Title: Liberation and Freedom
Liberation and freedom (Luke 4:16-21)
Isaiah's prophecy
The text we read today is now the culmination of all of the above quotes. The preceding praises and poems are a preliminary preparation for today's text. Obviously, in that all the Gospels focus primarily on Jesus Christ. According to today's text, Jesus visited his hometown of Nazareth. It is said that after staying there for a while, when the Sabbath came, he went into the synagogue as usual. Jesus accepted the Bible scrolls that were kept in the synagogue storehouse. It was the prophecy of Isaiah. And you read the part corresponding to Isaiah 61:1,2. The content is what we read earlier, and if we explain some of the important ones, we can classify them into several passages as follows.
The relationship between poverty and the gospel is a bit tricky. I can't tell you exactly at this time, but I can give you a little help so you can think for yourself. In my view, poverty does not end with poverty itself, but is associated with many more problems. It is also poverty that causes disease. Poor educational attainment is also often the cause of poverty. The chances of becoming disabled are actually higher for the poor. The cynical expression of 'no innocence, no guilt' is not entirely without basis. From this point of view, the situation of the poor man recorded in today's text is the source of all the misfortunes that will be mentioned later. Then, we should listen to the next story of the gospel delivered to the poor, that is, what true joy is for them.
2. “To announce liberation to those who are bound.” We usually think of those who are bound as those in prison. First off, that's right. Whatever the reason, the gospel, that is, the good news, is being released to those who are bound. However, being bound does not mean merely a visible prison, but rather all the evil orders that bind humans. What are the forces that bind humans? I said earlier that I do not know if the problem of poverty is the root of all the unhappiness that follows, but poverty is also a force that binds people. I don't need to explain how seriously people today are bound by material oppression.
3. “Let the blind see.” How can I know the real suffering of blind people? However, it is clear that the only thing they can see is the Gospel. But the blind includes not only those who are physically blind, but also those who do not perceive the truth. In this sense, it is the gospel to see the meaning of life. If you can see the spiritual world little by little through the eyes of faith, it is the gospel. It's actually nothing different from seeing a blind person regaining sight.
4. “To give freedom to the oppressed.” The oppressed person probably refers to the slave at the time. There is no need to talk long about how distorted the life of a person who must be absolutely dependent on someone rather than live independently. Oppression should be seen as not only the condition of slavery in the social structure, but rather the condition of all human beings who have lost their freedom. The oppressed man is similar to the bound man before. If I could explain these two states separately, I could say something like this. Being bound is horizontal oppression, and being repressed is vertical oppression. The former is only an external repression structure, while the latter is an internal or internalized repression structure. In this respect, the latter is much more serious than the former. In any case, it is the gospel that frees us from this oppression, the master-slave relationship.
year of grace
Above we have compiled four themes from the prophecy of Isaiah that Jesus read. They are poverty and gospel, bondage and liberation, blindness and seeing, oppression and freedom. To recapitulate this, we can call it liberation and freedom. Isaiah's prophecy is about liberation and freedom. What has been more important in human history than this? What could be more important to us today than this liberation and freedom? We must think of this as encompassing not only political, economic and cultural liberation and liberty, but also human spiritual liberation and liberty. In this respect, the salvation of the Christian faith we have chosen also refers to liberation and freedom. To be forgiven of sins is also human liberation and freedom.
Luke, in verse 19, summarizes the prophetic book of Isaiah that Jesus read: “To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” It means that the four themes mentioned above, and their summary, liberation and freedom, are events that will occur in the Lord's Year of Grace. The year of grace refers to the year of jubilee. The Jubilee is the year after seven sabbatical years, or the 50th year. In the Jubilee year, all the distorted structures and orders that have taken place in human society over the years take place. The slaves are freed, and the land sold is returned to its owner.
It is said that the current economic structure of Korea is characterized by polarization. It is difficult for me to comment on the rich, poor, poor, and poor phenomenon because it is caused by very complex dynamics. Only certain directions can be given according to the teachings of the Bible. This social phenomenon, in which the poor become poorer, is not only a sociological disease, but also a great Biblical error. If a person accepts the Bible as the Word of God, he must play a part in correcting this structurally sick order in the place where he is located. If the church does not actually proclaim liberation and freedom, as Karl Marx criticized, Christianity may function as an opium to put the consciousness of the people to sleep.
The jubilee is a reality!
After reading the prophecy of Isaiah, Jesus said to the people in the synagogue: “The words of the Bible have been fulfilled in this place, which you have heard today” (verse 21). These words of Jesus are not easy to understand. Is it correct to say that liberation and freedom were achieved “in this place”? There are still many incarcerated, blind and oppressed in this world, is it okay to say that liberation and freedom have been achieved? Here lies the cornerstone of the Christian faith. It means that we see the kingdom of God as something that has not yet been made visible, but has already begun or has already been accomplished. It means looking at the world in the tension of not yet and already.
Let's say here's a young man and a woman they meet for the first time. They had the feeling that they would fall in love at first sight. There are still many things they don't know, but they experience that each other is everything. Were there any lyrics like this in the pop songs? “You mean everything to me.” This is what a man said to a woman. It hasn't actually happened yet, but these two can experience it ahead of time.
The Christian faith is similar. It is said that we believe that liberation and freedom, the content of the Jubilee, have already been achieved, although not yet fully realized in this history. Those who see the world only empirically, or those who view this history only as mechanistic developments, do not understand this Christian belief. Just as the passionate love of a man and a woman cannot be understood by those who see this world only through the eyes of pure reason, they cannot understand the Christian belief that liberation and freedom have already been achieved. However, we believe that the words of Jesus that the prophecies of Isaiah were fulfilled “in this place” are true.