Verse:
Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel ( gospel / euaggelizo ) 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,
Commentary by Adam Clarke
The Spirit of the Lord He hath anointed me
This is found in Isaiah 61:1; but our Lord immediately adds to it Isaiah 42:7. The proclaiming of liberty to the captives, and the acceptable year (or year of acceptance) of the Lord, is a manifest allusion to the proclaiming of the year of jubilee by sound of trumpet: see Leviticus 25:9, the notes there. This was a year of general release of debts and obligations; of bond-men and women; of lands and possessions, which had been sold from the families and tribes to which they belonged. Our Saviour, by applying this text to himself, a text so manifestly relating to the institution above mentioned, plainly declares the typical design of that institution.-LOWTH.
Isaiah 42:7 Leviticus 25:9
to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Source
I have been designed and set apart for this very purpose; my sole business among men is to proclaim glad tidings to the poor, exercised on the hearts of men; and the grace by which he works in the heart is a grace of healing, deliverance, and illumination; which, by an admirable virtue, causes them to pass from sickness to health, from slavery to liberty, from darkness to light, and from the lowest degrees of misery to supreme eternal happiness. See Quesnel. To those who feel their spiritual poverty, whose hearts are broken through a sense of their sins, who see themselves tied and bound with the chains of many evil habits, who sit in the darkness of guilt and misery, without a friendly hand to lead them in the way in which they should go-to these, the Gospel of the grace of Christ is a pleasing sound, because a present and full salvation is proclaimed by it; and the present is shown to be the acceptable year of the Lord; the year, the time, in which he saves to the uttermost all who come unto him in the name of his Son Jesus. Reader! what dost thou feel? Sin-wretchedness-misery of every description? Then come to Jesus-He will save THEE-he came into the world for this very purpose. Cast thy soul upon him, and thou shalt not perish, but have everlasting life.
Commentary by Barnes
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Hath anointed me.
Or, I speak by divine appointment. I am divinely inspired to speak. There can be no doubt that the passage in Isaiah had a principal reference to the Messiah. Our Saviour directly applies it to himself, and it is not easily applicable to any other prophet. Its first application might have been to the restoration of the Jews from Babylon; but the language of prophecy is often applicable to two similar events, and the secondary event is often the most important. In this case the prophet uses most striking poetic images to depict the return from Babylon, but the same images also describe the appropriate work of the Son of God. To preach the gospel to the poor.
Anciently kings and prophets and the high-priest were set apart to their work by anointing with oil, 1 Kings 19:15,16; Exodus 29:7;; 1 Samuel 9:16, &c. This oil or ointment was made of various substances, and it was forbidden to imitate it, Exodus 30:34-38. Hence those who were set apart to the work of God as king, prophet, or priest, were called the Lord's anointed, 1 Samuel 16:6;; Psalms 84:9; Isaiah 45:1. Hence the Son of God is called the Messiah, a Hebrew word signifying the Anointed, or the Christ, a Greek word signifying the same thing. And by his being anointed is not meant that he was literally anointed, for he was never set apart in that manner, but that God had set him apart for this work; that he had constituted or appointed him to be the prophet, priest, and king of his people. See Barnes "Matthew 1:1". To heal the brokenhearted.
The English word gospel is derived from two words--God or good, and spell, an old Saxon word meaning history, relation, narration, word, or speech, and the word therefore means a good communication or message. This corresponds exactly with the meaning of the Greek word -- a good or joyful message--glad tidings. By the poor are meant all those who are destitute of the comforts of this life, and who therefore may be more readily disposed to seek treasures in heaven; all those who are sensible of their sins, or are poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3); and all the miserable and the afflicted, Isaiah 58:7. Our Saviour gave it as one proof that he was the Messiah, or was from God, that he preached to the poor, Matthew 11:5. The Pharisees and Sadducees despised the poor; ancient philosophers neglected them; but the gospel seeks to bless them--to give comfort where it is felt to be needed, and where it will be received with gratitude. Riches fill the mind with pride, with self-complacency, and with a feeling that the gospel is not needed. The poor feel their need of some sources of comfort that the world cannot give, and accordingly our Saviour met with his greatest success among the poor; and there also, since, the gospel has shed its richest blessings and its purest joys. It is also one proof that the gospel is true. If it had been of men, it would have sought the rich and mighty; but it pours contempt on all human greatness, and seeks, like God, to do good to those whom the world overlooks or despises. See Barnes "1 Corinthians 1:26". Deliverance to the captives.
