What’s Upon Us?

Luke 4:16-19

What is our mission today?  What is upon us right now?  As individuals, lost one seeking Christ, professing believer, church body, what is upon us this day?  Our activity will flow out of what is “upon” us.

(v.18).  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” Oh the amazement when Jesus, Son of man, Son of God stands to declare the Spirit was upon Him.  The breath of the Lord Himself was superimposed (Gk) on Jesus’ life.  There is no vision, mission or ministry outside of that one truth that transforms.  Jesus was “full” of the Holy Spirit (vs.1) , was led to the wilderness where He allowed Himself to be stripped of physical, emotional, and spiritual independence.  That left Him totally relying on God.  No strategies, no religious covering, no resource other than the Father.  Jesus would not and could not defeat the enemy nor live His life out of His own resource; so why do we try?  He would not use His God rights or own ability.  How then can we be changed, much less see our world changed through our own fleshly rights and ability?

“...he has sent me..”  The Sending must always flow out of the Spirit being upon us.  The ministry we should be about is never the difficult thing to know.  If it is His Spirit and His sending, it will always be about being redemptive to those who have a need, and it will embrace the cross.  It will always be “So then death is working in us, but life in you.” (2 Cor. 4:12).

“To preach  the gospel...to heal...to proclaim...to set at liberty.” The Kingdom is good news to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captive, the blind and the bruised.  It is good news because it is not a message without mission. It is not God-talk without God-activity.  The Cross demands that the message and the messenger are also the mission.  That is the difference between Jesus “doing and teaching” and the Pharisees “they say but they do not do.”   What is upon us?