LIVING BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. (Part 33).
Luke 4. Verses 17-21 read:
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears”
Yesterday, we started discussing the specific assignments listed in Christ’s mandate on earth. His capacity to handle these assignments was in the fact that he was anointed by the Holy Spirit, who was upon him. Today, we want to add to the four specific assignments considered yesterday. Scripture says that Jesus came:
- To set at liberty those who are bruised: These are people who have experienced wounds in their lives, and as a result, they are confined to fear, self-pity, and hopelessness. Without the intervention of Christ, there would be no remedy for such. Jesus is the sure answer, and his ministry brought liberty to multitudes who were deeply bruised in life like the Samaritan women whom he met at Jacobs well.
- To preach or proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord: The acceptable year of the Lord is a pointer to the dispensation of grace, which commenced at the emergence of Jesus on the scene. He introduced the concept of grace, which freely extends to all men unmerited favour and divine enablement. Within the dispensation of grace, God is reaching out to men and women with his forgiveness, aversion of judgement, salvation, healing, restoration, and Holy Spirit empowerment for the execution of the purpose of God on earth for the revelation of God’s glory. Jesus exemplified the year of the Lord’s favour through the pardon he extended to men and the miraculous interventions he brought to their lives.
After reading those verses, Jesus closed the book, gave it to the minister on duty, and sat down. I believe that based on the authority with which he spoke, scripture says that all eyes were set on Christ. His life and ministry were a drawing force, which caused multitudes to turn their attention to God as their Lord. Jesus said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your eyes.” Beloved, Jesus came to introduce a new era of the literal manifestation of what is recorded in Isaiah 61 verses 1-3. Within the period of his ministry, men experienced the different assignments within Jesus’ mandate. Jesus is no longer here on earth, but the assignment of Christ goes on unabated to manifest the liberty and wholeness the dispensation of grace has brought upon mankind.
SHALOM 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