JESUS CAME TO SET US FREE
Text: Luke 4:14-21
The scripture that Jesus read in the synagogue was a message of hope that Jesus told them was going to be fulfilled in their hearing. It just so happens that when Jesus read this scripture, it was during the time of JUBILEE. Jubilee goes all the way back to the Old Testament (Leviticus 25:10). Jubilee was associated with both freedom and celebration because it was a time (on a fifty year cycle) when slaves were set free, debts were cancelled, and land was returned to the disenfranchised. So when Jesus read this passage of scripture from Isaiah, He was reading a text that spoke to both the season and the needs of those that Jesus came to save.
Jesus was talking about things like physical, social and religious handicaps and oppressors. Jesus was addressing an atmosphere that included all three. Jesus was addressing people in need in His own hometown where He began both His mission and ministry. Jesus was telling people that their dreams of freedom would soon be realized through Him.
JESUS IS OUR HOPE FOR FREEDOM.
Isaiah 61:1-2 was written 700 years prior to the moment when Christ read it in the synagogue. Up till that time it was only a message of hope. People dreamed about the day that hope would be realized. All this time they had felt that the glass of their hopes and dreams for freedom were half empty. Jesus came to tell them that the glass of their hopes and dreams was half full and not half empty.
How many times have we ourselves looked at the way things are and thought to ourselves that the glass was half empty rather than half full? We hinder God’s Spirit when we think that the glass is half empty. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “… where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (NIV). Jesus told them and He tells us that “the Spirit of the Lord is on me… ” (Luke 4:18, Isaiah 61:1). There were those in the crowd who seemed to think of the glass as half empty when they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son? (Luke 4:22 NIV). “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Where then did this man get all these things?” (Matthew 13:54-56NIV). The purpose of Jesus’ coming empowered by God’s Spirit was to allow others the opportunity to experience freedom that comes from being empowered by God’s Spirit.
Jesus was more than a carpenter and a carpenter’s son. Jesus is both the agent and the agency through who God’s freedom comes. There are times when we may feel as though God has forgotten about us. All of us can think of times in our lives when our faith has been tested as we tried not to lose heart. To lose heart is to lose hope. To lose hope is to quit dreaming. To quit dreaming is to give up.
I once read about a lady, who was placed in a institution in 1929 because of a nervous breakdown. She had left her native country and came to America with hopes and dreams. Unfortunately, nobody could speak her language. She was there until 1977--- for forty-eight years. Still, in all that time, nobody was able to understand her. It appears that they had given up on her. It would appear that she had lost all hope of her original dream. To those in the institution she was a hopeless case. To them, she just simply existed in her own little world. Then one day, there was breakthrough. In 1972, a multi lingual case worker by the name of John Kurz began to talk with her. Kurz was a case worker from the Bureau of the Aging. Not only did he understand her language, but he also found out her name Mary Peischl. Kurz also found out that she had left what was the former Austro-Hungarian Empire when Franz Joseph I, was in power. Kurz even helped her to get reunited with her five children. Jesus had come through this case worker to set her free from her prison of hopelessness. (Paraphrased from Tarbell’e Teacher’s Guide. 86th Annual Volume. (Edited by Dr, William P. Barker). Elgin: David C. Cook Publishing Co., 1990, p. 248). Imagine for just a minute that you were this woman. Imagine that people had written you off as hopeless. Then, imagine that one day there was a breakthrough for you just as there was for this woman.
There might be times in our lives when we have given up on our dreams, our hopes. Certainly, that has been the case at times. Jesus never quits on us. Jesus is always there wanting and waiting to set us free. This woman was broken-hearted and it seemed hopeless until Jesus’ work of liberation was realized through this case worker through whom Jesus worked. Although our circumstances might not be the same, there are always those times in our lives we look for the day or days that Jesus can lighten our burdens and liberate our spirits. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “… where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (NIV).
THE SPIRIT OF FREEDOM IS CAUGHT AND NOT TAUGHT
Just recently I read a very profound statement: “Teaching is good only where there’s life to be channeled. If the listeners are in a spiritual coma, what we’re telling them may be fine and orthodox, but unfortunately, spiritual life cannot be taught” (Jim Cymbala. Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997, p. 50). There were some in the presence of Jesus in the synagogue who were in a spiritual coma.
Spiritual freedom is caught not taught. There is a difference between learning about something and experiencing it. We learn something when we have been taught. We experience something when we have been caught. Talking about freedom and experiencing freedom are two different things. When we catch hold of God’s Spirit it is because God’s Spirit has first captured and caught us.
Who can forget when Peter first caught God’s Spirit (Luke 5:4-11)? Jesus had told Peter to go into the deep water and let down his nets for a successful fishing trip. Simon Peter told Jesus that his fishing trip from the night before was a failure. He followed Jesus’ fishing instructions and had his best fishing trip ever. They caught so many fish that the boat was in danger of sinking. Simon responded by telling Jesus to depart from him for he was a sinful man. Jesus told him not to be afraid because from now on he would become a fisher of men (Luke 5:4-11 paraphrased). That day was the day that Peter caught God’s Spirit which also had caught him. It was not something that he learned. It was something that he experienced. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “… where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (NIV).
JESUS FREES US IN SPITE OF OPPOSITION
There are always going to be those whose opinions are such that certain are people are not deserving of freedom from their troubles. These kinds of people have existed in every generation. They resemble the elder brothers who resent the fact that God has given the prodigal sons a second chance. They are also those who are the epitome of Jonah who resented the fact that God gave the Ninevahs of the world a second chance. There are times when there is a little of the elder brother, Jonah or both in us, even though we do not always want to admit it. We therefore need to remember that God has given us all a second chance even when we ourselves were not deserving of it.
There is always the opposition of Satan who cannot stand to lose another person to salvation. He is always striving to discourage the newly liberated Christians that he once held as hostages. Sometimes Satan even works through the prejudices of others in hopes that he can discourage and recapture those that he has lost to God.
Remember Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-9)? He was a reformed tax collector. Tax collectors in that day found ways to use their occupations to their financial advantage at the financial disadvantage of others. They exploited and cheated people while hiding behind their position as if this practice was a legitimate enterprise.
What does God do with people like Zacchaeus? He gives them a second chance. Jesus invited Zacchaeus to salvation. We know the rest of the story. Zacchaeus responded favorably. Surely there were those who opposed Zacchaeus’s opportunity. Jesus accepted Zacchaeus not because he approved of his sinful past but because Jesus forgave Him as Zacchaeus truly repented. (“accepted and not approved” borrowed form Rick Warren in his book The Pupose Driven Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995, p. 216). Jesus has accepted all of us who have received Him with that same understanding. Christ accepts all those who receive His offer of freedom because “God is not willing for anyone to perish” (Second Peter 3:9).
Remember Bartimaeus (Mark 10:42-52)? He was handicapped because of his blindness. It was because of this handicap that he had to beg saying “alms for the poor” in order to make a living. Jesus accepted Bartimaeus when others rejected him and treated him as a nuisance. Not only did Jesus accept him, he healed him and set him free from his prison of both poverty and blindness. After that, he was able to live a normal life. He would never be able to forget how Jesus set him free.
It is God’s will that His Holy Spirit works in and through us empowering us to inspire and influence others as to how Christ can set them free as He has set us free. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “… where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (NIV). That same Spirit---the Holy Spirit that was on Jesus is on us who are His disciples. He has anointed us to share the good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, help the blind to see and release the oppressed as we proclaim the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:18-19 paraphrased). AMEN.
