It's Still the Year of God's Favour

On Tuesday 22 February 2011, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake caused severe damage in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 185 people. Later, some Christians put pamphlets in letterboxes, stating that the earthquake was a judgement of God on the city. As Greta and I visited the city each year to minister, the pastor of a large church asked us to address this issue.

As I prayed about this, the Holy Spirit drew my attention to the prophet Isaiah’s famous prophecy about the coming Messiah:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God.”  (Isaiah 61:1-2 NIV)

Jesus quoted this of himself in the Gospel of Luke. As I read it, I discovered that Jesus deliberately left out a part of the prophecy:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4:18-19 NIV)

Jesus does not mention the day of vengeance. The day of vengeance is judgement day at the end of time, when Christ returns to judge the world. The book of Revelation lists some of the terrible judgements on rebellious humanity. They are judgements of God’s wrath and punishment, culminating in the separation of the wicked from the righteous.

Why did Jesus leave this part out? It is because he came to inaugurate the year of favour through shedding his blood on the cross. God’s justice demands punishment for sin. God’s mercy forgives sin. The cross of Christ brought mercy and postponed judgement.

Yes, there are judgements of discipline on individuals and nations now, but these are redemptive in nature, designed to bring people to repentance (see Hebrews 12:6-11). They are not judgements of wrath because this is not yet the day of vengeance – rather it is the year of favour. I like that – a year of favour versus a day of judgement.

The Christians who put the pamphlets in Christchurch letterboxes, were living in a paradigm of the day of vengeance. Earthquakes and other natural disasters are the result of living in a fallen world. When Jesus returns, he will lift the curse on Creation and these disasters will never occur again.

It’s easy to think that we would not do what those misguided believers did. But when we find ourselves angry with the wicked and offended at their words and evil schemes, our souls may become embittered. We then come into agreement with the spirit of offence and rage that Psalm 2 says will characterise the world in the last days. The day of vengeance says punish our enemies. The year of favour says love our enemies. And it is still the year of God’s favour for a lost world, where he desires all people to be saved.

How then do cope with this? Surely we are called to oppose the works of darkness?  Some people are deliberately wicked. Others are blind and hopelessly confused and do wicked things. King Herod was a wicked man and had the apostle James killed and the apostle Peter imprisoned. When he accepted worship from the crowds extolling him as a god, the Lord struck him dead (see Acts 12). Conversely, the Pharisee Saul brutally persecuted and imprisoned Christians. Then he had an encounter with Jesus, and became a believer (see Acts 9). Saul would go on to become the great apostle Paul.

As I once agonized as to how to pray when seeing wicked people do wicked things, the Holy Spirit said, “Pray that I will remove the Herods and save the Sauls.”  Removal may not mean literal death but removal of influence. That prayer has allowed Greta and me to stay in mercy, while opposing evil. And to not make a judgement on who is wicked and who is merely blind.

Philippians 2:15 says, “Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” And one of the brightest lights is love, even for our enemies.