What Jesus came to do

“ 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;” Luke 4:18

We all know that Jesus came to save mankind from our sins so that we may be united with God, and that is true, but that is not the end. In this verse which Jesus quoted from Isaiah 61:1-2, Jesus further explained what He is called to do, and amazingly, many of them are for our emotions. Let us look at them:

Jesus came to:

1. preach the gospel to the poor. Good news (or gospel) brings tremendous hope and relief to those who need them. Imagine if you’re sick and the doctor tells you that there is no hope for you, but God comes and tell you that by His stripes you are healed, how will you feel? The ‘poor’ people referred to here are those who are in need. And so Jesus came to bring hope to the hopeless. Hope brings strength. He has come to revive life’s purposes which were once lost. He has come to turn all disappointments and failures around. Jesus has come to present not only the good news of salvation, but also the good news of wholeness.
2. heal the brokenhearted. Broken hearted people are people who have been suppressed and crushed. They have gone through immense pressure and heartaches and pain, and have been very much damaged by life’s circumstances. Often we do not know how to deal with these kind of people, and more than often we simply brush them aside or ignore them because they simply suck the life out of you. But Jesus has come to heal the brokenhearted. In Psalms 147:3, Jesus said that “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”, and in Psalms 34:18, David said that “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit”. You see, Jesus never rejects broken people, but He is in fact very interested and willing to restore them, because no one in this world, despite the advancement of technology, can heal a broken heart. No amount of counseling can restore a person completely if Jesus is not in it.
3. proclaim liberty to the captives. Liberty means freedom. In Galatians 5:1, Paul said that “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery”. So many people are not only bound by sins, but also emotional bondages of rejection, hurt, bitterness, resentment and fear. You see, when Jesus comes into our lives we are free, but the thing is, we do not live as free people. Because we have been a slave or captive for so many years, we have a slave mentality. Though yes, outwardly we are a new creation, the old still affects us. We do not experience the freedom that Chris has died for. Like the Israelites when they came out of Egypt, they continued to live like slaves, talk like slaves, act and think like slaves. They do not enjoy total freedom despite the fact that they are no longer under bondage. But Jesus has come that you may enjoy total release from your past.
4. bring recovery of sight to the blind. Sight is so important to everyone. A blind person is an aimless person. They do not know where they are going. Similarly, a spiritually and emotionally blind person does not have a sense of destiny. Without a vision, the people perish. Many of us are blinded towards the life that God wants us to live. Many cannot see how much God loves are cares for us. But Jesus wants to open up our spiritual eyes to fully comprehend His love and compassion.
5. bring divine exchange. Later in the chapter in verse 3, Prophet Isaiah continued to say that Jesus has come “To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness..”. Jesus has come to give us a divine exchange. He does not only exchange our sins for salvation, but He also wants to give us beauty, joy and praise to trade with our ashes, mourning and heaviness. And so if you are wishing that someone can take those junk for you and give you something better, I have good news for you; Jesus will take all that. In the book of Ezekiel 36:26 God says that He will give us a heart of flesh for our heart of stone. This is another topic altogether, but a heart of stone is a hurting heart; it is a heart which is hardened in an effort to protect itself from further hurts, it cannot receive love and neither can it give love. A heart of flesh, on the other hand, is a tender heart; it is a heart which can feel the emotions of both pain and love, it is allowed to be vulnerable, and it can give and receive love.

And so, Jesus does really care for hurting hearts. Most people usually find little patience for the hurting, but Jesus is very interested in bringing hope and restoration.