The breaking news is that Russian troops have entered Russian separatist sections of Ukraine, purportedly as peace-keepers. Is this the beginning of a changing world order championed in a recent meeting between Russia and China? In the midst of divisions and uncertainty around us, what can we do? Where can we find assurance and hope?

The answer to the question, ‘What can we do?’ is pray! In 1 Timothy 2:1-4, Paul the Apostle writes: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and for all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

We often forget that Christians for three centuries were often persecuted under Roman rule. Indeed, Nero used them as scapegoats for the fire in Rome and put them through all kinds of barbarous cruelty including the lion’s den in the Roman arena. Christians had every reason to hate the state, and yet Paul calls on God’s people to respect the civil authorities for what they are: God’s provision in a fallen world for the good order and protection of society.

But there is a second question: ‘Where can we find assurance and hope?’

In Psalm 2:1-4 we read: Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, ‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.’

How important it is to remember that whatever happens around us, the Lord continues to work out his purposes in our world. Despite the derision, opposition, or even the persecution we might experience from political leaders or those around us who embrace a secular progressive agenda, God will have the last word.

How can we be sure of this? Come with me to a surprising scene in Luke 9:28-36.

Luke begins, about eight days after… (9:28). He wants us to be in no doubt that, just as the previous conversations had occurred, so did the scene that was about to unfold. Jesus took three of his disciples with him, Peter, John and James when he went up on the mountain to pray (9:28). While Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white (9:29).

This was not a superficial event. In both Luke and Acts a reference to dazzling clothes usually signifies a supernatural or ‘other worldly’ glory. Two great prophets, Moses and Elijah, who were not transformed as Jesus was, were also present and spoke with him about what he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem (9:31).

Prophets had been very much in the minds of Jesus and the disciples at that time. Indeed, eight days earlier Jesus had asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ and they had replied, ‘John the Baptist or Elijah, or one of the prophets.’ But when Jesus had pressed them for their own view, Peter had replied: “You are the Christ” (9:20).

But here on the mountain it was clear that Peter had not yet worked out what it meant for Jesus to be the Christ. Otherwise he and the other two would not have been asleep only to be awakened by the brilliant, supernatural light of Jesus and his visitors (9:32). Furthermore, as the visitors departed Peter said, “Master…; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah – not knowing what he said” (9:33).

Before he could utter another word, a cloud enveloped them all and they heard a voice, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him” (9:35). It was a scene and a voice the disciples would never forget. The glory which transfigured Jesus that day revealed him to be God incarnate.

He is the Son of Man of whom the prophet Daniel spoke, the one to whom would be given the kingdom, the power and the glory (Daniel 7:12-13). He is the man from heaven.

The main purpose of the event was for the three disciples. Yes, Jesus truly is the Christ: God the Father’s words confirmed what they had recently concluded. Furthermore. they needed to listen to him – as we need to do today.

The scene was a foretaste of the glory of God’s kingdom – a foretaste of Jesus’ messianic reign. Peter later wrote: ‘We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eye-witnesses of his majesty (2 Peter 1:16).

The event is very important for us. If Jesus had disappeared following his resurrection and his ascension, we would have no assurance of his enthronement in glory. The transfiguration is a preview of his power and majesty as he works out God’s purposes for his creation, moving world affairs to an end time when he will be seen in all his might, majesty, dominion and power – the supreme Lord over heaven and earth.

In the midst of the rumors of wars and the tumult of war, what should we be doing? Pray! Where is our hope for the future to be found? In the risen ascended Christ, the man from heaven.

A prayer for peace. God of the nations, whose kingdom rules over all, have mercy on our broken and divided world. Shed abroad your peace in the hearts of all men and women and banish from them the spirit that makes for war; so that all races and people may learn to live as members of one family and in obedience to your laws; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Preserve your people, Lord God, with your continual mercy, for without you we will fall because of our frailty; keep us always under your protection and lead us to everything that makes for our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

© John G. Mason

(Note: Today’s Word is adapted from my Luke: The Unexpected God, 2nd Edition, Aquila: 2019)

You may want to listen to Keith & Kristyn Getty and Matt Papa’s Christ Our Hope in Life and Death.

