Last week we talked about Jesus’ message of freedom, deliverance and liberty from the following text He read in Isaiah 61. Jesus was anointed to preach the gospel to the poor.
“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 preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind
To set at liberty those who are oppressed
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
The word “gospel” is translated from the Greek and means a proclamation of “good news.” Jesus came to proclaim good news to the poor. Why the poor and not the wealthy? Jesus came to save everyone (John 3:16), but He said it was much harder for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 19:23).
When a rich young ruler came to Jesus he asked Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. The young man said that he had kept all of the commandments. Jesus knew that money was a hindrance so He told the young man to go sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and to come and follow Him. The young man was saddened by this request because he had many possessions and he didn’t want to give them up.
One who is rich has money to rely on and it’s harder to let go of it, whereas a poor person has nothing to rely on and very little or nothing to give up. When the good news is preached, the poor do not need any money to receive salvation. It is a free gift to anyone who will believe and receive, whether rich or poor.
But the good news is not only for eternal life after one leaves this world, it is the good news that you don’t have to remain poor in this life as well. The promises of God for believers is that He would meet our needs and He would bless us (Phil 4:19; Psalm 23). Not only does God want to save you, He wants you to live an abundant life because He loves you so much. All He asks is that you believe and trust in Him for everything in your life. (John 10:10)
Read the rest at: https://litwithprayer.substack.com/p/jesus-preaches-the-gospel-to-the?sd=pf