Luke 4:16-21 NKJV

16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus was at the beginning of his ministry, and by reading Isaiah 61 to the people he was letting them know that this was his mission on this earth. He was the anointed of God to preach the gospel to the poor (to the destitute) in spirit, not just to the physically and financially poor, but to those who were wanting and in need of God, who needed to hear the good news. And the gospel he preached said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) Jesus.

As well, the broken in heart are not just those who have been mistreated and abused by others or who have suffered all sorts of difficulties in this life. For if something is broken, it is wrecked, cracked, ruined, or destroyed, so it is not in proper working order. And if our hearts are what are broken, it can be because others have hurt us, but it could also be due to sin in our lives. Our hearts may not be in proper working order because we have allowed sin to overtake us, and to break us, and so we are in need of spiritual healing.

And, going right along with this same way of thinking here, to proclaim liberty to the captives is about proclaiming deliverance from slavery to sin to the people. We are to tell the people that they must forsake their sinful lifestyles and now follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, so that they can now walk in freedom from bondage to sin in service to the Lord Jesus and in obedience to his commands – all in the power of God by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives.

And recovery of sight to the blind is not limited to just physical healing of those who are physically blind, but this also has to do with spiritually healing those who are spiritually blind. And this comes through the preaching of the gospel. And it is realized in people’s lives via faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, which denies self, dies to sin, and walks (in conduct) in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, all in the power of God, by the Spirit. For they are called out of darkness into the light of truth.

And to set at liberty those who are oppressed may have to do with those who are worried, troubled, or overloaded by the cares of this world. Or it may have to do with those who are being persecuted, harassed, abused, taken advantage of, lied about, and ill-treated by others. And so the Lord calls us to put our trust in him, and to not worry, and to not be afraid. And he calls us to trust in his sovereignty, and to follow his lead, and to let him grow us and mature us and use us for his glory, despite our circumstances.

But Jesus wasn’t the only anointed of God to do what this tells us that he was anointed of God to do. All of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, who have died with him to sin, and who are now walking in holiness and righteousness, in obedience to his commands, in the power of God, are also the anointed of God. And all of us are called of God to spread the true message of the gospel of Christ to the people of this world. All of us are to teach victory over sin via dying to sin and obedience to our Lord.

[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 9:23-26; John 4:31-38; John 10:27-30; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 10:14-15; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-14; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:9,21,24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Should I Not Preach Jesus

Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13
An Original Work / July 4, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.
I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.
I make myself a slave to ev’ryone
To win their hearts to Christ.
All this I do for my Lord Jesus,
And for the sake of His Name;
Do it for the sake of His gospel,
So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;
Written down for us as examples
To keep us from setting our hearts
On evil as did those of old.
Do not worship other gods of man;
Do not give your hearts to them;
Not partake in immorality.
Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are
Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.
God has given his word to warn us,
So through faith we will not fall.
No temptation has o’ertaken you
Except what is commonplace.
God is faithful to not let you be
Tempted past what you can bear.
He gives the way of escape.

Anointed to Preach the Gospel
An Original Work / May 9, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love