Advent Day 18: Luke 4:16-30

Read Luke 4:16-30. 

Ponder Luke 4:16-30

• What examples or imagery of slavery and freedom did you notice in today’s passage? 

• In verses 18-19, Jesus read Isaiah 61:1-2 and said he had fulfilled the prophecy. Why is that important? 

• How does Jesus fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy? What did it mean for him to proclaim that he brings good news, comforts the brokenhearted and sets the captives free? 

• Why do you think the people reacted so angrily to Jesus’ proclamation? What is your initial reaction when the Holy Spirit reveals sin in your life? 

• How have you experienced the kind of freedom Jesus talked about in these verses? 

Meditate on Luke 4:16-30

Long before Isaiah’s prophecies, God had called the people of Israel to himself, inviting them into a covenant relationship. He had proven himself faithful time and time again. 

He had led them out of slavery in Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land. 

He had led them through the judges and given them the king they wanted when they’d basically told God his lordship wasn’t good enough. 

Finally, he’d spoken through the prophets, calling the people back from sin, inviting them back into a relationship with him that was characterized by holy living and obedience, God’s chosen people, a nation set apart from the rest. 

And again and again, just as Isaiah’s prophecies had fallen on deaf ears, the people chose to live life their own way, falling deeper and deeper into sin and further and further away from God. 

Finally, God stopped speaking. The voices of the prophets ceased, and the people walked in great darkness, far from the God who had called them out of slavery. And then, one night in Bethlehem, a baby was born—and God wasn’t just speaking to his people, he was physically with them. 

So, it should come as no surprise then, that when Jesus got up to give his first sermon in Nazareth, he read the words of Isaiah 61:1-2—and declared himself to be the embodiment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus himself would bring good news to the poor, comfort the brokenhearted and set the captives free. In Isaiah’s day, Israel’s rebellion and disobedience had plunged the nation into captivity, but Jesus promised a freedom that extended beyond nations and politics. 

He would proclaim hope to the poor, declaring that the slavery that had characterized their past was over and a new way of life was about to begin. 

He would comfort the brokenhearted, binding up wounds of their own making and transforming their lives by his salvation. 

And he would set the captives free, releasing them from the bondage of sin that ruled and destroyed their lives. 

Chains can be broken, and slaves to sin can be set free. 

And the Savior of Isaiah 61 and Luke 4 is the only one who can do it.