The Gospel to the Poor

Luke 4:18-19

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.

To read the Gospels is to know that Jesus had a special burden for the poor. For most of us "the poor" means simply the financially destitute or economically disadvantaged. But Jesus also promised a blessedness upon the "poor in spirit" along with "those who mourn" – i.e., the emotionally wounded. So it is with Luke's account of Christ announcing his ministry. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me," said Jesus, "because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor." He then describes these poor souls: the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, the oppressed.

As one well acquainted with the anguish of clinical depression and other painful experiences, this speaks to me. After all, depression can be accurately described as both brokenheartedness and captivity, a sheer inability to think clearly or experience any appreciable peace or joy. And the frustrating elusiveness of perspective and truth during a depression equally signals a "blindness" of sorts. Of all these terms "oppression" may best describe the relentless, terrifying onslaught that is a depressive episode. Yet Jesus announces that he has "good news" for all of us. Can there really be any good news during a depression or other severe hardship? I think so.

For one thing, Jesus seems to make ministry to depressives – and others struggling with emotional handicaps like PTSD, or anxiety, or even raw discouragement in the face of life's hardships – a priority in his gospel. Right away, that tells me that Jesus is on a mission to help and heal broken, wounded people, including of course his own. Any believer susceptible to shame or condemnation during a round of depression can take some comfort in this. God has nothing but compassion and mercy for his children as they cry out for help and deliverance, though sometimes he "bears long with them." Does any father not feel – if possible – even greater love for his children when they are sick and struggling than when they are happy and well? He certainly does not love them less! To emphasize the point, Jesus calls this new era "the acceptable year of the Lord." God accepts those who come to him, even the most weary and broken, just as they are.

Better still, Jesus promises that he will heal these terrible and painful afflictions. So experience bears out what Jesus here declares. As is true of any trial or hardship Christians must sometimes endure, depressions do not in fact last forever – though it often seems otherwise. A typical depression episode lasts some 26 weeks. For some it will be longer, for others not as long, but depression will eventually fade out and normal moods and cognitive functioning will return. As William Styron wrote in his memoir of depression, Darkness Visible, "Even those for whom any kind of therapy is a futile exercise can look forward to the eventual passing of the storm." Archibald Hart agrees: "Even a severe depression will eventually lift." And so it is with any difficult circumstance.

Finally, there is the reward promised for those who endure. Again and again Jesus and the apostles spoke of crowns and honor and blessings awaiting those who patiently suffer for Christ on earth. Now some would suggest that since I am not being persecuted for preaching the gospel, my suffering doesn't count. I disagree. Paul the Apostle counted his sicknesses, fears and sleepless nights as legitimate trials of faith. Job, who suffered more than most, experienced no trouble from unbelievers during his long depressive trial, yet the apostle James held him up as the model of Christlike perseverance.

In Scripture this life is consistently described as fleeting, transitory, quickly passing. We are nowhere promised any certain level of  happiness in this life, but we are repeatedly assured of unlimited bliss in the presence of God – the very source of all good things – in heaven. We are thus described as pilgrims momentarily passing through this world on a journey to the next. Paul accordingly lumps together all forms of suffering – depression included – as "light affliction, which is for a moment." Our hope lies well beyond the perils and pains of this sin-scarred life. So we wait on the Lord, our Great Shepherd, "for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed" (Rom. 13:11).