The Rest of Your StorySample

Rescue, Not Religion

Why did Jesus come to the world? Was it to create a religion? Or something else?

The answer lies in Luke 4. Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth, and when he went to the synagogue service, he was given the scroll of Isaiah to read aloud to the congregation. He read:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:17-19)

Luke seems to have given a summary of everything that Isaiah said in the first three verses of chapter 61. Isaiah also included healing of broken hearts; comfort for those who mourn and grieve; and turning ashes into beauty, mourning into joy, and despair into praise. These are not categories of people in need of forgiveness but places of need in every one of our lives and stories.

What came after the reading was the most dramatic moment of all. Jesus gave the scroll back to the attendant. When everyone’s eyes were fixed on him, he started his sermon: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (verse 21).

It’s the ultimate “mic-drop moment,” isn’t it? Jesus said, “Make no mistake about it. This is talking about me. This is what I came to do.” Yeah, it starts with forgiveness, but it is so much bigger than that.

Jesus did not come to create a religion. He came to heal, redeem, restore, repair our brokenness, set our captive hearts free, and lead us to the life to the fullest that he came to bring us. So, ask yourself, “Is that the Jesus that I have experienced in my life?”

Remember, there is a difference between living forgiven and living free. Are you living free? Most Christians I know are not.

Something has to change.

Living free. Spend some time picturing what that could mean for you.