The Blessing of the Jubilee
(Lk 4:16-19)

Jesus came to this earth to give us the year of grace, or in other words, the blessing of the Jubilee. In the Jubilee year, the Israelites proclaimed freedom for debtors, slaves and the oppressed by blowing the trumpet long and loud. Jesus came to give this joyful freedom to us, who were destined to perish forever in our sins. Then what is the gospel that the Lord has preached to us?

1. Preaching good news to the poor. (Vs.18a)
Jesus came to preach the gospel to the poor. Here poverty signifies both material (2Co 8:9) and spiritual poverty (Mt 5:3). The Lord came to this world to enrich those who are in spiritual, circumstantial and mental poverty, with the Holy Spirit and the gospel.

2. Proclaiming freedom for the prisoners, (Vs.18b)
Jesus came to give freedom to prisoners. Here the prisoners signify those who are spiritually captived by sin and the devil. Those, whose master was the devil and who committed sins as they pleased, were freed by the power of the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit after they heard the gospel,(1Jn 3:8)

3. Recovering the sight of the blind, (Vs.18c)
Jesus came to give sight to the blind. Before we believed in Jesus, we were blind in spirit and only saw things in this world, but after we started believing in Jesus, our spiritual eyes have been opened, so that we are able see a new heaven and a new earth, and God.

4. Releasing the oppressed. (Vs.18d)
Jesus came to release the oppressed. Only when we believe in Jesus Christ and depend on Him, can we be free from our worries, anxieties and stress. When we come to Jesus to pray and cast everything to the Lord, we become free by the power of the Holy Spirit from all the oppression that used to overpower us. (Ps 55:22).

Jesus came to this earth to set free the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed. Today the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, keeps on working in us. Therefore, I hope that this year you will be filled with the Holy Spirit and enjoy the blessing of the Jubilee.