Delivered and Liberated

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

Yesterday, while studying a passage in Luke’s Gospel, chapter 4 verse 18 to be exact, I found a little nugget; something I’d not seen before, But now, it stood out for my benefit. So I thought I’d pass it on to you. 

It came from the lips of Jesus when He was a guest Rabbi in Nazareth. He opened a scroll for the Sabbath reading. Jews everywhere would be reading the same passage, but on this day in Nazareth, Jesus was the reader. In part He read, “…He has sent Me to proclaim deliverance for prisoners, and to liberate the oppressed.”

What struck me were the words deliverance and liberate. As I began to study them from the Greek text, I discovered they were translated from the same Greek word, afesis, one of our words for forgiveness. I was fascinated that both deliverance and liberty were directly tied to forgiveness. 

Then it struck me. Unforgiveness is one of the most effective tools the enemy uses to steal our joy. Unforgiveness can easily bind us with chains of bitterness, resentment, and even rage. If it gets a little foothold, and we don’t deal with it, it can lead to our self-destruction. 

I’m so glad Jesus came to forgive [deliver] prisoners and forgive [liberate] the oppressed. We have been forgiven so much. In turn, when we forgive others, sure, we release them, but the person who is most delivered and liberated is ourselves!

The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim deliverance for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to liberate the oppressed…   Luke 4:18