Rev Gav

Manifesto

Luke 4:18-19

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
    that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
¹⁹     and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come.”

Reflect

Jesus was in the synagogue on a Sabbath (that is the 7th day of the week, kept for holiness and rest), and he was reading from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, however, he was doing a new thing in that he was applying Isaiah’s reading to himself! Right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, these words became Jesus’ manifesto — his programme declaration or mission statement.

There are three things we can see in Jesus’ manifesto. Firstly, he was anointed by the Spirit to fulfil his mission, secondly, he was a prophet who declared that God was doing a new thing, and thirdly, Jesus was going to bless the oppressed and release captives.

But here is a thing. Jesus was reading this Bible passage and declaring his manifesto to a church congregation. He was expecting his listeners to hear his words and respond. Jesus was teaching in the synagogue about the nature of his mission to a congregation that he was trying to recruit to the cause. His message was not just a communication, but an invitation, and in the same way, Luke wrote his whole gospel to include a wider audience in Jesus’ invitation. Therefore, every aspect of Jesus’ message and ministry is also an invitation for to us to join in. In other words, Jesus is inviting us to join him in his mission in the world.

Do

Today, accept God’s invitation to be his minister – his representative to the world.

Pray

Holy God
I choose to respond to your invitation;
to join in with your mission in the world.
Help me be good news to those around me,
and to announce your kingdom.
May my words and actions declare your love.
This day and for ever.
Amen.

Think

In what way do you think your local church is these three things:

1. Anointed by the Spirit of God to perform a specific ministry.
2. A prophetic movement that declares the arrival of a new era.
3. Bringing about the release that it proclaims.