Emphasis Preaching Journal

The declaration of Jesus that he had come to set the prisoners free would be welcome news to most of the men in our jails and penitentiaries, as it was in Jesus' day, but a somewhat different kind of news to his hearers. Now, as then, men in prison are often seen by the general public as "deserving whatever they get," and we generally do not concern ourselves much with their welfare and fear their release. Many prisoners are abandoned by their families, who are unwilling to share the pain of their misdeeds and incarceration.