Jesus Christ came to preach good news to the poor and proclaim the Lord’s favor, not to execute God’s justice. In his mercy, God is delaying the final judgment to allow many more people to hear and receive the Gospel. Make the most of the time left until the Day of Christ – preach the good news!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a word about Jesus’ first speech.
And just when did he give his first public speech? Well, you know the scene, described in Luke 4, right in his hometown of Nazareth. It was the morning he went to the synagogue. He stood up to read, and the scroll of Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled it and read aloud from Isaiah 61. And this is what he read: “‛The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ Then [it says in Luke’s account] he rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down.”
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on him. And then he added, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” This was Jesus’ Messiah manifesto; he announced that he had come to proclaim the good news. He had come to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. And when you look closely at that passage from Isaiah, you cannot help but notice that Jesus did not finish the last sentence. And there’s an important reason why. Let me show you. The second verse says that he has come “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,” but he left off the rest of the sentence: “and the day of vengeance of our God.” And that was a very important omission.
For when Jesus came to earth, it was not to execute the wrath of God or God’s vengeance. That would be for later at his second coming. He made that clear that he had come first to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and not the day of vengeance of our God. Again, that’s for later. Wow. That Jesus left off the second half of that sentence shows us that he did not come to administer judgment. No, Jesus bore judgment on his cross. Rather than carrying out the wrath of God in his first coming, he bore the wrath of God in his body. And here’s the deal; here’s the lesson: for the last two thousand years, God has been proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor. God has been getting the Gospel out to the world. He’s been patient with wicked men, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. And, oh my goodness, you and I have such a responsibility in helping to get that good news out to people all over the world. Because God is delaying Christ's return as supreme judge, all that so many more people can be reached, and saved, and enter the kingdom of God. And man, we have got work to do!
But one day Jesus is coming back. And he is coming to finish that terrifying part of the second verse in Isaiah 61. He’s going to come back to finish the sentence, to judge the living and the dead, to crush the wicked, punish evildoers, overthrow rulers of nations. I mean, just picturing the scene tempers my pleas for Jesus to return soon because I know too many people, even family members, who may end up getting trampled in the grapes of God’s wrath! So sometimes when I pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus,” often I’ll ask the Lord just to hold off a bit longer that great and terrible day of his return, the day of vengeance of our God. Friends, we’ve only got a short time left until the Day of Christ, so let’s get out and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor!
And, friend, if you do not know that good news, please visit joniradio.org today where I’ve provided a link to our page that explains the Gospel. Because I want you to experience the year of the Lord’s favor. And you can find out how at joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends