Release to the captives

O Clavis

Even in the darkness where I sit

And huddle in the midst of misery

I can remember freedom, but forget

That every lock must answer to a key,

That each dark clasp, sharp and intricate,

Must find a counter-clasp to meet its guard,

Particular, exact and intimate,

The clutch and catch that meshes with its ward.

I cry out for the key I threw away

That turned and over turned with certain touch

And with the lovely lifting of a latch

Opened my darkness to the light of day.

O come again, come quickly, set me free

Cut to the quick to fit, the master key.

Malcolm Guite.

Each one of us to some extent is still in Captivity. Enslaved in our own private Egypts. The old habits, which refuse to die, enchain us, We may be stuck in the miry swamp of depression, fear or guilt; each one fearsome gaolers . Or perhaps in some more tangible prison like the citizens of Bethlehem walled up by a regime where fear has extinguished compassion.
So how does Jesus release the captive? Perhaps Thomas Lovelace had the answer.

Perhaps the greatest  freedom that Christ gives is the freedom to forgive. The freedom to embrace your enemy.
Christ held out His arms of love on the cross, to empower us to be able to embrace the stranger, the enemy, the unlovable other.