Spiritual & Social Transformation

Luke 4:16 b-19

Jesus stood up to 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 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.” (Luke 4:16 b-19)

Luke 4:18-19 was the only scripture that we had to memorize in our Intro to Theology course in seminary. On the first day of class, our professor declared to us newly initiated students that this Lukan text, if we were truly seeking to understand the depth and breadth of Jesus’ life, encapsulated not only who Jesus was but also his mission in the world. 

This text, taken from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, revealed that Jesus had not come only to bring a spiritual salvation as many of us had been taught. Jesus proclaimed that he had come to bring a social salvation that was to be embodied, practiced, and lived faithfully in the here and now.

He had not come to save them only from their spiritual sins in the great by and by but to save them from a society that saw their poverty, their conditions, their imprisonment, and their oppression as sin. He had come to disrupt systems and dismantle structures that threatened their wellbeing and flourishing here on earth. It was personal – it was political – and it was prophetic. 

In his mission and ministry, no one was to be excluded. Everybody was included. As we enter into this Advent week of joy, Jesus invites us to join him on his mission to all that calls for both a spiritual and a social transformation. For as the text in Isaiah announces, those who do that will receive an everlasting joy.

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