The Brokenhearted

Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV)"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

After Jesus had finished reading this passage from the book of Isaiah he sat down and declared, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” In this meditation, my focus is on the little phrase “to heal the brokenhearted.” And my question is, “Who were these brokenhearted ones Jesus came to heal, and what was the cause of the heartbreak?” Were they brokenhearted because they had just broken up with their sweetheart? Were they children who had lost a parent, or parents who had lost a child? I think we are getting closer to the truth because Jesus does heal those who are brokenhearted in these ways, but a passage from the Old Testament gives a more in-depth answer to our question. It’s a passage from one of David’s Psalms, written as he was suffering from another kind of broken heart. He writes:

“…A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17). David had become devastatingly aware of the vast gulf that sin had created between him and the God he loved, Who had said “Be holy, for I am holy.” David’s heart was broken because of his separation from God. And this is the kind of broken heart that Jesus came to heal. The brokenhearted ones are those whose hearts are broken by the things that break God’s heart. The prisoners he came to set free are those who are held captive by sin, including false beliefs that keep them from being brokenhearted by the things that break God’s heart. And the blind ones, whose sight he came to restore, are those whose sin keeps them from seeing clearly God’s presence in the world. Jesus came to heal, to free, and to restore those who suffer from this kind of broken heart, this kind of captivity, and this kind of blindness. He came that they might have life and have it more abundantly, being filled with the love, joy, peace and hope only God can give.

Scripture

2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

God shows himself through scripture to those who love him, because only those who have come to love God will accept His rebuke, correction, and training in righteousness. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). That is why only those who have been “quickened” by the Spirit of God will turn from our wayward path and start to follow Him, rather than going our own way. Only then will the worldview of scripture (the Bible) begin to replace the worldviews that have held the believer captive up until the time of “quickening.” This is as true of scientists who become believers as it is of any other believer.

But what is the experience of being “quickened”? Ephesians 2: 4-5 gives us the necessary insight: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.” (NIV). It is God’s love and irresistible grace that “quickens us together with Christ” (KJV), or “makes us alive with Christ” (NIV). God’s great love and grace draws us to him – irresistibly – in God’s own timing.