“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).
Quoting these verses above from Isaiah, Jesus made it absolutely clear to a synagogue full of people in his hometown what he came to earth to do. He told them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). In these mission objectives, we see more than a divine checklist. We’re seeing the very heart of our God who came to rescue us from sin and bring us home to heaven with him. That was why God sent Jesus.
This is for me. This is for you.
When Jesus came into the world, sent and anointed by God, everything changed, dear Christian. The good news—the gospel message—has been freely preached far and wide. By God’s grace, we’ve heard it for ourselves from pastors, teachers, friends, family, and other Christians.
Once we were poor. Now we are rich in Christ. We have everything we need in him. All of our sins have been forgiven. Eternal life is ours. Heaven is our home.
Once we were prisoners to sin. We couldn’t escape. We couldn’t get free even if we wanted to. Now we’ve been set free. Jesus broke those chains, and he lovingly led us out of our prison cells. If the Son sets us free, then we are free indeed. There’s no condemnation: we’re in Christ Jesus. He has us. We’re his.
Once we were spiritually blind in unbelief and sin. Now we see by God-given faith what our Savior has done for us and what we mean to him. He has rescued us and brought us into the family of God as dearly loved sons and daughters of the King.
Our oppression—sorrows, troubles, and woes from living as God’s children—does not go unnoticed by our heavenly Father. Our Savior came to set us free from such things. In this world, we will have troubles, but Jesus has overcome the world. And because he has, we will too.
The year of the Lord’s favor is now, dear Christian. Now is the time we’ve been given to share the good news about Jesus, the gospel message, with the people of a hurt and broken world. What he has done for us, he has done for them too because he loves them dearly. That message is exactly what they need to hear—just like we do.
Does sharing your faith with the people of a hurt and broken world sound intimidating? Overwhelming, even?
It does to me.
I know none of us are alone. We’re all working together to share the gospel message with as many people as possible—and Jesus himself promises to be with us, blessing what we do as the Holy Spirit works through the means of grace in Word and sacraments. But the world is vast. Even my community is packed with people. I wouldn’t know where to start.
Let’s narrow the focus. How about sharing your faith with a hurt and broken person in your life? That’s more concrete. More manageable. Start with one person. And then go from there.
This isn’t a numbers game. It’s living out our faith, clinging to Christ throughout life even when we suffer (especially then), and praying that God uses such things to give us opportunities to tell people about the incredible love God has shown us in sending Jesus—giving us joy through him even in the midst of suffering.
Everyone in this world is hurt and broken in some way, shape, or form because of sin and all its awful consequences. But that’s exactly why Jesus came. And by God’s grace, we know what he did for us and all people. We can tell the brokenhearted, the captives, the hurting, and the blind . . .
We can tell them about the Savior who came to set them free.
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Written by best-selling NPH author Dr. Mark Paustian, Prepared to Answer: Telling the Greatest Story Ever Told provides you with helpful examples for sharing your faith with others by using accounts from Scripture to address common objections, questions, and concerns.
Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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