“And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, ‘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 favor.’
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:17-21)
Jesus came into the world to redeem us from our sins. A main aspect of His calling was to battle and defeat Satan. This was why He went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and then to Nazareth where, as Luke records, He started His public ministry with a declaration of war.
The words that Jesus read from Isaiah and the words He spoke afterward proclaimed that He had come to attack and destroy the works of the devil. He was going to reverse the consequences of sin by preaching the good news of God’s love to a hurting and oppressed people and by healing the sick and giving sight to the blind. This He would do by healing both physical and spiritual afflictions.
Jesus was rejected there in His home town. People there were too familiar with Him, thought they knew all about Him, so they dismissed His words and lost a blessing. In fact, this response would be indicative of the response of most of the Jews. As a whole they would dismiss His words and work and would demand His crucifixion. They would remain spiritually blind to the truth while the despised, lepers, the weak, and the oppressed among both the Jews and Gentiles would hear His word and enter, by faith, into God’s favor. And we are called to carry out this ministry, to proclaim the grace and favor of the Lord. We are to present the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ to all those who are spiritually blind and oppressed so they will see, believe and enter into God’s Kingdom.