[15] "Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. [16] He warned them not to tell others about him. [17] This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
[18] “Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
[19] He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
[20] A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory.
[21] In his name the nations will put their hope.”
This is a significant verse for me, as these verses from Isaiah are some of my core life-calling verses, verses the Lord has spoken to me over and over again. I love the fact that there is a gentleness and lack of self promotion in Jesus' ministry. These are verses that I have tried to live by and embrace in my life.
The message of being chosen, loved and delighted in, is significant for us all, for it is true of us all. The Father has chosen each of us, has fashioned us and purposed destiny for each of us (Ps. 139:13-16). He loves us with an intensity that we cannot comprehend, and takes delight in us. He doesn't withhold His love or acceptance until we get our life together and cleaned up, but rather loves us in our sin, our wretchedness and our brokenness, even in our pride and stubbornness (see Luke 15:11-31 for a great example of the Father's love). He takes delight in us, which means that He likes us, enjoys us, enjoys spending time with us, likes our uniqueness, and that we make Him smile.
As I write these truths I am reminded of some verses from Paul's letter to the Ephesians 2:4-10 NIV:
...[4] "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, [5] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions---it is by grace you have been saved. [6] And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, [7] in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. [8] For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith---and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--- [9] not by works, so that no one can boast. [10] For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Going back to the verses from Matthew, we see that it is from the Holy Spirit on Him and in Him, that He entered into His ministry. We see this earlier in Matthew's and Luke's Gospels , as the details of His baptism and trial in the wilderness make it clear that it was the Holy Spirit who lead Him and empowered Him, after His baptism (Mattt. 3:16-17, Matt 4:1, Luke 4:14). He was fully a man (Heb 2:17, Phil. 2:6-8), and fully God, yet He had emptied Himself and became a servant, relying on the Holy Spirit, in the same way that we all are invited to do. He did marvellous things, but invited us to do those very same things and greater still (John14:12), also through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Additionally, Jesus ministered in humility and gentleness. He did not act as if He was better than everyone else, He did not lord it over His followers, but rather lead them and guided them, feeding them and helping them to mature. He was the good shepherd (John 10:11). He loved and protected, spoke into and called his followers into their destinies. He encouraged and trained, explained and provided correction when needed. He did not reject them for their mistakes or misunderstandings, but called them forward to do better and to understand His heart more thoroughly. He did not self-promote His ministry, instead choosing to minister in the remote areas, the countryside and in towns of common people. He did not look for the stage, ask everyone to look at Him, or try to glorify Himself. When people started talking about making Him their leader, He purposely walked away so that He could maintain a humble servant based ministry (Matt 8:18, John 6:15). He ministered to the crowds, fed them, taught them and healed them, and yet he had time to minister to the one.
He entrusted His ministry to His disciples, and encouraged them to go out and proclaim what He had proclaimed and demonstrate the truth of their proclamations. One could argue that He did this because He knew His time was short, but I believe that in addition to this reason, Jesus did this because that is the nature of the Father. The Father gives us good gifts (Matt. 7:11), in fact all good things come from Him, and He desires that we enjoy them and use them, and further His Kingdom by doing so. He desires that we each step into our destiny, our purpose in Him. We are all called, all chosen and all significant in the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:1-31) and given good gifts for the common good of all.
So let us learn from Jesus. Let us emulate Him and serve. Let us not promote ourselves or our ministries. Let us minister with humility and gentleness, recognizing the significance of each every individual we meet. Let us love well, for we are all chosen, loved and delighted in by our Father.
Amen!
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