Jesus Sets Us Free
Luke 4:16-21
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling
it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is
on me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He
has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight
for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the
Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The
eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by
saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Matthew 22:36-40
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
When we celebrate the coming of Christ
during the time of Advent and Christmas we sometimes get focused on the
cute side of the holiday. What do I mean by that? What I mean is that we reduce our focus to the birth of a little baby. When we do this we can find ourselves standing back and imagining Jesus in the manger and we think, “Oh isn’t that sweet.”
If Christmas is just focused on the birth of a cute little baby then we have missed the point. The coming of Jesus into this world is the pivot point of all of history. Nothing would ever be the same again. Jesus ushered in a new era. Jesus was destined, through his life, death and resurrection to set us free from all the things that hold us back. What holds us back? Sin,
self-centeredness and fear are just a few of the things that keep us
from experiencing life in the fullness that God had always intended. Through the grace and love of Jesus we have been set free from all of those things. Our lives being changed and completely turned around that is what Christmas is really all about.
This week we are going to focus on the fact that Jesus’ Advent into our world has set us free.
