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 o heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”(Luke 4:18-19)
Jesus returned from the Jordan River after being given power by the Holy Spirit. He came into His hometown and spoke in the synagogue as He had done many times before. However, the sermon was different this time, because Jesus was different. He spoke about the anointing of the Lord to heal the sick and deliver the afflicted. He also declared that He had come “to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
This was the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25). During this event, which occurred once every fifty years, every possession went back to its original owner and all slaves were released. It was a legal holiday. The only way someone could miss repossessing lost articles was to be ignorant of the Law.
Why did Jesus compare His public ministry to this Old Testament event? He was anointed to bring back to us what had been taken by Satan! This was why He called healing from blindness “recovering of sight to the blind.” During Jubilee, slaves were also freed. Through Jesus, we have “deliverance to the captives.” The Gospel is also preached to the poor. The riches taken by Satan have been given back to the redeemed!
Jesus told us that He wouldn’t just give us the blessing, but He’d also remove the curse. Sight replaces blindness, liberty is for the bruised, and healing is for the brokenhearted. Jesus removes blindness and gives sight. Why is this important? Christ gives us what is rightfully ours and removes what’s rightfully someone else’s. Everything, good and bad, goes back to its original owner. Therefore, Jesus took the blessing away from Satan and gave it to its original owner—us. He also took the curse from us and gave it back to its original owner—Satan. This new creation jubilee doesn’t just last one year—it’s eternal!