To console those who are deeply afflicted, or whose hearts are broken by external calamities or by a sense of their sinfulness. Sight to the blind.
This is a figure originally applicable to those who were in captivity in Babylon. They were miserable. To grant deliverance to them and restore them to their country -- to grant deliverance to those who are in prison and restore them to their families--to give liberty to the slave and restore him to freedom, was to confer the highest benefit and impart the richest favour. In this manner the gospel imparts favour. It does not, indeed, literally open the doors of prisons, but it releases the mind captive under sin; it gives comfort to the prisoner, and it will finally open all prison doors and break off all the chains of slavery, and, by preventing crime, prevent also the sufferings that are the consequence of crime. To set at liberty them that are bruised.
This was often literally fulfilled, Matthew 1:5;; John 9:11;; Matthew 9:30, &c. Isaiah 61:1
The word bruised, here, evidently has the same general signification as broken- hearted or the contrite. It means those who are pressed down by great calamity, or whose hearts are pressed or bruised by the consciousness of sin. To set them at liberty is the same as to free them from this pressure, or to give them consolation. Source
"heal" 2 Chronicles 34:27; Psalms 34:18; 51:17; 147:3; Isaiah 57:15
"recovering" Psalms 146:8; Isaiah 29:18
Commentary by Coffman
The place where it was written ... Source
This was Isaiah 61:1f, wherein the great prophet had foretold the coming of Messiah's kingdom in the appealing metaphor of these words read by Jesus. There are two ways of misunderstanding this prophecy: (1) by those who view Christianity as being merely a revolutionary movement intent on emptying jails and raising economic standards, and (2) by those who fail to accept the Christian fundamentals of aiding the poor and relieving the afflicted. Nevertheless, the great stress of the kingdom of Christ is spiritual, the "poor" including even the rich who know not the Lord, "captives" being primarily those who are taken captive by the devil to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26), and "the blind" having certain references to such people as the secular and materialistic Pharisees, of whom Jesus said, "I came into this world, that they that see not may see" (John 9:39).
John 9:39 2 Timothy 2:26
Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."
and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
Commentary by The Fourfold Gospel
Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. Source
Anointing was the method by which prophets, priests, and kings were consecrated or set apart to their several offices. This prophecy says that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus because he was appointed to do a work of divine helpfulnes
Commentary by David Guzik
a. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me: The one speaking in this Isaiah passage is the Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ. b. He has anointed Me to: In this prophecy, the Messiah announces that He is here to heal the fivefold damage that sin brings. Sin has done great damage, so there needs to be a great work of redemption.
i. Anointed Me: The word "anoint" means to rub or sprinkle on; apply an unguent, ointment, or oily liquid to. Persons in the Old Testament were often literally anointed with oil. For example, priests were anointed for their special service to the Lord (Exodus 28:41). Literal oil would be applied, but as a sign of the Holy Spirit upon their lives and service. The oil on the head was only the outward representation of the real, spiritual work going on inside them.
Exodus 28:41
After you put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint and ordain them. Consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. c. Where Jesus stopped reading from Isaiah helps show us the nature of prophecy and its relation to time. The passage goes on to describe what Jesus would do at His second coming (and the day of vengeance of our God); this is a 2,000 year old comma.
To preach the gospel to the poor: Sin impoverishes, and the Messiah will bring good news to the poor.
To heal the brokenhearted: Sin breaks hearts, and the Messiah has good news for brokenhearted.
To proclaim liberty to the captives: Sin makes people captive and enslaves them, and the Messiah has come to set them free.