The voices around Valentine’s Day say that ‘love is everywhere’. It’s a wonderful thought but is it true? Where there is disagreement today, we find hostility, bitterness and anger. Rarely is genuine, thoughtful conversation exploring points of difference welcome. If someone disagrees, they are considered an enemy.

It is not without significance that Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Plain: “But I say to you that hear, love your enemies” (Luke 6:27).

Moses had commanded, love your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18). In Jesus’ day the Jewish leaders had narrowed the application of neighbor to refer to people with similar religious views; it did not include enemies. But Jesus went further and said that his followers cannot be selective about whom they love.

To love one’s enemies means loving those who oppose, mock or persecute us. It’s a call not to retaliate in kind for that only exacerbates the issue. Rather, we are to pray and do good. This was a real challenge for Jesus’ hearers in Roman occupied Judea; it’s a challenge for us today.

Love distils the essence of Jesus’ ethic. Significantly this love is not simply brotherly love, romantic love, or even natural affection, but rather the kind of love that God practises: a love that chooses to love those unworthy of love – even enemies. The original language uses a rare Greek word, agape.

Jesus explains what agape love looks like: “Pray for those who abuse you; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you”, he says (6:28).  Love calls for practical action. The kind of love of which Jesus speaks means praying for the persecutors – even the unjust and violent.

Doing good means being willing to forego personal ‘rights’ – being prepared to be vulnerable and ‘go the extra mile’. “If anyone strikes you on the cheek,” Jesus continues, “offer the other cheek as well” (6:29). The image is of a slap across the face with the back of the hand, a humiliating action. It’s an abuse of power (such as we find in Luke 12:45f; 18:3-5; 23:36f). But, Jesus is saying, true neighbor love is the willingness to forgive and not retaliate, to offer support and even minister to the persecutors. Such love may mean understanding what may lie behind someone’s aggressive anger – it may be a genuine personal injury. Revenge is not on.

A similar point is made with Jesus’ references to cloak or coat (6:29). The illustration here carries the idea of theft. But the response is the same: again, revenge is excluded. Forgiveness and vulnerability are called for when dealing with personal injustice and religious persecution.

Now we need to understand that Jesus is not referring here to governments. One of the tasks of good governments is to protect its people – which may, in extreme circumstances, involve taking up arms. But this is not what Jesus is speaking about here. Luke tells us in 6:20 that while vast crowds are present, Jesus’ words are carefully and deliberately directed to his followers – his people in their personal relationships.

So in verse 30 he tells us that the self-giving nature of the love he is talking about also demands a response of assisting the destitute. The reference to begging is not so much to beggars on the street but to people who are genuinely in need. Love requires unexpected generosity. And he tells us, such love doesn’t expect anything in return.

Now I need to stress that Jesus expects us to act with godly wisdom in the way we express our love in practice. Such are the needs of the world that if we gave to every needy person around us, we ourselves would become destitute and homeless, needing others to provide for us. It’s important we understand that Jesus is laying out principles to frame the attitudes and actions for anyone who says they are a follower of his.

With that he sets out what has become known as ‘the golden rule’: “Do to others as you would have them do to you…”  That is, ‘Treat others as you would want them to treat you’ (6:31). Jesus’ words here are positive and pro-active.

They are based on the principle of the Old Testament command in Leviticus 19:18: You must love your neighbor as yourself. In Luke chapter 10 we learn through Jesus’ parable of ‘The Good Samaritan’ what the practice of neighbor love looks like. It means caring for anyone we come across who is in need and whom we have the power to help. Jesus doesn’t expect us to act if we don’t have the resources to do so.

