“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed,The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised,
23 sermons cite this verse
… in your life and raise you up to a brand new place. I want to help you be released. let me prove it to you what look what Luke 4 18 says it says now the spirit of the Lord is upon everybody say me yeah yeah some of y'all never thought that because you think you've done too much for the spirit of the Lord to be upon you but I'm trying to tell you 2019 the spirit of God is coming to search you out there's a there is a tracking device on your purpose right now and he's saying I'm looking for you will you allow me to release in your life will you allow me to use your smarts and your business and your gift will you allow me and god is saying the spirit of the lord my spirit is upon you and then he says for he has anointed me that means his approval is there to bring good news to the poor then it says because this remember he's releasing us he's making us public he said he has sent me everybody say god sent me yeah that's why you're at the job you don't like right now and that's why you're at the school. God sent you there. You thought you ended up there? God don't waste nothing. I think my Bible says all things, everything works together for the good of those who are called and that love him. So he's saying, I sent you there to proclaim, look at this, that the captives will be released. …
… He preached a sermon from that text where he said, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to set at liberty those who are bound. And then he closed the book and he said, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. In other words, I am the one that scripture is speaking about. They didn't like it. They got upset because he said that. They took him to the brow of the hill in Nazareth to throw him off. Now he comes back a year later. and it's like he wants to reach out one final time, this time with his disciples in tow. He comes back to Nazareth. A lot has happened in that last year. His fame has spread. He has made many disciples. The crowds are huge. Many people have been healed, but he has met in Nazareth with unbelief, Not doubt, unbelief. And you need to know there's a difference between doubt and unbelief. …
… This is how it ends in Isaiah 61. And in Luke chapter four, verse 18, Jesus stands before his people and he quotes those verses. And he looks at them and he says, today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Jesus says, I'm the good news to the poor. I'm the one that bounds up the brokenhearted. I'm the one that is gonna extend mercy to those in need. And the same grace that he offered his people in Isaiah 30, the same grace that he talks about in Luke 4 is available to you today. Grace for you in your time of need. waiting on him, trusting that he's protecting you, holding fast to it.
… of his ministry from Nazareth. And so it's in verse one, he says, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. Such a wonderful, wonderful verse, And really what he's saying is, he's saying, listen, the Holy Spirit is upon me. I know the Holy Spirit lives in us. As I've stated countless times through the years, the Holy Spirit is in me for my sake, but he rests upon me for yours. …
… inside, He sets us free so we can live for God. Amen? Go with me to Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61. Go there in your Bible. Go to verse number one. It says, the Spirit of the Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives. So cowboy fans. And release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all those who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion. I love this. To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. God's freedom in your life is not so that you can get recognition. It's so that God can get recognition. …
… The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. and I have this in brackets. You might remember this last week. There's a comma there in our English Bible. Jesus, when he was handed the scroll of Isaiah, when he commenced his earthly ministry 2,000 years ago in that synagogue in the Galilee, Jesus read that and this was the, listen, this is amazing. The day that Jesus was called upon to read on that Shabbat, that was not an accident. A male is given in a synagogue the reading, and depending upon the size of the community or the synagogue, that male may not be called upon again to read again. Depends. Or if he's going to read, he's going to read whatever the specific verse is or chapter for that day in every synagogue around the world. …
… Verse 18, 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 the recovery of sight to the blind. All this has to do with his first coming. To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Do you see why I have those little parentheses there around that period? You want to know why that's there? Jesus stopped reading. He wasn't supposed, I mean, he knew exactly what he was doing. But it keeps going. He stops like mid-sentence. He closes the book. Look what happens. Then he closed the book. That's weird. He closes the book and he gave it back to the attendant and he sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Why? It's his first coming. That was his first coming. And here's what's amazing. He stopped at that period that you have in your Bible right there. If he would have kept reading, his next line would have been, and to bring the vengeance of almighty God. He stopped. He didn't keep reading. Why? Because the vengeance of the almighty God is coming at the end of the seven year tribulation period. …
… the standard of god's word that we know the right path to walk down this is probably my favorite moment in luke's gospel it's when jesus begins his ministry he says this luke chapter 4 verse 18 he unrolls the scroll of Isaiah and this is what he says 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 and set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord you may tell yourself I'm an American. I'm as free as I can be. You get asked if you're free this Friday, say I'm American. I'm free. Okay, I'm free. 250 years, let's go. Let's make it to 251. Okay, guys. You may tell yourself, I am not a slave to anything. But I have to tell you this. If God's word is not the measurement of your life, if God and who he is, his character, is not the standard by which you live by, you are enslaved to lies. …
