Commentary by Rev. Michael VandenBerg
The LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn…
Isaiah 61
Good news has a way of bringing comfort. The opposite is also true, as bad news can bring about despair. How do we, as the city of Indianapolis, find the good news that will set us free from the brokenhearted, captive, darkness that has befallen our city? We see almost nightly shootings, violence, leaders acting badly, schools failing our students, government failing its citizens, business failing their customers, etc. The way out seems improbable, if not impossible.
The Good News is that no matter how dark, how impossible, how improbable the solution, God is in control. If we turn to Him and look for Him to guide us, we will find that no matter how bleak the world seems we will see the light of hope.
How great it is to hear this good news. To know that God’s intent is to bring hope to those who are brokenhearted, to set free those whose lives are captive to all the evils of this world and to free those imprisoned by their own addictions, despair and hopelessness gives us great comfort.
As we approach a political season that seems out of control, as we look around at the failing of our own making and as we find ourselves perhaps feeling totally out of control, isn’t it good to know that the God of all control desires for us to find good news of hope, freedom and light? Perhaps you may want to become reacquainted to the God of Good News this Easter season.
