“But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 NLT
Early on in Jesus’ ministry, soon after being tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He returned to the village of Nazareth, where He grew up. In the synagogue, He was handed the scroll of Isaiah the prophet, and after unrolling it for a bit, He found the Scripture, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come.” (Luke 4:18-19). We then read His comment on this verse, “Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”” (Luke 4:21). His message was at first well received, but things turned ugly, because the people in that village were offended by what He said, and we read that they “ … forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way” (Luke 4:29-30). The villagers in Nazareth were unable to accept that Joseph’s son, the lad who used to work in the carpenter’s workshop, was now making claims about His mission and person, claims that seemed to them even Messianic in their content. Jesus correctly pointed out to them that “no prophet is accepted in his own hometown”. But that did not diminish His claim that He had come to bring freedom to the people of His day, people who were enslaved by sickness, physical and mental illnesses and disabilities, disease and spiritual oppression. This was to be a time when Heaven came to touch earth, a time when God’s grace opened a door into a new world of possibilities, starting with eternal life in God’s presence. But entry through the door, described by Jesus as being a “narrow gate” later, would be accomplished by believing in Him.
After the Ascension, Jesus had gone, returning to the presence of His Father in Heaven. That would have been the end of His visitation of grace, except Jesus left the disciples with the message that He would send the Holy Spirit. “But I will send you the Advocate —the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me” (John 15:26). Over the page, there is more that Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me’” (John 16:13-15). Jesus’ departure was, at first, a disaster for the disciples, but everything changed on the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell on all those present in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. Jesus was true to His word.
We pilgrims have a mission: to testify about Jesus, His message of grace and love, and to do that, we have the Holy Spirit helping us. Jesus is still present through the Spirit of God, bringing freedom to the captives. As people realise who Jesus is, what He has done for them, and open their hearts to receive His message, the veil that obscured their thinking falls away, and they find that they are free at last from their sinful lives. But it gets better. Paul wrote that “the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image”.
In this age, Heaven is still close to earth, separated only by a single door. It’s open and welcoming. It contains the Way of truth, the Way into God’s presence for eternity. A door that leads to a life of joy. The problem is that most people cannot see it. There is no door there, they say as they wander through life with their spiritual eyes firmly closed. But the door won’t be there for much longer, because Jesus will be returning “soon” to wind up the final chapter of the story of God’s grace and mercy. So, as I have written many times before, we pilgrims have to get His message of grace over to the dying world around us. We pray for contact with people today, people on the “broad way that leads to destruction”, so that we can tell them about the Spirit of Jesus, who brings freedom.
Dear Heavenly Father. Help us, we pray, to fulfil Your mission here in our age, our generation. Open hearts and minds to hear Your glorious Gospel of freedom. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 