Read Luke 4:18-19

Have you even been oppressed? Webster’s dictionary defines oppression as “unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power.” I’m sure if we thought long enough, we could all remember a time when we have, at least, felt oppressed.

The Jewish people were certainly familiar with oppression, at least historically, living for centuries in Egypt and then being exiled to Babylon. While speaking in the synagogue, Jesus recalls Isaiah 61 and proclaims that he has come to set the oppressed free. Many of us have never experienced oppression the way the Jews did, however we are all subject to the oppression brought by sin.

Yes, unfortunately, sin is a form of oppression. I think we would all agree that sin exercises cruel or unjust authority over our lives. But God sent Jesus to live a perfect life and, ultimately, to die for our sins. In Christ we have power to overcome our sin patterns, while be offered forgiveness and grace for the sins we have committed.