FRIDAY October 25th
Luke 4:18-19
“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, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
I will conclude looking at these verses today and first at the phrase ‘recovering of sight to the blind’. And again, we see this as having a double meaning for we read in the gospels that Jesus did literally give sight or restore sight to those who were physically blind, and as wonderful as that was, it is more wonderful that he came to give spiritual sight to all who are spiritually blind! That’s you and that is me!
If we jump forward a little to after Jesus had ascended back to heaven, we are all familiar of the account in Acts 9 where Saul on the road to Damacus was blinded after an encounter with Jesus, and then his sight was restored after Ananias had prayed for him. Later when Saul who became known as Paul was recalling what had happened, he told of what Jesus had said he was being called to do ‘But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me’, Act 26:16–18.
The gospel is all about having our spiritual eyes opened so that we come from out of spiritual darkness into the light of the gospel, and to be set free from the power of sin and of Satan.
I think we would have to conclude that the manifesto that Jesus was commissioned to fulfil is the best that has ever been written and the best that has ever been fulfilled! Yet like Paul, we too have the responsibility of sharing the gospel so that the eyes of those around us will also be opened to see the wonderful truth of the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The final statement that Jesus made was ‘to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’ well, in the words of a hymn we sometimes sing. Praise my soul the King of heaven. . . praise him for his grace and favour’.
The time of God’s favour is still upon us, and I end the devotion with some Scripture, words written by the apostle Paul, especially for any who may read this devotion and yet have not responded to the Lord Jesus Christ:
‘Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favourable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation,”’ 2 Corinthians 6:1-2