He was laying then the foundation for a new social order that over time has provided a framework for justice tempered by mercy and forgiveness, in marriage and family, in constitutions and laws, protecting the rights of citizens and reversing many evils in society.

Jesus’ definition and practice of the law of love radically reverses the way we relate to one another. And this reversal is grounded in the character of God and his nature of love: “Love your enemies, do good and lend, expect nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (6:35).

In John Stott’s last book, The Radical Disciple (IVP: 2010, p.40), he referenced a Hindu professor who, ‘identifying one of his students as a Christian, once said, ‘If you Christians lived like Jesus Christ, India would be at your feet tomorrow’’.

A Prayer: Grant us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right, so that we who cannot do anything that is good without you, may in your strength be able to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

© John G. Mason

For the past two years it seems that all the news has been bad news: international tensions, leaders constantly verbally attacking one another – especially during a pandemic when unity would seem to be a better way for countries to address the crisis – bitterness and anger, blame and vitriol being spewed in the media and social media, together with divisions in the western world. We can feel overwhelmed, swamped and beaten down by what appear to be unsolvable situations.

Over these weeks we are touching on various scenes in the Gospel of Luke. And as we do it’s important to keep in mind Luke’s claim that his narrative is an accurate record about Jesus: it had been delivered by eyewitnesses and ministers of the word… (Luke 1:2). Many respected ancient historians are agreed that Jesus not only lived but that the Gospel records are reliable.

Luke 6:17-19 tells us that huge crowds came to Jesus to hear him teach and to be healed. What follows is a sermon specifically addressed to his group of close followers as well as to a huge crowd. It begins: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (6:20).

These are searching words, challenging us to ask, ‘Whose blessing do I want most of all – the blessing of my family and friends, the world, or the blessing of God?

When Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor”, he is not only speaking of the materially destitute. At least four of his disciples there that day weren’t materially poor. Peter and his brother had a fishing business, as did James and John. Yes, Jesus does have compassion for the materially poor and the powerless, but he has in mind a wider meaning of the poor – people who are aware that life is meaningless without God.

In the 16th century, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, understood the spiritual poverty of our human hearts. Ashley Null has summarized Cranmer’s understanding of our human nature: ‘What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies’. In our natural state we have no true love for God and his ways. Blessed, Jesus says, are those who are aware of their spiritual need, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Such people are members of God’s kingdom now and can already taste the joys of experiencing God in their lives.

“Blessed are you who are hungry now for you will be filled”, Jesus continues (6:21). In saying the hungry will be filled, he is speaking of God’s plan to provide everything good in all its fullness for his people – spiritually and materially. The hungry now long for the day when God’s purposes and promises are fulfilled.

“Blessed are you who weep now” describes each of us who grieve over our own personal sin. These words also refer to those of us who weep because we grieve for a world where evil and its outcomes abound.

Dr. Luke records examples of these kinds of grief elsewhere: the woman who poured expensive perfume over Jesus’ feet at a dinner, wept because of her former lifestyle (7:38); Peter wept when he heard the rooster crow, expressing his grief over denying Jesus three times (22:62); and, not long before his crucifixion, Jesus wept over Jerusalem because its people were rejecting him (19:41).

But weeping is not the final outcome for those who grieve. Jesus promises a day that will fulfil the words of Psalm 30:5: Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning – supremely, the dawning of the day of Christ’s return.

The fourth blessing is the climax to the blessings. It is both a statement and an exhortation. Jesus is saying that his followers will experience suffering and persecution in various ways – hatred, exclusion, denunciation, the blackening of their name, because of their association with him, the Son of man (6:22). Indeed, in 2012 Dr. Angela Merkel, the then German Chancellor stated that Christians were the most persecuted group in the world. And nothing has changed.

But Jesus exhorts us, “Rejoice in that day. Leap for joy, for behold your reward is great in heaven” (6:23). ‘Be glad on that day,’ he says, ‘not because you have earned a reward in heaven but because the opposition you experience signifies your genuine commitment to me’.

