Jesus stayed focused upon his clear mission and purpose

Jesus states his purpose as he reads from Isaiah at the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke 4:18-19. It goes like this ...

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord's favor."

Before Luke 4, good news to the poor has already been coming. Some examples are Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus, who more than likely lived in poverty at the time of Jesus' birth. The gifts that they offered celebrating his birth in the Temple were less expensive -- "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons" (Luke 2:24).

Release to the captives came to Zechariah and Elizabeth, a senior adult couple who were "held captive" to being childless were given a child in John (Luke 1:5-25).

In a sense, recovery of sight to the blind comes to a man named Simeon who was told by the Spirit of God that he would not taste death until he saw the Messiah ... the one for whom Israel was waiting. And when Jesus is brought to the Temple he walks and takes up Jesus into his arms praising God, saying, "for my eyes have seen your salvation, a light for ..." every human being (Luke 2:25-32).

The oppressed that are set free are the shepherds who go to see the newborn Jesus. In their day, if you couldn't do anything else you became a shepherd. Yet they are the first ones who hear of Jesus' birth outside of Joseph and Mary! (Luke 2:1-20).

The acceptable year of the Lord's favor refers to a time when all debts are forgiven. Such is a radical change in life as it is. Such is Jesus! A man named John points to this radical life when he talks about valleys, hills, and mountains being leveled out, the crooked being made straight and the rough places a plane! (Luke 3:1-6).

Jesus stays focused upon his purpose as is clearly seen in Luke 4:42-44. There the crowds were approaching him asking him to stay. But to them he gave his 'edited' purpose: "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose".

His words of confidence cause me to take a deep breath of relief that he stayed true to his purpose or mission. May we all do so as well!