… software running on their brain. Right? And so a friend of mine has a ministry to Muslims. He says this is one verse they cannot argue about. Isaiah 61 that Jesus quoted. 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. There's no concept in all of Islam that Allah wants to heal your broken heart. All right, Allah demands submission. I've prayed with Muslims before. One time I was with M. Granlats, and we were with a friend, Tafik, and she said, can I pray for you? And he said, yes. And she's praying for him. He closes his eyes, and he's going back and forth for like five minutes. And he finally opened his eyes, and he's like, what did I just experience? He felt the love of God for the first time in his life. God loves the Muslim person, right? They just need to experience his presence. …
… And he says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. He has sent me to proclaim the acceptable, favorable year of the Lord and to set at liberty the captive. He finishes reading, he sits down and he goes, today that scripture from Isaiah has been fulfilled. And you would have thought everybody in the church would be like. you go Jesus but you want to know what they said who is this guy that thinks he's all that you know what God is doing God is revealing that there are certain people that are going to receive you and there are going to be those that will reject you but if you have your identity it doesn't matter what they do It only matters what God thinks. Amen to that. Write down the next point today. Just because God is with you, that doesn't mean everyone will believe in you. …
… from the book of Isaiah. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has 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 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Jesus goes to his hometown with a message that is neither neutral nor safe. And instead, it disrupts expectations. His hometown has heard what Jesus was doing in Galilee. The chesema, the gossip, it traveled fast. So I wonder if they're already skeptical of Jesus when he comes in. But then he teaches this. again in chapter 5 the Galileans experienced awe and healing but here the people from Nazareth experienced surprise offense and then they flat out dismiss him there is some surprise where did this man get these things where does this wisdom come from but then they're offended isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this the carpenter? What are they implying with this question? I think what they're asking is, who does this guy think he is? Isn't he just the carpenter? The word in Greek for carpenter can mean builder, day laborer, someone who works with stone, metal, or wood. In other words, Jesus was an artisan. Yet when we think of an artisan, we think of a fine craftsperson, perhaps like the carpenters working in the chapel. But what the people mean here is not necessarily an insult, but they're pointing out that Jesus is just ordinary. New Testament theologian N.T. Wright …
… marginalized by his condition. But like these women, his testimony was a pivotal point in history. Jesus's mission was to the marginalized, the outcast, and the sick. He said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted to preach deliverance to the captive and the recovering of sight to the black to set at liberty them that are bruised and to preach the acceptable year of the law so Jesus is completing his mission and here is a blind man sitting on the side of the road. Now his name or the name Bartimaeus son of Timaeus is actually redundant because Bartimaeus comma means son of Timaeus. Bar is son and Timaeus has two definitions. The two definitions are this. It could either be son of the honored or son of the impure. It could be son of fame or son of shame. It could be son of honor or son of rebuke. …
… Nazareth up to the north, I showed you. He goes back there, and this is what he says. He quotes the book of Isaiah, and he says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me. Because the Lord has anointed me, he has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners, and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed. I don't know why I'd never looked this up. I've been a pastor for 38 years, but I just wondered, what was the Greek word for oppressed here. I mean, because it's not a word we use very often anymore. And the Greek word is a word thraal. And this is a word that I, you know, I just looked it up today. It means bruised, shattered, or broken. He came to liberate the people who were bruised, shattered, or broken. Who are those people? Well, sometimes they're us when we're hurting, when we're grieving, when we're afraid, or we're helpless, or hopeless. And sometimes it's people whose situations and lives are in a very different place than most of us sitting here. …
… preached in Nazareth, and this is what he says. He takes the scroll of Isaiah the prophet, and he reads from it. This is what he reads. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. There's that word Messiah, Mashiach. He's anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners, and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed. I don't know why I never looked at this, but I wondered what's the Greek word that's used in Luke's gospel for the oppressed? And it's the word thraou, thraou, excuse me, thraou, and it means bruised, shattered, or broken. He came to bring liberty to the bruised, the shattered, or the broken. Who are the bruised and shattered and broken today? And of course, sometimes it's us. Sometimes it's when we're struggling with depression or other kinds of mental illness. Sometimes it's when we have been, you know, we've experienced some terrible tragedy in our lives or we're just afraid or we've lost somebody that we love. …
… where he was at. He says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. That word in Hebrew is mashiach, or Christus in Greek. He has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners, and recovery of sight to the blind, and to liberate the oppressed. To liberate the oppressed. and he said, today the scripture is fulfilled in my hearing and that was his entire sermon. That was the whole first sermon. I was curious, I don't know why I'd never looked this up before but I wondered what was the Greek word for oppressed because we don't use that word very much in this community. Oppressed, what does that exactly mean? But the Greek word for it means one, it's thro, oh is the Greek word and it means bruised, shattered or broken. Jesus came to bring freedom or liberation to the bruised, the shattered or the broken. Who are they in 2025? …
