Jesus' Mission

5 weeks from today it will be Easter. So, I thought that I would use the month of March to talk in detail about our Lord Jesus—my favorite subject. Today, I thought I would start from the beginning of Jesus's ministry. Just what was His mission? Of course, we know what that mission was for us today. But in that day, the people had no idea what was about to happen. Prayer.

In today's world of Internet shopping and same day free shipping, we have taken the waiting factor out of our lives. Waiting is hard. But the Bible is full of commands for us to wait and trust in God's timing, because God's timing is always perfect.

When the Apostle John began his ministry in the Judean wilderness, God's people had been waiting. In fact, from the end of Malachi's writings in the last book of the OT until the beginning of Matthew's writings in the first book of the NT, there was a span of about 400 years. 400 years of waiting.

God had spoken through the OT prophets to the people that someone was coming to save them. Throughout the OT, we read about different leaders, prophets, kings, judges, and priests. But the right person never came. Then there was silence. After the prophet Micah spoke of a coming day of judgment and healing, God stopped speaking through His prophets. But then, at just the right time, God's Word came to John.

Luke 3:2 – “during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”

So Luke begins the writing of this chapter by mentioning John. I was never one that was particularly interested in studying history while in school, high school, and college. Doesn't God have a sense of humor? Today, my life and study revolves around history. I still tend to kind of gloss over lists of names like the ones that Luke mentions in the first verse of this chapter, but Luke, inspired by the Holy Spirit, included these names for a reason. In the first chapter of this book of Luke's writings, Luke explained why he wanted to write his own account of Jesus's life. He assured his readers:

Luke 1:3-4 – “So it also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.”

As Luke gives us this list of political and religious leaders, he is providing a clear setting in history for Jesus's ministry. God sent Jesus as a specific and well-planned time. God knew exactly what He was doing and when He was doing it. Even though God doesn't have a beginning or an ending, He has placed us in a well-ordered time with events that unfold according to His timing. By providing these details, Luke placed his writings in the context of history, showing his concern for historical accuracy.

But if we read between the lines, we can see that another thing Luke does in these verses is remind us of how temporary these political and religious leaders are in contrast to the permanent nature of God.

The first person on this list, Tiberius Caesar, was the ruler of the Roman empire. From there the list moves to Pontius Pilate, who is remembered almost exclusively because of his role in the death of Jesus. If you look up the others that are listed, you can find different levels of information on their lives. These people were holding positions as rulers and priests at the time of Jesus's ministry. But Jesus surpasses them all.

In our world today, there are political leaders as well as religious leaders that have the power to condemn a person to execution. But as we think about the power that these individuals have, even though these people hold positions as rulers and priests, Jesus surpasses them all. His power is above them all. So, we begin talking about the mission of Jesus and specifically where in history it all began.

Luke 3:3-6 – “He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:

********A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight! 5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low; the crooked will become straight, the rough ways smooth, 6 and everyone will see the salvation of God.”

So, Luke tells us that God's word came to John. And we see from these verses that the ministry and mission of Jesus was predicted by the profit Isaiah some 600 to 700 years before Jesus was even born. (predicting me being pastor before Columbus