Jesus' To-Do List

Luke 4:17-21

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

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This passage is one of many purpose statements found in the Gospels which summarize Jesus' mission on earth. These summary statements deserve our attention because they keep us focused on primary matters and put peripheral topics in their proper context. These mission statements are often synonymous with the gospel message. Here are some other examples:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17 ESV)

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45 ESV)

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10 ESV)

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17 ESV)

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. (John 12:46 ESV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10 ESV)

And within Luke 4 itself there is yet another rephrasing of Jesus' purpose:

but he said to them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose." (Luke 4:43 ESV)

There are many other verses as well, especially Jesus' prayer in John 17 and the various self-referential parables. But, these few verses listed above are sufficient to convey a comprehensive sense of why Jesus came and what he meant to accomplish. Taken together, we see that Jesus came to bring a message and a miracle.

A Message. Luke 4 describes Jesus as a teacher, taking the seat of authority in the synagogues and sharing a prophetic word from God. He boldly declares that the Isaiah passage has been fulfilled in himself - that he himself is the message. He speaks of proclaiming "good news" and the "year of the Lord's favor." The message from God has arrived: the offer of freedom and a restored relationship with our Creator.

A Miracle. It is not enough to simply hear this message - Christ came for more than that. First I'll list the action phrases that describe the miraculous things Jesus came to do; then, I'll list the type of people he describes as the recipients of these miracles.

Actions:

Recover
Release
Fulfill the law
Serve
Give his life as a ransom
Seek
Save (x2)
Give abundant life
Enlighten
Preach/proclaim good news

Recipients:

The poor
The captives
The blind
The oppressed
The lost
The many
The world
Whoever believes, among those in darkness
The other towns (besides Capernaum, where he was welcome)

This to-do list would be sufficiently miraculous on its own, but is even more so when we consider the utterly undeserving condition of its recipients. I'll close with some questions for further reflection:

Have I envisioned Jesus as concerned with something other than these core purposes?
Do I truly see myself as poor, blind, captive, lost....?
Do I treasure the Savior who was sent for me?
Have I made my life's purpose to match the purposes of my Savior?

The Minister's Job Description

Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

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This chapter provides a wonderful balance for the minister's job description. As I have read through these accounts and descriptions of Jesus, I have been stung by how far I have to go to be even close to the kind of person He was. Well, no duh! We all have infinitely far to go to be like Jesus. But, while we will never quantitatively match our Savior in any respect, there are qualitative aspects to his ministry that we should expect to reflect in our own, whether it's in a church, or in our workplace, or in the ministry we have in our homes. I see three qualities in this chapter that we should strive to reflect:

(1) Healing. "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (9:12-13). Doesn't this passage hit you like a laser beam? I spend every waking hour trying to perform for my boss, for my family, for my Lord....and God does not desire sacrifice! At least not in comparison to MERCY. Now, some acts of sacrifice are motivated by mercy, but the passage here is loud and clear. We are called to show mercy, which implies being around people who need mercy, like the "sinners and tax collectors." There is no shortage of needs in this world, so we have no excuse really. While we can never match the quantity of healing work accomplished by the Great Physician, there is a quality here that we must emulate.

(2) Teaching. "Teaching in their synagogues..." This chapter does not belong to one of the five major teaching sections of the book of Matthew, but don't gloss over the teaching aspect here. Jesus is mostly healing people, but even these healings are occasions to make a point, and Jesus never misses such an opportunity to explain the nature of His kingdom. The explanation about fasting (9:15-17) is the largest exposition here. I would also include the reference to "sheep without a shepherd" as an allusion to the need for ministers who teach, admonish, encourage, and generally use all types of words to keep their flocks from being "harassed and helpless."

(3) Laboring. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." There is no doubt that ministry is labor. I must confess the tendency to slide into "accidental" ministry, hoping for opportunities to hit me in the face, rather than laboring for a chance to glorify Christ in what I do. Picking up on the "harvest" imagery, and taking a look forward to the farming analogies of Matthew 13, I think we should be reminded that the labor of ministry may sometimes be like planting seeds, or at other times, like reaping a harvest. Let us not belittle one aspect over another.

Before I leave the whole quantitative-qualitative concept, I'd like to include one more verse that keeps popping into my head throughout this discussion. In Colossians 1:10, Paul describes what it means to "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him." It means...

bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

There is a similar balance here that is incredibly vital to our growth and encouragement in the faith. The quantity of our good works may not be infinite, but the quality of our ministry includes many different kinds of good deeds (including healing, teaching, and laboring). And I love the reminder that a life which is truly pleasing to God is not made up of mere externals, but consists of an increasing knowledge of Him. Do I know Him better this year than last year? That may be hard to measure, but I sure hope the measure of my ministry includes such an important, and biblical, criteria.