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Good news: Jesus sets us free
By Karl R. LandisPage:
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One of our friends got an incredible deal after a period of unemployment: His prospective employer paid off the $15,000 debt he and his wife had accumulated while unemployed.
Having worried about how they would ever pay this debt, they were thrilled someone would lift it with a single stroke.
If you have ever had an experience like this, you will easily understand one of the primary metaphors Jesus used to explain his mission.
Jesus identified himself as the bearer of good news, and as the Son of Man who was given power and authority over all things in Dan. 7:13.
At the beginning of his ministry in Luke 4, Jesus announced the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that prisoners would be released, the blind would see, the downtrodden would be set free and the poor would receive good news.
In short, Jesus came to release people from the bondages that weighed them down and made them feel hopeless. He came to set them free from the physical, social and spiritual circumstances that made them feel like God was far away.
The good news is that God is immediately present to Jesus’ hearers and that he will free them from bondage.
For Zacchaeus, this meant being released from the habits and the reputation of a tax collector.
For the bleeding woman it meant being set free from the hopelessness of an incurable disease.
For Bartimaeus it meant being released from blindness into sight.
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