Luke 4:18 (NKJV)
“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;
Bible Commentary
Luke 4:18 is a Bible verse where Jesus reads from the Book of Isaiah and fulfills the prophecy in the presence of all who were in the synagogue.
What an amazing scripture! These words are like Heaven coming to earth. Jesus came to give good news to all the world. God sent Him to heal those with broken hearts, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to give sight to the blind and to free the oppressed. Praise the Lord!
But sadly, His precious and valuable gifts go unopened because of our blindness, our unbelief or ignorance. He made the way for us to receive the gifts, and He offers them to anyone who is willing to receive them.
His longing heart yearns to release His good gifts to our dry and desperate souls. But for those who do not know Him or refuse to acknowledge His existence, His good news falls on deaf ears, and His precious gifts go unseen by those with blinded hearts.
See as Christ Sees
Our main focus today is on the part of Luke 4:18, “And recovery of sight to the blind.” The Greek meaning of “sight” here is: to look up; to recover sight; see, receive sight.
The word “recovery” would indicate that sight has been lost. Looking back at God’s word in Deuteronomy 28, He communicates in plain language what blessings His people can expect for obedience, and likewise the curses for disobedience.
One of those curses says, “The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart.” (Deuteronomy 28:28)
Jesus Christ came to deliver us from all the curses of disobedience. In the New Testament 1 John 2:11 says this, “But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
We (as nations or individuals) are the ones who called God’s hand, and He did exactly what He said He would do. We walk in the consequences of “hating our brother”. Though we can see with our physical eyes, we are spiritually blinded to all the Lord has to offer. Because of our spiritual blindness, we are unable to see the traps the devil puts in our path. We stumble and fall when we could have seen the trap and avoided the pitfall.
Recovery of Sight
Because of Jesus Christ, we have the opportunity of the recovery of sight promised in Luke 4:18. It is difficult to recognize our blindness until spiritual sight is restored.
The Lord says to the Lukewarm Church in Revelation 3:17-18,
“Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.”
With our sight recovered, we not only see the pitfalls that might be in our path, but just as important, we see as Christ sees. We see people as He sees them. We are able to see and understand their perspective. We are able to get on their side. Even if we don’t do as they do, we understand their plight and gain insight into them as people—not as a gender, or a race or ethnic group—but as people. A bridge is formed on the Biblical foundation of Jesus Christ, Who connects us to one another.
The Lord said in Zechariah 4:6, ‘“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” says the Lord.”’
With God, all things are possible (Mark 9:23). As He gathers together in one, all things to Him, both in heaven and on earth, let us see through the eyes of Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory!
Study the Bible verse of Luke 4:18, and know the time is near.
