Text by Wilbert Lirag
Read:
Luke 4:18 (NASB)
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed.
Reflect:
The word oppression is synonymous with persecution, abuse, maltreatment, tyranny, cruelty, and exploitation. It can also mean enslavement, harshness, brutality, subjection, pain, and suffering.
When I read the Bible, I found different kinds and contexts of oppression.
What I do find in common is that when a person or group of people experienced oppression for a long time in one way or another, a combination of these things is their current situation:
- They became poor;
- They became prisoners physically or mentally such that they are prisoners of the past or both or demonically possessed; and
- They cannot dream for themselves and have no vision for the future.
A perfect example is a demon-possessed man described in Mark 5:3-5.
For years, people knew that he was not in his right mind. He constantly screams night and day in the mountains and among the tombs. His unmatched strength can easily break any shackles put on him. He even hurts himself by bruising his skin with stones.
Although there was no mention of his background before being demon-possessed, I think he could dress up well. He can think for himself. He has dreams for the future. Maybe he was also a productive man.
I also kept wondering about his family.
Chances are they tried everything to find a solution to make him return to normal. Maybe they spent a lot of money but were not successful. And possibly, they became poor because of this. They even heard people saying no hope for his situation.
The best thing that happened to them was when Jesus came. He set the man free from oppression. He gave him a purpose by telling him to go home to his people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for him and how the Lord had mercy on him.
And then the man responded so well that he went into ten cities to proclaim the great things that Jesus did to him.
Here’s the thing. Because of what Jesus did, we now have the opportunity to set free those under oppression. We have the Holy Spirit inside of us who gives us the power and wisdom to love on these people.
Respond:
Do you know a person or a people group experiencing oppression?
Let us pray and ask the Holy Spirit to empower us and give us wisdom for the practical steps to love that specific person or people group.
Wilbert Lirag stays in Chiang Mai, Thailand together with his wife Rachel and their daughter Lanna. Right now, he works as a funnel builder and an email copywriter while helping an NGO in Chiang Mai with their online marketing. His love for the Word of God started when he received his first bible when he was freshman student in UPLB. As a lifelong learner, what excites him daily is to see God's words renew and transform his mind and other people.
AUTHOR: WILBERT LIRAG