Luke 4:16-19 says, 16And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Jesus set the example for every believer that we are called to preach! While we were all created to worship, we are all called to preach, which goes far beyond standing behind a pulpit with a microphone in your hand. St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times, and, if necessary, use words!” We are to preach the gospel both with our words and our actions. It is more than reading the Bible, but it is about becoming the message we read about, to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world! 

 

Jesus, who is the Messiah, was anointed to preach three things:

 

1) The gospel

2) Deliverance

3) The acceptable year of the LORD

 

Since the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives on the inside of us, we are anointed to preach the same thing. To “preach” the gospel is literally interpreted to mean to “evangelize” the gospel (Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Definitions). Regardless of where you work or attend school, you are anointed to preach the gospel. This doesn’t mean you have to preach hell-fire and brimstone and breathe it down people’s necks. It is about reflecting the love and light of Christ everywhere we go. And who we are called to preach to is the poor, which are those who are destitute and in need! Anyone who doesn’t have Jesus is truly poor indeed!

 

Secondly, we are to preach deliverance. The word “preach” here is literally interpreted to mean “heralded” (Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Definitions). Jesus “heralded” the message, as an ambassador from another kingdom! It was a declaration. He wasn’t evangelizing deliverance, but He was making a proclamation that the captives were free! Jesus didn’t just “deliver” the captives, but He “preached deliverance” to the captives. Jesus didn’t open the prison door, but He gave them the key necessary to set themselves free. All they had to do was believe on Jesus and step into their freedom!

 

Finally, Jesus was to preach the acceptable year of the LORD. The “acceptable year of the LORD” or “the year of release”, was actually Jubilee. A Jubilee, which was a counting of seven sabbatical years (seven times seven years) totaling 49 years. On the 50th year, the silver trumpets (silver represents redemption) were sounded to announce that Jubilee had come. The trumpet of Jubilee was sounded on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 25:8-11). No one was to work during the Year of Jubilee; the entire year declared liberty and freedom throughout the land.

 

So, when Christ quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 as stating that the Spirit of the LORD had anointed Him to preach the “acceptable year of the LORD”, He was announcing that true atonement for the sins of the world had come, that He was the Jubilee! He is the Redeemer, the One who heals the brokenhearted, opens the eyes of the blind, looses spiritual captives from their prisons, deliver humanity and bring a release from sin, death and disease! (Perry Stone Commentary on the Old Testament, pp. 241-244)