He now continues with some very tough words: “Woe”, or “Alas”, he says. Woe conveys regret or sadness. It is the very opposite of blessing.

‘People who live for riches and prosperity, the power and pleasures that riches can bring,’ he says, ‘will only experience these benefits in this present world’ (6:24). ‘They will be your only consolation for you won’t have them in the life to come’.

Linked with the rich are those who are full now: people who live simply to satisfy the desires of the flesh will one day experience emptiness.

Woe to you who laugh now (6:25b). Jesus is not suggesting that his followers are miserable and never laugh or smile. Rather he is speaking against people who are filled with their own interests and delights, and who mock the things of God. Like the rich man in the parable he later told (12:15-21), they have no regard for God at all. They give no thought to the fact that all the good things that make for fun, laughter and success, ultimately come from God.

Woe to you when all speak well of you (6:26). Jesus now has tough words for people who live for the plaudits of the crowd. He is speaking of people who win popular adulation at the price of leaving God out of their lives (see 6:22). The self-serving path of popularity is the road to nowhere.

It is easy to look for solutions to our fears and anxieties in wealth, clothes, popularity, and the good life. Someone who valued his lifestyle on the Sydney Harbour foreshore, once told me I shouldn’t bother him about God: he had heaven now. To which I responded: ‘But for how long?’

The mix of present and future tenses associated with Jesus’ blessings reveal that all who turn to him can look forward to joy in the morning when he returns; already we can taste what this will mean.

A prayer. God our Father, you have promised to remain for ever with those who do what is just and right; help us to live in your presence. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

© John G. Mason

You may want to listen to Christ Our Hope in Life and Death from Keith & Kristyn Getty and Matt Papa.

Back in 1995 Joan Osborne’s ‘What If God Was One of Us?’ was an instant hit. It was asking the question how we would react if God was identifiably walking amongst us as just one of us. It’s a good question to ask in every generation, for it awakens us to a time when it is claimed that divinity did walk amongst us – not as one of the elite but as one of us.

In the opening lines of chapter 5 of Luke’s Gospel we read of a scene on the foreshores of Lake Gennesaret on Lake Galilee: … The crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God; he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat…

In his book, The Holy Trinity Dr. Robert Letham comments that the world at the beginning of the 21st century replaced ‘reliance on reason’ with ‘a preference for emotion’. Successful athletes are more often asked ‘how they feel’ rather than for their analysis of the game. ‘The cardinal fault in interpersonal relations is to hurt someone’s feelings,’ he observes …

‘While emotions are not to be shunned, for God created them…,’ Letham continues, ‘there are peculiar and sinister dangers in a world shaped not by considered thoughts, but by image and gut feelings. These dangers relate to civil society and the rule of law, and also to the church and its faithfulness to Christ’ (pp.449f).

How often we fail to understand what is happening around us. And with this failure we’re not equipped to live wisely as God’s people in the wider community, let alone to defend our faith.

The drama that unfolds in Luke chapter 5 takes us back in time to Jesus’ teaching and actions, to the way he not only instructed minds, but also stirred emotions and touched hearts.

The scene Luke describes in the opening lines of chapter 5 would have been a familiar sight: fishing boats hauled up at the water’s edge after a night’s work and fishermen washing nets. The nets, probably made of linen, were most effective at night for in daylight fish could see them and avoid them. This detail highlights the drama of the unfolding scene.

Pressed by the crowds, Jesus asked Simon, one of the fishermen, to pull his boat a little offshore. Not one to stand on dignity, unexpectedly Jesus sat in the boat to teach the crowds: he came amongst them as one of them.

Luke’s narrative now focuses on Jesus and Simon (Peter). ‘You (singular) put out into the deep,’ Jesus said to Peter, and ‘you (plural) let down your nets for a catch’ (5:4). The command is specifically to Simon, but also to the others who were there. All of them would be needed to haul in the catch.

