Fulfilling the Mission
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1–2
He [Jesus] stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. … “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16, 21
Four days to live. What would you be doing if your time on earth was that short? Luke says that Jesus spent at least two of the days prior to his crucifixion in the temple, teaching the people and preaching the gospel (Luke 19:47; 20:1), just as Isaiah prophesied.
On Monday, Jesus drove the money-changers out of the temple because they had defiled God’s house by making it a “den of thieves” (Luke 19:46). They charged people exorbitant fees for sacrificial animals and for exchanging Roman coins for Hebrew shekels.[1] By chasing these thieves out of the temple, Jesus defended the poor.
On Tuesday, Jesus explained what genuine faith looked like in the parables of the Ten Virgins and the Talents (Matthew 25:1–30). With graphic illustrations, he exposed the disguises falsehood and hypocrisy wore (Matthew 23:13–36; 25:31–46). He condemned the religious leaders’ pride but praised a widow’s humble generosity (Luke 20:45–21:4).
Jesus also challenged the crowd at the temple each day: Would they embrace him as the Son of David and the anointed one Isaiah spoke of, or would they reject him as a blaspheming imposter? (Luke 20:41–44).
Alone with the disciples on Tuesday night, Jesus spoke about the end times (Matthew 24:3–28; Luke 21:5–36). He advised the Twelve to be watchful—discerning, perceptive, and wary—of all teachings other than his own (Luke 21:8). Soon they’d be “proclaiming good news” and facing persecution. But he encouraged them with these words: “Stand firm and you will win life” (Luke 21:19).
I don’t know if I have four or 4,000 days left on earth. But Jesus says to me, to all of us, “Stand firm” and “be always on the watch, and pray” (Luke 21:19, 36). He spent every day fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy.
Think deeply this week about Jesus’s activities during those four days. Are you following his example? How are you standing firm? How are you proclaiming the good news?
Dig Deeper
Read Luke 4:16–30. How did people of Nazareth react to Jesus’s claim that he was fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy? Why do you think some wanted to kill him?
Meditate on Isaiah 61:1–3. How is Jesus fulfilling this prophecy in your life? In what ways are you “a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor”?
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:1–8 and 1 Peter 4:7–9. Besides being watchful and alert, what other characteristics should Christians manifest during the end times?
Denise K. Loock
[1] Jews weren’t allowed to pay their temple taxes or purchase sacrificial animals with Roman coins because they bore the image of Caesar. Foreigners and proselytes also had to exchange their money for shekels to give an offering. Both the temple-sanctioned money-changers and the temple officials profited from this extortion. (“Money Changer,” Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Chicago: Moody Press, 1988, p. 883).