An old preacher once said, “Good sermons sound like cell doors being unlocked.” It seems likely that he pulled that from Isaiah 61. This chapter of Isaiah was also the text for Jesus’ first sermon. A sermon that was short and shocking. He simply read the text and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). What glorious news for us!

The Lord has anointed him for the purpose of bringing good news to poor, brokenhearted captives like us.

We are the spiritually poor. We are bankrupt of all righteousness. And yet there is Jesus making us rich in his righteousness. Preaching the good news that in him we have more than we could hope for. We are the brokenhearted. We live lives scarred in suffering and loss. We carry shame, regret, and grief. And yet there is Jesus, taking all of that into himself, comforting us with his love and gifting us his peace. We are the captives. Locked away in the prison of sin with no hope of returning home. And yet, there is Jesus unlocking every cell door and breaking every chain with the power of his death and resurrection. This is the work Jesus has been anointed to do. He left his heavenly home to preach the good news of forgiveness, freedom, and eternal life to the helpless, hopeless, and homeless.