Imagine living in Nazareth 2,000ish years ago. It's a backwater town, not much comes from there. But you're faithful, so each week you go to the synagogue to hear the teachers read the Scriptures.
One day, a man you haven't seen in a while, and don't know much about, other than the family He comes from.
He stands up to read. And says: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke 4:18-19
Then Jesus says: "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
You could cut the tension with a knife.
It's obvious what Jesus is proclaiming: He is the Messiah Isaiah had prophesied about hundreds of years earlier.
Jesus would spend the next three years testifying to this truth: proclaiming freedom from sin, performing miracles, and fulfilling prophecy.
And just like the people in Nazareth, we all have to decide what we will do with Jesus.
Do we believe He is who He says He is? Do we believe He did what He said He would do? And if we do, it should absolutely wreck our lives in the best possible way.
Do we live like Jesus is our Messiah? Do we believe He holds eternal life? Do we trust that He has defeated death?
If so, our lives should be evidence of His kingship. Not living primarily from a temporal perspective, but from an eternal one. Not living as people who fear death, but as people who know death has no sting because Jesus has defeated it.
The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus should empower us to live our lives for our King and His Kingdom.
-To Know Jesus. To Live on Mission