Recovery of sight to the blind: Sin blinds us, and the Messiah has come to heal our spiritual and moral blindness.
To set at liberty those who are oppressed: Sin oppresses its victims, and the Messiah comes to bring liberty to the oppressed.
i. Thankfully, Jesus didn't come to only preach deliverance or even to only bring deliverance. Jesus came to be deliverance for us.
Source
Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
To have fixed on any passage announcing His sufferings (as Isa 53:1-12), would have been unsuitable at that early stage of His ministry. But He selects a passage announcing the sublime object of His whole mission, its divine character, and His special endowments for it; expressed in the first person, and so singularly adapted to the first opening of the mouth in His prophetic capacity, that it seems as if made expressly for this occasion. It is from the well-known section of Isaiah's prophecies whose burden is that mysterious "SERVANT OF THE LORD," despised of man, abhorred of the nation, but before whom kings on seeing Him are to arise, and princes to worship; in visage more marred than any man and His form than the sons of men, yet sprinkling many nations; laboring seemingly in vain, and spending His strength for naught and in vain, yet Jehovah's Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and be His Salvation to the ends of the earth (Isa 49:1-26, &c.). The quotation is chiefly from the Septuagint version, used in the synagogues.
Source
Commentary by John Gill
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me;
By whom is meant, the third person in the Trinity; so called, to distinguish him from all other spirits; and who was given to Christ as man, without measure, whereby he was qualified for his great work: and intends the Spirit of Jehovah, with all his gifts and graces, who was, and abode on Christ, as a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, of counsel and of might, of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord; he was upon him, and in him, the first moment of his conception, which was by his power; and he visibly descended on him at his baptism; and the phrase denotes the permanency and continuance of him with him: to preach the Gospel to the poor:
or "that he might anoint me": the Ethiopic version renders it, "by whom he hath anointed me"; for it was with the Holy Ghost he was anointed, as to be king and priest, so likewise to be a prophet: hence he has the name Messiah, which signifies anointed: and this unction he had, in order he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted;
in Isaiah it is, "to the meek"; which design the same persons, and mean such as are poor in spirit, and are sensible of their spiritual poverty; have low and humble thoughts of themselves, and of their own righteousness; and seek to Christ for durable riches and true righteousness, and frankly acknowledge that all they have and are, is owing to the grace of God: and generally speaking, these are the poor of this world, and poor in their intellectuals, who have but a small degree of natural wisdom and knowledge: to these the Gospel, or glad tidings of the love, grace, and mercy of God in Christ, of peace, pardon, righteousness, life and salvation by Christ, were preached by him; and that in so clear a manner, and with such power and authority, as never was before, or since; and for this purpose was he anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows: to preach deliverance to the captives;
whose hearts are broken, and made contrite by the word of God, under the influence of the Spirit of God, and with a sense of sin; and are wounded with it, and are humbled for it; and are in great pain and distress, and even inconsolable, and ready to faint and die; for a wounded spirit who can bear? now Christ was sent to heal such persons by his own stripes, by binding up their wounds, by the application of his blood to them, which is a sovereign balm for every wound; by the discoveries of pardoning grace to their souls, and by opening and applying the comfortable promises of the Gospel, by his Spirit, to them: and recovering of sight to the blind;
who are captives to sin, Satan, and the law; from which, there is only deliverance by him; who saves his people from their sins, redeems them from the law, and leads captivity captive; and which liberty and deliverance are preached and published in the Gospel, and by Christ the author of them: To set at liberty them that are bruised:
which in the prophet is, "and the opening of the prison to them that are bound"; and which the Septuagint render, as here in Luke, and the Chaldee paraphrase in part agrees with it, interpreting it thus, "to the prisoners", (rwhnl) (wlgta) , "be ye revealed to the light" now because persons in prison are in darkness, and see no light, therefore they are represented as blind; and both are the case of sinners, they are in the prison of sin and of the law, and are blind, ignorant, and insensible of their state; until Christ both opens the prison, and sets them free, and opens their eyes, and gives them spiritual sight; when he says to the prisoners go forth, to them that are in darkness show yourselves, (Isaiah 49:9)
Isaiah 49:9
to say to the captives, 'Come out,'
and to those in darkness, 'Be free!'
