Yesterday took us into the depth of the pain, of the loss, to the heart of Good Friday. Yet Isaiah has Good News to shine forth! Read Isaiah 61:1-4. This Good News was what an ancient people longed to hear, and to see, become a reality in their midst. It would seem that God is the God of the underdog! God is making the world right-side up!

In fact, early in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus unrolls the scroll (the bible) and reads the first two verses of this passage! It is the essence of Jesus’ coming—his purpose statement, if you will. In a world in which people look for angles and shortcuts, Jesus comes in the midst of it to speak for the voiceless, to heal the hurting, to make the broken whole—to boldly declare that God is with them.

This final prophecy becomes the cornerstone of Jesus’ teachings, healing ministry, and life. He embodies the image of the one in whom the Spirit dwells. At CUC, we say that our vision is to Embody Christ. To Embody Christ is to resemble or make manifest among us the reality of Christ. In short, we are invited to take this passage and allow it to guide our path, inform our politics, and enable us to be the shining example of Christ for our day and our time! Perhaps writing these first two verses out and reading them often would be a wise idea!