Sent by God: To Show His Compassion

“’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 4:18-19

Jesus was sent to be light in a very dark world. But he was also sent to show God’s compassion for the soiled and the outcast. He reached out to people who were bound and chained, living in sin’s prison. This, too, is part of the Christmas story.

Jesus ate with notorious sinners and the hated tax collectors who worked for the Roman government. These were folks no one wanted to have in their homes. He had friends like Simon the leper, whom many wanted nothing to do with. And when he was criticized, he said, “The physician doesn’t come for people who are healthy. He comes for those who are down and out and hurting." Jesus was sent to take care of people who were downtrodden—people no one else wanted. One of the reasons the religious establishment rejected him was that he was the friend of people that they described as losers.

I’m so happy Jesus was sent for losers and rejects. We all were lost in our sins without hope for eternity. But Jesus laid down his glory when he was sent by the Father to bring salvation and purpose to our lives.

One Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue in his hometown. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He began to read these words: “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.” After he read the passage, he said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).

This is so different from much of what is called religion, isn’t it? We’ve produced an entire church system that is often so far from the heart of Jesus and why he was sent to earth. Contrast the heart of Jesus with church leaders today who have target groups of those they want in their churches—perhaps upwardly mobile young adults or a specific race that is to their liking.

But Jesus was sent for all of us. As he was on the cross, pouring his life out for our sins, there was one last reject that he could bring to salvation—a thief on the cross next to him, who asked to be remembered when Christ came into his kingdom. Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). What a wonderful Savior!