Post by Admin on Oct 20, 2016 6:04:18 GMT
For this session, we ended up looking more at the layers of Isaiah’s prophecy than considering spiritual gifts themselves.
Isaiah 61 delivers God’s promise to the Jews regarding the re-building of Jerusalem after the Babylonians captured, pillaged, and destroyed it – and carried off many Jews to live in Babylon. The Jews in Babylon who yearned for a return to Jerusalem, and the remnant left after the conquest who wanted to see the City rebuilt, were both promised that indeed the city would be rebuilt, and their work to that end would result in blessing. Some Jews in Babylon who were successful there found themselves satisfied without Jerusalem, and they had no promise of blessing from God. Eventually, the prophecy was fulfilled for the Jews.
The passage from Luke relates an incident when Jesus was in the temple and read the beginning lines of Isaiah 61, then stated that He was the prophecy fulfilled. In this layer of interpreting the prophecy, it is God’s Kingdom on earth, not merely a physical city of Jerusalem, which will be restored. The people who are encouraged and inspired to work for the Kingdom are not just the Jews, but all mankind. And those satisfied with or distracted by the world will fail to gain the blessing of working in God’s Kingdom.
The verses reminded us that to create the Kingdom of God here on earth, we need to surrender our wants and desires to Him, and practice love and kindness to everyone in our circles of life – to truly share the Good News.
Isaiah 61 delivers God’s promise to the Jews regarding the re-building of Jerusalem after the Babylonians captured, pillaged, and destroyed it – and carried off many Jews to live in Babylon. The Jews in Babylon who yearned for a return to Jerusalem, and the remnant left after the conquest who wanted to see the City rebuilt, were both promised that indeed the city would be rebuilt, and their work to that end would result in blessing. Some Jews in Babylon who were successful there found themselves satisfied without Jerusalem, and they had no promise of blessing from God. Eventually, the prophecy was fulfilled for the Jews.
The passage from Luke relates an incident when Jesus was in the temple and read the beginning lines of Isaiah 61, then stated that He was the prophecy fulfilled. In this layer of interpreting the prophecy, it is God’s Kingdom on earth, not merely a physical city of Jerusalem, which will be restored. The people who are encouraged and inspired to work for the Kingdom are not just the Jews, but all mankind. And those satisfied with or distracted by the world will fail to gain the blessing of working in God’s Kingdom.
The verses reminded us that to create the Kingdom of God here on earth, we need to surrender our wants and desires to Him, and practice love and kindness to everyone in our circles of life – to truly share the Good News.