The phrase, “to preach deliverance to the captives” has been echoing in my thoughts recently. In His hometown of Nazareth, Jesus went to the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read from the scriptures and finding his place read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19)
The Prisoner
As a missionary in Thailand, I had a unique opportunity. We were asked to minister to, an Italian citizen and member of our church held captive in a Thai prison. The unfortunate circumstances of his imprisonment were not a result of his own actions. Due to a delay in customs upon arrival in Thailand, the luggage from their flight was delayed. Passengers were instructed to return to the airport hotel at the end of the day to retrieve their bags.
In a room filled with suitcases, drugs were found. Upon this man’s return to retrieve his bags, he was arrested. Even though the drugs were not found in his luggage, someone had to pay. Knowing they would be caught, those responsible for smuggling the drugs had not returned. Being Italian and not able to speak Thai, this man could not defend himself against the charges. And, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He had been in prison for 10 years when we first met.
No way to communicate
For the first few years, he was unable to correspond with his family in Italy because no one in the prison spoke Italian and they were unable to monitor what was written. Finally, through the efforts of his family and church in Italy, and the church and missionaries in Thailand, correspondence was established. Letters were written in English, approved by the prison warden, then sent to Italy. Since his family did not speak English, missionaries there would translate these letters into Italian. The process was then reversed for return letters.
Each week, my companion and I would sit on one side of the iron bars, our Italian friend, fifteen feet away behind another set of bars. We did not speak Italian, but he was proficient in English. We would study scriptures together and share our testimonies of Jesus Christ and His gospel. He was a good man, and though a prisoner, he maintained hope for deliverance.
A pardon
Before I was transferred to another location in Thailand, we were excited to discover that his case was being sent to the King for an official pardon. Though the process would take months, he would finally be able to return home to a family he had not seen for more than a decade.
Through his imprisonment, this man remained a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and his gospel. It is difficult for me to imagine life in physical captivity. Sadly, it is quite easy to understand life endured in a spiritual prison.
Spiritual Prison
Over time, unrepented sin can become a prison cell from which our spirits long to escape. Satan is determined to snare us and attempts to convince us that repentance is unnecessary, difficult, and embarrassing. He desires that “he might bring you into subjection unto him, that he might encircle you about with his chains, that he might chain you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity.” (Alma 12:6).
Deliverance
When we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ and become His disciples, we accept the call to “preach deliverance to the captives”. Unlike the man held prisoner in Thailand, through Jesus Christ, we have the power to free ourselves from spiritual prison. Through the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, we can repent of our sins and throw off the chains of captivity. In Matthew 16:24 we read, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
“To be a follower of Jesus Christ, one must sometimes carry a burden—your own or someone else’s—and go where sacrifice is required and suffering is inevitable. A true Christian cannot follow the Master only in those matters with which he or she agrees. No. We follow Him everywhere, including, if necessary, into arenas filled with tears and trouble, where sometimes we may stand very much alone.” Jeffrey R. Holland October 2022.
Freedom
There are captive souls all around us. Each moment of the day, pray for eyes to see and ears to hear those souls crying desperately for deliverance. Obey the promptings of the Spirit to reach out, share a smile, speak words of encouragement, or bear a witness of faith and hope. In so doing, we can free a soul, perhaps even our own.