"They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.Source
these words are not in (Isaiah 61:1) but in the Septuagint version of (Isaiah 58:6) from whence they seem to be taken, or else from (Isaiah 42:7) it being allowable for a reader in the prophets, to skip from place to place, which our Lord here did, in order to explain this passage more fully.
Isaiah 58:6 Isaiah 42:7
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
Commentary by John Wesley
He hath anointed me Source
With the Spirit. He hath by the power of his Spirit which dwelleth in me, set me apart for these offices. To preach the Gospel to the poor - Literally and spiritually. How is the doctrine of the ever-blessed trinity interwoven, even in those scriptures where one would least expect it? How clear a declaration of the great Three-One is there in those very words, The Spirit - of the Lord is upon me! To proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised - Here is a beautiful gradation, in comparing the spiritual state of men to the miserable state of those captives, who are not only cast into prison, but, like Zedekiah, had their eyes put out, and were laden and bruised with chains of iron. Isaiah 61:1.
Commentary by Matthew Henry
The text he preached upon. He stood up to read, to teach us reverence in reading and hearing the word of God. When Ezra opened the book of the law, all the people stood up (Nehemiah 8:5); so did Christ here, when he read in the book of the prophets. Now the book being delivered to him, Source
Nehemiah 8:5 [1.] He opened it. The books of the Old Testament were in a manner shut up till Christ opened them, Isaiah 29:11. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to take the book, and open the seals; for he can open, not the book only, but the understanding.
Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. [2.] He found the place which was appointed to be read that day in course, which he needed not to be directed to; he soon found it, and read it, and took it for his text. Now his text was taken out of Isaiah 61:1,2, which is here quoted at large, Luke 4:18,19. There was a providence in it that that portion of scripture should be read that day, which speaks so very plainly of the Messiah, that they might be left inexcusable who knew him not, though they heard the voices of the prophets read every sabbath day, which bore witness of him, Acts 13:27. This text gives a full account of Christ's undertaking, and the work he came into the world to do. Observe,
Isaiah 29:11
For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, "Read this, please," he will answer, "I can't; it is sealed."
Acts 13:27 First, How he was qualified for the work: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. All the gifts and graces of the Spirit were conferred upon him, not by measure, as upon other prophets, but without measure, John 3:34. He now came in the power of the Spirit, Luke 4:14.
The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Secondly, How he was commissioned: Because he had anointed me, and sent me. His extraordinary qualification amounted to a commission; his being anointed signifies both his being fitted for the undertaking and called to it. Those whom God appoints to any service he anoints for it: "Because he hath sent me, he hath sent his Spirit along with me."
John 3:34
For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
Thirdly, What his work was. He was qualified and commissioned,
1. To be a great prophet. He was anointed to preach; that is three times mentioned here, for that was the work he was now entering upon. Observe,
(1.) To whom he was to preach: to the poor; to those that were poor in the world, whom the Jewish doctors disdained to undertake the teaching of and spoke of with contempt; to those that were poor in spirit, to the meek and humble, and to those that were truly sorrowful for sin: to them the gospel and the grace of it will be welcome, and they shall have it, Matthew 11:5. (2.) What he was to preach. In general, he must preach the gospel. He is sent euangelizesthai--to evangelize them; not only to preach to them, but to make that preaching effectual; to bring it, not only to their ears, but to their hearts, and deliver them into the mould of it. Three things he is to preach:--
Matthew 11:5
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
[1.] Deliverance to the captives, The gospel is a proclamation of liberty, like that to Israel in Egypt and in Babylon. By the merit of Christ sinners may be loosed from the bonds of guilt, and by his Spirit and grace from the bondage of corruption. It is a deliverance from the worst of thraldoms, which all those shall have the benefit of that are willing to make Christ their Head, and are willing to be ruled by him.
