One of the most powerful chapters in the Bible is Isaiah 61. It starts out saying that someone will come to preach good news to poor, heal up the brokenhearted, and set captives free. It doesn’t stop there! The chapter then continues saying that these same poor, broken captives will also be like oak trees of righteousness who will, among other things, rebuild ruins formerly devastated and repair cities laying dormant for generations.In other words, once these poor, broken captives are healed and set free they will go on to help others to also be healed and set free! This is also the story of Delgo, an animated movie, which chronicles the life of… well, Delgo. He was poor and broken because of a war he had nothing to do with that led to the death of his parents. Though he was spared death by the enemy and was taken in by one of the Elders of his town, he lived in captivity from the bitterness of being an orphan.
After meeting Princess Kyla, Delgo goes on a journey to release the bitterness inside of him and become a warrior, a journey that heals the tension between his people, the Lokni, and Kyla’s, the Nohrin. The beautiful turning point comes when he realizes that when he was a boy a Nohrin named General Boghardus graciously allowed him to hide and thus saved his life. When he reinterpreted his life based on that grace, he was set free from bitterness.
Though the animation is a bit distracting, the story is sound. We have the same problem as Delgo. We are each of us poor, broken, and captive because of sin and living in a broken world. The “someone” that Isaiah 61 talks about is Jesus. In fact, he proclaims that he is the one that came to set us free in chapter 4 of Luke’s account of Jesus’ life. In many ways, it is a mission statement to the world!
Each of us can be like Delgo, if we bring our poverty, brokenness, and captivity to Jesus. He is more than willing; it is his heart to heal and to set free. It is what he did while he was here on earth, and nothing has changed now that he reigns in heaven. I hope you will take him up on his offer.
