Preaching the good news (gospel) to the poor is an important part of what we are to do in Jesus’ name. Isaiah 61:1, the Messianic prophecy that Jesus fulfilled and pointed to when responding to John the Baptist when he sent his disciples to question whether or not Jesus was truly the Messiah they were waiting for, starts by proclaiming that ” The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” Jesus had already plainly declared this early in his ministry. In Luke 4:18, he stated, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free … After reading this in the Torah, he clearly told everyone present that this prophecy was even then being fulfilled in him.
Friends, I believe the Lord wants us to continue his ministry of seeing that the good news of the kingdom is preached to the poor. The message of God’s love revealed to us in Christ Jesus is good news. The message that God loves even the poor so much that he gave his one and only son so that if they will just believe in Him they will have everlasting life is good news. Further, the message that God has granted that to as many as receive Jesus he has given them the right to become children of God is great news. Let’s let everyone know and let’s be sure that we are faithful to preach the gospel to the poor. They need to hear some good news. I have been sharing this good news for almost 37 years and continue to do so, because I believe it is a very important part of what we are to do in Jesus’ name.
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