“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1-2, ESV, emp. ad.).

     Yes, Isaiah proclaimed good tidings unto the people and delivered a message of liberty to those who would follow God.  But we find that the ultimate fulfillment of this passage was realized through Jesus Christ.  In Luke 4, Jesus came to Nazareth and entered into the synagogue.  The book of Isaiah was handed to Him and He read the above passage.  “...And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.  And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:20-21). 

     As this nation celebrates the 4^th of July this week, we turn our minds to the wonderful liberty that we enjoy.  With thankful hearts we reflect on those who made so many sacrifices to gain and maintain our freedom and the freedom of many around this world.  But, let’s never lose sight of the fact that we have a far more important freedom available to us - spiritual freedom.  As Christians we should be thankful for this freedom each and every day and should remember the high price that was paid for it - the blood of Jesus.  “For even the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).  As a result, we can be ‘...set free from sin...” (Romans 6:18) and instead of facing the dread of condemnation, we can look forward to the judgment day with the hope of an everlasting reward.