The Grown-up Mission of Baby Jesus
In Monday’s post, I told how a couple passages of Scripture kept coming up during Advent. When something like that happens, I believe God wants me to try to understand on a deeper level what my soul needs to absorb.
The first passage, which I introduced Monday, was written by the Apostle Paul and found in Colossians 1. It answers the question: Who is Jesus?
The second is found in Luke. They are the words Jesus spoke to people in his hometown prior to his three years of earthly ministry. Jesus’ amazing words not only explained who he really, truly was but also, why he came to planet earth. I think of this declaration as Jesus’ Purpose Statement, and it was not accepted at all by those who had known him since childhood.
When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”
He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (Luke 4:16-21 NLT)
Wow! What depth of meaning this declaration has for me added to the Christmas story!
Perhaps you are like me. Now that Christmas 2022 is officially over, I’m thinking about taking down all the Christmas décor and getting the house back to “normal.”
What I do not want to put away as the season of Advent wanes, what I never want to become “normal” is Jesus. I want to become more childlike in my wonder of him and yet wiser in new understanding of the depth of who Jesus is and how what he came to show us during his years on earth has relevance as I step into 2023.
Blessings to you and all you love this week following Advent! I hope you’ll join me once again “next year!”
