Near and Far And [Jesus] began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Luke 4:21 Recommended Reading Isaiah 61:1-2 A young man about to leave for college says to his friend: "I want to be involved in student government and do an internship at a law firm." At the end of his freshman year, the friend says, "I thought you were going to do an internship at a law firm." "I am," the student says. "I can do student government all four years, but internships are reserved for seniors only." The freshman student had two parts to his plan that were separated by four years. He would do both but not at the same time. The same thing was true about something Jesus said early in His ministry at a synagogue in Nazareth. He read from Isaiah 61:1-2, prophecies about the coming Messiah, and said those verses were fulfilled in Him. But He omitted the last line of verse 2 that describes "the day of vengeance of our God." That event will be fulfilled in and by Jesus, but only at His Second Coming. So far, 2,000 years have separated the first and second parts of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy. When Christ returns, He will "proclaim ... the day of vengeance of our God" when He establishes His kingdom. There is a near and a far view to biblical prophecy. Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. Corrie ten Boom
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 22:38:16 +0000