Jesus is truly the fulfillment of the Old Covenant of God with his people. He is the completion of which the Law and Prophets pointed and anticipated. St. Luke tells us in his Gospel that near the beginning of his ministry, Jesus, who customarily attended and taught in the synagogue, was handed a particular scroll of Scripture and then proclaimed a particular prophecy from Isaiah: “’The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.’ Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, ‘Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.’” (NAB, LK 4:18-21)
We who are followers of Jesus, are called to fulfill that same prophecy. We are called to bring the Good News to our world, to open the eyes of the blind with the light of Christ, to proclaim true freedom and liberty to the imprisoned and oppressed, and to lift up the poor. As Christians, we have died with Christ in Baptism, and so we now live in his Spirit, as members of the One Body of Christ. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. Now the body is not a single part, but many.” (1COR 12:13-14) St. Paul also offers this reminder: “You are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.” (12:27)
We are the Body of Christ and Temples of the Holy Spirit, and as such, we are to carry out and accomplish the mission and promise to be fulfilled through his coming. In a sense, we are the hands, eyes, ears, mouth, feet, and heart of Jesus. We are in this world to bring his ministry and Good News of Love to our hurting and confused world. We must hear the cries of the financially and spiritually poor, and accommodate their needs. We must hold and console the suffering, grieving, and dying. We must teach and bring about true freedom for those who are spiritually and physically oppressed and imprisoned. Love compels us to proclaim the Word of God, the Truth revealed to humanity, through our words and actions in this lost world of ours. To withhold the true teachings of God from our families, friends, and neighbors is to withhold Jesus himself. It is of no service, and is absolutely contrary to love, to avoid truth by softening or avoiding the uncomfortable teachings of our Lord. Our God is One God, indivisible, and cannot be divided against himself. His Love and his Truth are one in the same.
Heavenly Father, give me your grace and the courage I need to proclaim your Truth in my world. I will not fear the lies of this world, for you are always with me, you, who have conquered sin and death and opened the doors to eternal life. Your Spirit dwells within me, and my hands, my feet, my mouth, my ears, and my eyes are yours. Take my heart as well, and use them according to your will and for your glory. Amen.
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