Why Christ Came: to set the oppressed free

He came to set the oppressed free.

Why did Jesus come?

‘The oppressed’, this phrase is always a bit heavy, isn’t it? Dictionary.com defines the oppressed as a group burdened with cruel or unjust impositions or restraints, subjected to burdensome or harsh exercise of authority or power. Jesus came to set them free. But we also know that all the oppressed have not yet been set free. How can it be that he came to fulfill this scripture and yet it is not done? In studying this verse, I found that it was linked to the Year of Jubilee, outlined in Leviticus 25, aside from being read from Isaiah 61. The laws related to the Year of Jubilee repeatedly call attention to the temporary ownership of land and people as well as the redemption of life and property. The law cautions against oppression. The law allows for the release of every person who has been bound by contract at the year of Jubilee, every fifty years. The Israelites were never to be held as slaves and did not actually belong to anyone except God; they were not to be slaves ever again after the release from Egypt. God claims his people for himself and does not permit others reign over them.

In Luke 4:18, we find Jesus stating that he has come to set the oppressed free. He is staking his claim over us. God has sent his Son to free his people from harsh rule and authority. We are no longer subject to the rule of the world, but rather the rule of His love. We are free of oppression.

He came to release the oppressed; that’s why Christ came.

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