Jesus's Inaugural Address

Jesus stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“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,
     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
- Luke 4:16-19

Jesus intentionally chose this passage from the Old Testament to launch his ministry. In his inaugural address the four specific groups of ‘constituents’ he mentioned were the poor, the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed. Those weren’t big ‘special interest groups’ that wielded a lot of power then (or now… or ever!). No, Jesus did not come to play our power games. He didn’t come to go politicking around saying what the rich and famous wanted to hear, or to uphold the status quo. He came with revolution on his mind and heart, seeking to invert the systems of this world by combining the announcement of God’s love to all with an emphasis that it was especially available to those on the margins.

How does this approach to see the world sit with you? How much interest do you have in following this Jesus (not the saccharine sweet Jesus who is gentle and mild and comforts the status quo)? What might he be trying to tell you right now?