Remember Why I Came

“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 proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Luke 4:18–19

Yesterday, we began discussing the Last Supper—how Jesus sat with His disciples, took the cup, broke the bread, and shared it with them, instructing them to do these things in remembrance of Him. Our question was: What are we supposed to remember? The first answer is pretty clear—He said, “Do this in remembrance of Me,” meaning we must remember Him above all. Our minds should meditate on Him. (If you missed that, you can catch up [here].)

The second thing we must remember is why He came. Why did Jesus step onto this earth? In His own words—and by prophecy—why did He arrive?

In our text today, Jesus enters the temple, takes up the Scriptures, and reads from Isaiah’s prophecy: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me…”

From that text, we see that He came:

• To preach the gospel to the poor—those who are poor in spirit, desperate for His truth.
• To heal the brokenhearted—those crushed by sorrow, grief, or despair.
• To proclaim liberty to the captives—those bound by sin, shame, or chains they cannot break.
• To bring recovery of sight to the blind—both physically and spiritually.
• To set the oppressed free—those weighed down by burdens only He can lift.
• To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor—the Jubilee, where all debts are cancelled, and freedom reigns.

After declaring this, He closed the scroll and said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled.” Meaning: “I am the One Isaiah spoke of. This is My mission.”

But His purpose doesn’t end there. He also said:

• “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

There are countless reasons why He came—more than we can cover this month—but each one gives deeper meaning to His sacrifice and we will look at some of them as we continue this study.

But today, you have homework or an assignment, if you will, pause and read Luke 4:18–19 again. Meditate on it. Tell yourself: “This is why Jesus came. He came for me. Every word of this prophecy—He fulfilled it for me.”

Then thank Him. Take a moment to pray and praise Jesus for His sacrifice. If He had not come, you would not be where you are today. So thank Him. Worship Him.

Praise the Lord. Shalom.