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In this context, I read the words of Jesus:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has:
(1a) anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
          (2a) He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
                     (3) and recovery of sight for the blind,
          (2b) to release the oppressed,
(1b) to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18—19, NIV).

With these words, Jesus defined his calling at the start of his ministry in Luke's Gospel with what one might call the "Jesus Manifesto." I have arranged the text above in order to emphasise Jesus' use of a story-telling device called inclusio. It indicates that he is, in fact, defining "preaching the good news" (1a) as his proclamation of the "year of the Lord's favor" (1b), which is God's open invitation of humanity into relationship with himself—particularly those who recognize their own poverty. The proclamation of "freedom for the prisoners" (2a) he defines as his mission to "release the oppressed" (2b). And the restoration of sight for the blind stands at the center of the statement to define Jesus' both physical and spiritual ministry (3). Not only is this an affirmation that Jesus would carry out this tripartite manifesto during his lifetime, but these three statements can also be seen as his very down-to-earth invitation for us as well to fight poverty, strive against oppression, and minister to physical brokenness.

Jesus was not lured by what political power and stability-based economics had to give individuals of the world. In fact, he rejected the devil's offers during his forty-day fast (Luke 4:1 - 13). He was not interested in the self-serving power of transforming stones into bread (vs. 3 - 4), or in the authority and splendor that riches could bring him (vv. 6-8), or in indulgently demonstrating his own importance in the political order of things (vv. 9-12). Instead, he was getting ready to engage with individuals, to help them realize in word and deed that poverty is only fatal when it is poverty in spirit, that a person that has experienced freedom of the spirit can never again be shackled with chains, and that what we should fear ultimately is not the decay of our bodies but the loss of our souls.

It is time for the community of Jesus in Lebanon, together with its worldwide friends, to carry out its unique mission. It is not one that can be accomplished by politicians or religious leaders or through traditional establishments.

This is an era of engaged and bold activism, of individuals and groups who, in line with the model of Jesus, will not be satisfied so long as poverty, oppression, and poor health continue to breed anger, bitterness, and despair. There is no more fertile soil for these illnesses than Palestinian refugees living in the appalling conditions of camps in Lebanon and other neighboring countries, or among populations that have been oppressed by despotic rulers enjoying the support of Western governments.

It is perhaps not too late, though we have been witnessing the catastrophic consequences of ignoring these dynamics in the microcosm of Lebanon. But with every passing day, we are approaching a red line beyond which the entire situation will get out of hand, with a global cost.

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February (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51