Luke 4:18-19

In Jesus are the answers to all questions. In Jesus we are healed. In Jesus our bonds are broken. In Jesus we are free!

Jesus Christ heals the incurable, frees the oppressed, wipes the tears of the suffering and proclaims abundant life to all who believe!

What Israel had failed to do, Jesus does. The image here addresses both physical and spiritual realities. Jesus proclaimed the acceptable year of the Lord, an allusion to Jubilee. This was every fiftieth year, in which all debt was forgiven, slaves were given their freedom, and ancestral lands were given back to its original family. The Year of Jubilee allowed for a new start. Jesus offers a total cancellation of spiritual debt and a new beginning to those who respond to His message.

Jesus closed the book in the middle of the sentence. He did not continue because the next phrase—“the day of vengeance of our God”—was not being fulfilled then.

Luke 4:18-19

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.”

61 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 

Isaiah 61:1

⁸ Thus says the Lord: “In an acceptable time I have heard You, And in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You As a covenant to the people, To restore the earth, To cause them to inherit the desolate ⁹heritages; 

Isaiah 49:8

⁵ The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 

Matthew 11:5

¹⁸ “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved  whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 

Matthew 12:18

³⁴ For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. 

John 3:34

²³ “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” 

Matthew 1:23