Thus, in a moment we are introduced to Simon Peter. For him Jesus’ command is ridiculous: he had fished all night and had caught nothing. Nevertheless, what he had seen and no doubt heard of Jesus (4:37; 38-39) impressed him. Significantly Peter didn’t address Jesus, as ‘Teacher’ or ‘Lord’, but rather as Master (5:5). ‘You’re the boss,’ his words implied. ‘I think you’re mad, but because it is you who has told me to do it, I’ll do it. Don’t blame me if we don’t catch anything.’

Clearly Jesus was someone who impressed Peter – perhaps the nature of his teaching, and even ‘the cut of his jib’.

The haul of fish that day was astonishing. It was so great that a second boat was required for the nets were at breaking point and the two boats were almost swamped (5:6-7). Such was the size of the catch everyone recognized something abnormal had happened.

Astounded, Peter fell on his knees in front of Jesus. Acknowledging his lack of faith and the gulf that he perceived existed between them, he exclaimed, “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man” (5:8). Peter knew he was in the presence of divinity.

James and John, Peter’s business partners were also astonished (5:10). We can imagine an interviewer today asking, ‘How did you feel?’ By his words and actions Jesus touched minds and hearts. And, although he was clearly one of them, he awakened their awareness that divinity was walking amongst them. A miracle happened that day.

Yet today miracles are dismissed because ‘we now know the laws of nature’. To which the philosopher and mathematician, Dr. John Lennox replies, “From a theistic perspective, the laws of nature predict what is bound to happen if God does not intervene… To argue that the laws of nature make it impossible for us to believe in the existence of God and the likelihood of his intervention in the universe is plainly false” (God and Stephen Hawking, Lion, p.87).

The laws of nature that science observes are the observable regularities that God the creator has built into the universe. However, such ‘laws’ don’t prevent God from intervening if he chooses. When he does, we are able to identify the irregularity and speak of it as ‘a miracle’.

Luke’s record of Peter, James and John’s response to Jesus’ command and action that day (5:6-7), points to the One of whom it can be truly said: he is the man from heaven.

But the scene is not yet complete: Jesus says to Peter, “Don’t be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men and women” (5:10). The scene concludes with Luke’s comment: And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him (5:11). The three men, recognising divinity in their midst, left their business and followed Jesus.

In Luke 5:1-11 we have significant clues to the answer of Joan Osborne’s question: What if God was one of us?

A prayer: Almighty God, we thank you for the gift of your holy word. May it be a lantern to our feet, a light to our paths, and strength to our lives. Take us and use us to love and serve all people in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

© John G. Mason

You may like to listen to the song Across the Lands from Keith & Kristyn Getty.

This week a friend sent me a copy of That Was The Church That Was – How the Church of England Lost the English People. Written by Andrew Brown, an English journalist, and Linda Woodhead, Professor of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University, England, it was published in 2016. Providing a harsh critique of the state of the Church of England over the last thirty years or so, it suggests that only a ‘Broad’ Church will slow the decline.

While my purpose here is not to review the book, I was surprised that little attention is given to the biblical and theological issues that lie at the heart of the nature and meaning of the Church of England.

With that in mind, come with me to a section of the Gospel of Luke 4 beginning at verse 16.

Luke, the Gospel writer wants us to feel the rhetorical impact of his narrative about Jesus. He slows down the pace of his writing through a cluster of verbs: Jesus stood up to read; there was given to him…; He opened the book and found…(4:16-17). Our sense of anticipation that something significant was about to happen, is sparked with Luke’s comment: And Jesus closed the book, and gave it to the attendant, and sat down (4:20). We are drawn into the synagogue scene and the congregation who were listening attentively to Jesus.

