“Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.” (Luke 13:22, emphasis mine)
Jesus’ resolve and ultimate objective was to make it to Jerusalem. Jerusalem—the trial, the crucifixion and resurrection—was the reason He came to Earth. Earlier in his writing, Luke states, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (9:51, emphasis mine).
Clearly, Christ’s mission appointed Him by His Father was settled and steadfastly advancing throughout His earthly journey. The Gospel accounts bear witness to this. And yet, without once being averted from His overarching charge, Jesus continuously seized God-appointed opportunities—to love, to teach, to heal and to forgive—changing the trajectory of people’s lives everywhere He went.
As He pressed ahead toward His ultimate assignment, He maintained a daily sensitivity to right here, right now opportunities. As a result, in His interactions with people along the way, Jesus practically and miraculously demonstrated the love, power and presence of God.
What really piques my interest regarding Jesus' consistency in doing this is this: Exactly how did our Savior possess and maintain this timely, moment-by-moment sensitivity? How did He keep His unrelenting focus on the overarching mission, and yet still powerfully touch lives on a daily basis? It was this: Even though the mission of Calvary's cross was Jesus' targeted aim, His daily, ongoing objective was intimacy and oneness with His Father. The Savior lived in perpetual peace and unadulterated unity with God. And this didn't merely occur because He was the Son of God. No, during the time that the Son of God was the Son of Man, He was intentional and disciplined regarding His closeness and communion with the Father. A reading of the Gospels testifies to this reality. Therefore, wherever Jesus was and whomever Jesus encountered, the love, power, and presence of God just naturally and authentically showed up and intersected with humanity.
In this, there was a manifestation of the miraculous everywhere Jesus went.
Fellow sojourner, if we are to fully live like Jesus did—if this is our sincere aim in this time and space in history—we cannot underestimate the power of perpetual intimacy with our Father. We cannot dismiss the cruciality of habitual, ongoing consumption of God's Word, His manual on how to live with eternal purpose and impact this one life we've been given. We cannot ignore the purposely carved out, set aside sacred moments of being counseled by His indwelling Spirit. We cannot ignore the Word's deposits and the Counselor's voice as we move throughout each day we've been gifted. We just can't.
Because too much is forfeited when we don't make a priority such intimate connections with our Creator.
So here's the bottom line: No matter the pulls or demands of each day, it's our intimacy with the Triune God—via the input of Truth and the cultivation of ongoing communication and fellowship, as well as submissive intentionality in responding to the Spirit's leading—that's foundational to being able to move through life as Jesus did: pressing ahead in the overarching mission, yet purposely pausing for the day-to-day miracles.
