutionaries are concerned about the spiritual and physical needs of God’s people.