The reading from Isaiah chapter 61 would have touched a chord with Jesus’ hearers. It had been some four hundred years since God’s prophets had last spoken. But now Jesus is saying that Isaiah’s words are fulfilled in him. His hearers that day were positive and astonished, but then they asked, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” (4:22)

Conscious that they expected him to use his miraculous powers to authenticate his messianic claim, he responded, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” (4:23). Just because he had performed miracles in Capernaum didn’t mean he would do the same in Nazareth. It depended on how they received him.

Jesus continued with illustrations from Elijah (1 Kings 17:8-24) and Elisha (2 Kings 5:1-19). Both prophets spoke of God’s goodness. However, because the Jewish people at that time refused to acknowledge God, it was only outsiders (non-Jewish) who benefitted from their divinely inspired ministry – a widow in Zarephath, and Naaman the Syrian, a leper (Luke 4:25-27).

Jesus’ listeners in the synagogue also rejected him (4:28-29). They weren’t prepared to acknowledge him as the one who fulfilled the promise of Isaiah 61. They were so angry they even tried to kill him by throwing him over a cliff. Ironically, there was a miracle that day: Jesus walked through them and away from danger (4:30).

Significantly, he didn’t give up on his mission even though he was rejected in his hometown.

The heart of the gospel of which Jesus spoke is the rule of God’s king – his kingdom. We can begin to see why the preaching of the first Christians would have rankled with the Jewish leadership as well as imperial Rome – as it often does with rulers today. The Christian gospel says that human authorities in every age are themselves not the final authority. As Deuteronomy 6:4 says: ‘There is only one God who is Lord of all’.

The good news of Christianity is not simply an abstract announcement, nor is it simply care and compassion. Christianity is grounded in the recorded, historical events of Jesus’ life – from his miraculous birth through his death, resurrection and ascension.

Paul the Apostle summarizes the substance of the faith in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. He speaks of Jesus as the Christ: God’s anointed king. He explains that God’s king came to rescue us: he died for us. This picks up a theme in Genesis 1:28-31: God not only made us in his image but committed himself to serve our best interests.

Paul affirms that Jesus was truly dead when he was taken from the cross and buried. He also tells us Jesus was raised from the dead: God reversed the decision of human courts that sentenced Jesus to death, by raising him to life. Furthermore, he assures us that more than 500 had seen Jesus physically alive (1 Corinthians 15:6).

In other words, out of the silence God has not only spoken, but come amongst us in person. Christianity didn’t start because a group of fanatics had invented a story about their hero, or because a group of philosophers had come to the same conclusions about life. It began with eye-witnesses – very ordinary men and women who testified to the life of a man whose nature and powers were demonstrably far beyond human imagination. But such is the nature of this man, that unlike anyone else who has died, he is now alive again.

What then lies at the heart of Christianity that the Church espouses? It is the good news that God has appointed Jesus Christ as the Lord who came to rescue us and who calls on us to turn to him in repentance and faith.

Where then is the hope for the future? In church as an institution or its structures? A key to the growth of the church is all its people, clerical and lay – people who know the Lord and whose lives are being changed for the better; people who care for the needy and the lost; people whose joyful faith spills over in a way that others want to learn more.

Speaking of which have you checked out The Word One-to-One an annotated version of John’s Gospel to share with family and friends? You can find it at www.TheWord121.com.

A prayer. Lord Christ, eternal Word and Light of the Father’s glory: send your light and your truth so that we may both know and proclaim your word of life, to the glory of God the Father; for you now live and reign, God for all eternity. Amen.

© John G. Mason

If you have not checked out the Word on Wednesday podcast this week you may want to listen to the Getty Music, May the Peoples Praise You.

Catastrophic events such as we have seen over this last year, give us pause and challenge us to see life with new eyes. While Covid has dominated the news, volcanoes and earthquakes, wild-fires and devastating tornadoes have also wrought havoc. Nations have looked to their leaders to chart a course to preserve life and secure livelihoods. Leaders who worked at this won our respect.

Good and upright leaders are rare. That said, because no leader is perfect, most people – as every election shows – long for someone who will use their position to provide for the security and welfare of the nation. In a fallen world the freedom to elect leaders is important and very precious.