… Listen to these. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, Jesus said, because the Lord has anointed me. There's that word Messiah or Christ. he has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed. I want us to think about that. This is what he saw his work as. And then he said, this has been fulfilled in me. Now, for his disciples, he said, now you go do the things that I came to do. Remember, we're a strategic plan. So I think about that as Jesus followers in 2025. We too are called to bring good news to the poor. We're called to liberate the oppressed. What does that look like? How do we do it? Well, we do it in some small ways every day. And we do it by speaking up and standing up for what we know is right. And for caring for people and having empathy and compassion. …
maybe hold your hands out in a posture of receiving the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn. Are you mourning today? To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. This is Jesus. This is our savior. This is the God of all coming in human flesh as a tiny little poppy seed. Being born into this world, living this life, dying on the cross, rising from the dead. to comfort all who mourn, to give them beauty for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that we would be trees of righteousness. …
… He quotes from Isaiah the prophet, and he says this, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me. That's the word for Messiah. He has anointed me to bring, what? Good news to the poor. He has simply proclaimed release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. He was a very different kind of king. So when he came, you know, his throne was a crown of thorns, right? He was glorified. He was enthroned on a cross. Before that, he went and spent most of his time with people who were broken or alienated or disenfranchised or people who were made to feel small and insignificant. He was concerned for the poor and the people who felt like they didn't have a place anymore. And he was constantly showing mercy and grace to people. And then he called his followers to be a part of a kingdom, a kingdom that resided in the heart, not with any earthly boundaries. And he called them to conquer, not with weapons, but instead with the power of love. Love even your enemies, he said. And this became his message, this call to love. And he is the source of our hope. Not President Trump, not President Biden, not whoever comes next, not Congress, not the Supreme Court. They're not the source of our hope. …
… read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Are you serious? Do you realize what just happened? Jesus just strolled into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. They just so happened to hand him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, where he unrolls it to Isaiah chapter 61, the year of Jubilee being talked about, the ultimate year of rest and restoration. …
… And he preaches on the text, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's anointed me to preach good news to the poor. And that's who he was preaching to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. And that's what Wesley was hoping that God would use him to do, was to heal the brokenhearted. To preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blinds, to set at liberty, the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And you can just imagine for people who felt like their lives were hopeless and there was really, you know, that many of them, many of them didn't have families here. Some did. Many of them were struggling to make ends meet. They felt like they were trapped in a life that they didn't want. And in some sense, not really loved by God. The people in the churches weren't interested in having these people show up. …
… and he quotes from Isaiah chapter 61. 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. He proceeds to minister with lepers, with the disabled, with sick and sinful people, with the tax collectors and the broken, with people who are demon-possessed or mentally ill. He, in Luke chapter seven, he has a special moment where he befriends a prostitute that everyone else has already condemned. In Luke chapter eight, we learn that there's a woman who's had seven demons. This might be demons. They might be mental illnesses, but she's had seven demons. And Jesus has a particular concern for her. Her name is Mary Magdalene. And then in the same chapter, Jesus travels across the Sea of Galilee. Would have taken him four or five hours by boat to travel across the Sea of Galilee. He goes to find one man who's been forced to live among the tombs because everyone in his community is afraid of him. And Jesus heals him and liberates him and demonstrates compassion and demonstrates dignity towards this man. …
… racism and sexism and white supremacy and and religious bigotry and think that god is gonna smile on you when jesus said the spirit of the lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor to set those at liberty who are bound if you don't care about the poor and those who are bound and those who are hurting and those who are sick and those who are on the margins of society you are not a nation representing God and I don't care what kind of white Jesus you worship in my Jesus cares about the least of these Thank you. god is not pleased with some of our behavior because of this verse 17 our hearts are sick our eyes have grown you can't even see straight have you ever felt that nothing looks normal mount zion is desolate america's desolate and and here's the proof of how desolate it is nothing but jackals and foxes are walking on the ruins what do you do what do you do this is the hardest sermon i probably had to preach in a long time what do you do to resuscitate your joy resurrect your joy hold on to your joy when all you see is chaos and crashes and concerns and you're still wrestling with even where the creator is number one here it is here it is y'all ready keep praying through your hurts keep praying keep praying through your hurts verse 1 blesses me watch it …
… and this is what it said. Verse 18, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. Now this is a messianic text. In fact, you can see it's in the first person, even in the book of Isaiah. So the Messiah himself is speaking of his own ministry to come. And He says it will be a ministry with the anointing of the Spirit of the Lord. And then Jesus, in verse 20, closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And he began to say to them, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. This is beyond shocking. He is saying, I am the Messiah. Now, we know that He was under the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit. …