[2.] Recovering of sight to the blind. He came not only by the word of his gospel to bring light to them that sat in the dark, but by the power of his grace to give sight to them that were blind; not only the Gentile world, but every unregenerate soul, that is not only in bondage, but in blindness, like Samson and Zedekiah. Christ came to tell us that he has eye-salve for us, which we may have for the asking; that, if our prayer be, Lord, that our eyes may be opened, his answer shall be, Receive your sight.
Commentary by Robertson
Anointed me (exrisen me). To the poor (ptwxoiv).
First aorist active indicative of the verb xriw from which Christ (Xristov) is derived, the Anointed One. Isaiah is picturing the Jubilee year and the release of captives and the return from the Babylonian exile with the hope of the Messiah through it all. Jesus here applies this Messianic language to himself. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" as was shown at the baptism (Luke 3:21) where he was also "anointed" for his mission by the Father's voice (Luke 3:22).
Luke 3:21 Luke 3:22
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened
and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." He hath sent me (apestalken me).
Jesus singles this out also as one of the items to tell John the Baptist in prison (Luke 7:22). Our word Gospel is a translation of the Greek Euaggelion, and it is for the poor.
Luke 7:22
So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Proclaim (khruxai).
Change of tense to perfect active indicative. He is now on that mission here. Jesus is God's Apostle to men (John 17:3, Whom thou didst send).
John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. To the captives (aixmalwtoiv).
As a herald like Noah (2 Peter 2:5).
2 Peter 2:5
if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; Set at liberty (aposteilai).
Prisoners of war will be released (aixmh, a spear point, and alwtov, from aliskomai, to be captured). Captured by the spear point. Common word, but here only in the N.T. Them that are bruised (tetrausmenouv).
First aorist active infinitive of apostellw. Same verb as apestalken, above. Brought in here from Isaiah 58:6. Plummer suggests that Luke inserts it here from memory. But Jesus could easily have turned back the roll and read it so.
Isaiah 58:6
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?Source
Perfect passive participle of trauw, an old verb, but here only in the N.T. It means to break in pieces broken in heart and often in body as well. One loves to think that Jesus felt it to be his mission to mend broken hearts like pieces of broken earthenware, real rescue-mission work. Jesus mends them and sets them free from their limitations.
Commentary by C. H. Spurgeon
"To preach deliverance to the captives." Source
- Luke 4:18
None but Jesus can give deliverance to captives. Real liberty cometh from him only. It is a liberty righteously bestowed; for the Son, who is Heir of all things, has a right to make men free. The saints honour the justice of God, which now secures their salvation. It is a liberty which has been dearly purchased. Christ speaks it by his power, but he bought it by his blood. He makes thee free, but it is by his own bonds. Thou goest clear, because he bare thy burden for thee: thou art set at liberty, because he has suffered in thy stead. But, though dearly purchased, he freely gives it. Jesus asks nothing of us as a preparation for this liberty. He finds us sitting in sackcloth and ashes, and bids us put on the beautiful array of freedom; he saves us just as we are, and all without our help or merit. When Jesus sets free, the liberty is perpetually entailed; no chains can bind again. Let the Master say to me, "Captive, I have delivered thee," and it is done for ever. Satan may plot to enslave us, but if the Lord be on our side, whom shall we fear? The world, with its temptations, may seek to ensnare us, but mightier is he who is for us than all they who be against us. The machinations of our own deceitful hearts may harass and annoy us, but he who hath begun the good work in us will carry it on and perfect it to the end. The foes of God and the enemies of man may gather their hosts together, and come with concentrated fury against us, but if God acquitteth, who is he that condemneth? Not more free is the eagle which mounts to his rocky eyrie, and afterwards outsoars the clouds, than the soul which Christ hath delivered. If we are no more under the law, but free from its curse, let our liberty be practically exhibited in our serving God with gratitude and delight. "I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. " "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"
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Prepared by William C. Barman for George Young Memorial United Methodist Church -- Palm Harbor, FL on 9/2/03; 7:52:53 AM