When we read the history of Israel in the Old Testament we learn that the prophets spoke of a special leader whom God would send. Isaiah 1 – 39 reveal God’s condemnation of his people for their self-worship and their disregard of him. Isaiah had warned of God’s judgement and in 586BC the Babylonians demolished Jerusalem and took its people captive. But Isaiah is not all negative, for he opens a window on something new and lasting that God planned to do through a very special king.

In Isaiah 61 we read: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me;… Isaiah 61 continues by telling us what this Spirit-led figure will do: He has come to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; And the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn… (61:1b-2).

It is not until we come to the New Testament that we see the real significance of these words.

For Luke 4:17-19 tells us that Jesus, as guest speaker in the synagogue in Nazareth, opened the scroll of the book of Isaiah at chapter 61. He read: The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me,… to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Period. Full stop.

Jesus didn’t complete Isaiah’s words: …and the day of vengeance of our God, but went on to comment: “Today these words are being fulfilled in your midst”.

By putting a period/full stop to Isaiah’s words, Jesus reveals that there are two stages to the ‘Day of the Lord’ – the day of favor, and the day of justice. His first coming inaugurates the time of God’s favor, or mercy – the era of God’s rescue operation. His return will be the time of God’s judgment and the establishment of Jesus’ rule in all its perfection and glory. Everyone will see it and feel it.

It’s important that we notice how Jesus applies Isaiah’s words in his public ministry: he says he has come to the aid of the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.

When did he do this? After all he didn’t provide food and clothing for all the needy around him; he didn’t release any prisoners, not even John the Baptist. Why? He has a bigger plan.

Words such as poor, blind, captive and mourn in Isaiah and the Old Testament as a whole, are often used as metaphors. The poor is often a reference to the spiritually poor, the blind, to the spiritually blind, and the captives, to those who are captive to self, sin and death. Those who mourn are aware of their own broken relationship with God as well as the brokenness of the world in its relationship with God.

That said, there were times when Jesus literally fulfilled Isaiah’s words. He did feed people who were hungry; he did give sight to some who were blind; and he did release people who were captive to the powers of evil. In each instance the miracle is a picture of God’s compassion and his ultimate purpose to provide life in all its fullness and freedom for his people. The events pointed to the beauty and perfection of the rule of God’s king.

By reading from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue in Nazareth that day, Jesus assumed the mantle of the anointed servant-king of Isaiah’s vision. He was announcing that the final great era of God’s mercy had dawned.

Yes, he introduced a tension between the is and the yet to be of God’s rule, but it is a tension we need to work with, for it is God’s plan. It’s important for us to see this for we need to live with this tension in our lives.

Many around us have thrown God out of life and view political power and their own world-view as the solution to the world’s ills – of which there are many. But the reality is that the day will come when Jesus Christ will return in all his kingly glory.

Before he departed from his followers, Jesus commissioned them with the primary task of proclamation – announcing God’s good news of release to all nations. What’s more, he continues to raise up men and women to carry on this task, to give people everywhere the chance to turn to God. Isaiah tells us and Jesus repeats: ‘Now is the time of God’s favor – the era of God’s grace’. The opportunity to respond to God’s good news won’t last forever.

Now is the time to listen up and to respond. In Jesus we find the leader we long for: God’s king who will come in all might, majesty, dominion and power.

Do you believe this? Are you prepared? And are you keen to help others to be ready for the Advent, the return of the King? It’s a key reason we are encouraging everyone to check out The Word One-to-One an annotated version of John’s Gospel to share with family and friends. You can find it at www.TheWord121.com.

A prayer. Almighty God, we thank you for the gift of your holy word. May it be a lantern to our feet, a light to our paths, and strength to our lives. Take us and use us to love and serve all people in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

© John G. Mason

If you have not checked out the Word on Wednesday podcast this week you may want to listen to the Getty Music, In Christ Alone.