OHAZURUME - Unizik Journal of Culture and Civilization

There is increased level of poverty in Nigeria caused by socio-economic malady and instability. This affects every aspect of human endeavour. The level of poverty in Nigeria could be parallel to the situation in Nazareth during the life and ministry of Jesus that necessitated the Nazareth manifesto in Luke 4:16-18. The construction of socio-economic society of the Mediterranean world in which Jesus lived and worked for a better understanding as well as addressing poverty in Nigeria forms the focus of this paper. The methodology is purely expositional with critical look on the inter-Testamental citation of Isaiah 61:1-2, 58:6. The location, rejection, and the audience give the insight of the background. It is a society which is a replica of Nigeria marked by social polarization and a huge gulf between the rich and poor. Very few of the population were rich, while the majority of the population lived below the poverty line, and lived mostly by begging. In defining who the poor are and the beneficiaries of Jesus’ ministry in Luke’s gospel, we evaluated the programmatic character of the Nazareth sermon (4:16-30) and argued that ‘the good news to the poor’ casts light on the meaning of ‘the poor’ in terms of possessions and poverty throughout Luke’s gospel. The good news to the poor in Luke 4.16-30 involves relationship between the haves and have-nots and if this relationship is maintained, it will automatically bring turn around in the contemporary Nigerian society.

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