High and Lifted Up

For every Christian the words of Jesus carry huge importance, or should do! What Jesus said matters. As we read the gospels and hear his teaching, delivered in his own words, we are faced with the most beautiful and sobering wisdom.

It seems a logical progression then to assume that the people and scriptures that Jesus chose to quote as he taught also matter. There is no doubt that He chose his sources very specifically. It is impossible to believe that Jesus of Nazareth ever quoted scripture haphazardly.

As we come to our next teaching series, exploring the first 37 chapters of Isaiah, we come face to face with the most quoted Old Testament prophet in the New Testament.  Jesus quoted from Isaiah’s prophecy sixteen times through the gospels, and often to explain His own role and calling.  Perhaps the most important is His use of Isaiah 61 as he launched his ministry (EG Luke 4:17).  Isaiah is definitely the ‘go-to’ prophet in the ministry of Jesus and is held as a senior voice in the shaping of all we have come to understand as we piece the Old and New Covenants together as a seamless single story.

As we study this significant book together we will learn much from history, realizing that many seasons of human experience, even when separated by millennia, look remarkably similar.  We will learn to search for and value the bigger purposes of God in seemingly unending seasons of confusing hardship.  Ultimately, we will see that God’s plans ALWAYS prevail – that He is in control of the universe, whether expressed to continents, nations or individuals. He is Creation’s only True King. 

Isaiah declared ‘I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and lifted up…’ (Isa.6:1).  His entire prophetic ministry came from this revelation. We too need a fresh revelation of God.  His majesty. His divine purpose and sovereignty. Let’s pray that we too see the Lord high and lifted up as we humbly come to this book for a season.