Page 786 … Liberty to the Captives
Next you allude to Luke 4:18 and state that, “[Jesus] says that his purpose is to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners. Through the power of his death on the cross, he offers us the opportunity to die to ourselves in openness and brokenness in order to be made free.”
Well, this is quite true, my Friend, though this belief is actually Paul’s Romans 6:6-7 anti–Christian alteration of Jesus’ original intentions mentioned in Luke 4:18! Let us compare the two passages to understand what I mean … First, let’s read what Jesus actually said when he read from the scroll of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free” (Luke 4:18) … And now, let’s see what Paul says about that proclamation: “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:6-7)
Do you see the radical difference? The Isaiah reading in Luke 4:18 has Jesus encouraging us to liberate ourselves by liberating others – it is about having us re-focus our lives on others instead of self; about us having the courage to radically follow his Way of selfless service and thereby free ourselves to truly Love … Romans 6:6-7, on the other hand, is about Paul encouraging us to pray to Jesus in order for us to be liberated by him – it is self-centered & arrogant & selfish, and therefore actually prevents us from selflessly (i.e. perfectly, i.e. fully – see Matthew 5:40-48) Loving others the way Jesus wanted us to!
You see, even though Paul claimed to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, his “gospel” was actually in direct contradiction to the Good News of Jesus. Paul’s “gospel” centered on worshiping Jesus, while Jesus’ Gospel focuses solely on honoring God the Father (see Mark 10:18, John 5:41, John 7:16, John 8:50-54, John 12:44 et al) … Paul’s “gospel” encouraged us to be active in our worship & our prayers for redemption for ourselves, while Jesus’ Gospel is centered on encouraging us to actively Care for the downtrodden (see Matthew 10:41-42 & John 13:34-35) & to actively forgive our enemies (Matthew 5:40-48 & Matthew 18:21-22) … Paul’s “gospel” told us to cajole those who don’t believe as we do & call out those who are sinning in our midst (see Galatians 1:8-9 et al), while Jesus’ Gospel tells us to be Kind to those who are different from us & to be mostly silent about our own spiritual beliefs (see John 8:7, Matthew 6:1-6, Matthew 7:1-5 et al) … Paul’s “gospel” is relayed to allow others to receive the reward of Heaven after they die (see Romans 3:22-26, Romans 5:1-9, Romans 10:9-10 et al), while Jesus’ Gospel is shared to allow others to enter his Kingdom while still here on Earth (see Luke 17:20-21 + Matthew 10:7 et al) – primarily by striving to serve others & God instead of longing to be served by them (see Matthew 24:12-14, Matthew 20:28 & Mark 9:35 et al)!
“And as you go, proclaim the Good News: The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand … And because of the increase of lawlessness, the LOVE of many will grow cold. And yet the one who endures [in LOVE] to the end will be saved. And this Good News of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world … and then the end will come.” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:7 + Matthew 24:12-14)
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