Who did Jesus call Himself? Part 2

Luke 4:17-19 –And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. 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 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; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Following on from the last devotional on who Jesus called Himself and how He wants be perceived and known, I will elaborate on His identity and what that means for us as Christians. In His conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, He call Himself the Messiah. John 4: 25-26, The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” Jesus told the woman himself that He is the messiah. Not only did He tell the woman He was the messiah, He saved her on the spot and she ran to tell about it in the city and brought the city to Jesus. Jesus did not only tell her He could save, He saved her there and then. Those that received Him just as a carpenter’s son did not enjoy the benefit of knowing and accepting Him as their Messiah. But as many as received Him as the Messiah, to them He gave the power to become the children of God.

In Luke 4 above Jesus went into the detail of His assignment and identity, He said “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 broken hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

I will take each of His assignment and elaborate on them. The spirit of the Lord is up-on me. He is filled up and overflows with the Holy Spirit. From knowledge of the Old Testament, whenever the bible records that the Spirit of the Lord comes upon someone, it is for a purpose and a divine action or occurrence follows. So when Jesus said the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, the people in the congregation knew something was about to happen through Him. Jesus resides within us and the Spirit of the Lord is still upon Him, therefore some divine actions are on-going within us.

He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor -: One of the definitions of the anointed is the sent one. The gospel means good news. Good news to a poor man is: there is prosperity for you and you don’t have to be poor anymore. Jesus is anointed to proclaim the good news of all round prosperity for all men for all time. You carry inside you Jesus Christ therefore you carry whatever is up-on Him. You carry the anointing to make you prosperous.

He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted – The bible tells us it is a painful condition to have a broken heart. It is a state of deep disappointment and dejection as a result of shattered hope, trust, love, belief or expectation. We all face those situations in life but Jesus Christ carries the anointing to heal us and bring things back together for us. You carry Jesus Christ within you, so it means you have the cure and preservation from been torn apart by life’s disappointments.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives – Living in captivity is likened to living in a prison. Some are in physical prisons but majority are in spiritual prisons. Some are in prison of sickness, disease, poverty, reoccurring failure, demonic oppression, culture, peer pressure, etc. Regardless of the prison, Jesus Christ is anointed to bring you out of the innermost prison to outermost freedom. Through Jesus Christ we are free from all of these things but we need to place a demand on our freedom and stand fast in our liberty.

For Further Study

1 Corinthians 3:21, Colossians 1:26-27,

Personal declaration for the day

Jesus Christ will find full expression in my life.

Questions for you to reflect on

Name five of who Jesus called Himself?