The Bible describes how Jesus lived in the towns and villages, walking in the dust and dirt of Galilee, sharing the good news, helping and healing. He saw people’s brokenness not with disdain but with eyes of compassion. As he did so, he walked alongside his first followers, calling them to see people with his eyes of love, as harassed sheep needing a shepherd, and to see the world through his eyes of faith, not as a hopeless mess but as a harvest waiting to be reaped (see Matthew 9:35-38). 

Wheat among the weeds 

Just as those first disciples followed Jesus’ footprints, taking up the task of going with love and faith to those around them, we too in our generation are called to embrace this vision with confidence and compassion. The needs have not changed; people around us are still harassed and helpless, their lives torn and broken by problems and pressures that threaten to overwhelm them. The world seems increasingly to look as though it is spiralling toward disaster, but with the eyes of faith we can still, with Jesus, see a harvest of wheat among the weeds, waiting to be reaped.  

By observing Jesus and what he did we can learn to engage with and walk alongside others in ways that turn brokenness into possibilities for spreading the message and experience of his love. We can do this in ways that see lives transformed and a movement of ‘alongsiders’ bringing hope and help into our needy world. 

Learning from Jesus: Isaiah 61:1-3 

Luke 4:16-21 records how Jesus announced the start of his public ministry, in his home synagogue in Nazareth, by reading from Isaiah 61:  

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, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. (Luke 4:18-19) 

The passage in Isaiah continues:  

… and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. (Isaiah 61:2-4) 

Later, when questioned by John the Baptist (see Luke 7:20-22), Jesus again points to this passage and to the parallel passage in Isaiah 42:1-7 describing the ministry of the Lord’s servant . Jesus saw his ministry in these terms:  

- Proclaim good news, freedom, release and favour to the poor, captive and imprisoned 

- Provide comfort, compassion and loving service for the broken-hearted, those who mourn and grieve 

- Plant the seeds of transformed lives, of beauty (instead of ashes), joy (instead of mourning), praise (instead of despair), as oaks of righteousness for the display of his splendour  

As we read the Gospels and on into the book of Acts, we can see how Jesus and his first disciples followed this pattern: sharing good news, engaging with compassion, and asking God to transform lives. 

What it could look like now 

Jesus said to those first disciples in John 20:21, ‘As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ The clear implication of this is that as we seek to be disciples of Jesus, in our generation and in our context, the verses in Isaiah 61 apply to us too, both in their description of the ministry of the Lord’s servant and also in the promises that follow.  

Of course, there are things that Jesus did, as the Messiah and Son of God, that you and I cannot do, and which remind me that I am not the answer to people’s needs. I am simply pointing people to him.  

However, there are many things that Jesus did that I can also do. I can live among those who need him and demonstrate compassion. I can enter into people’s problems and difficulties, weeping with those who weep. I can go to weddings, funerals and parties, as Jesus did, taking time to listen and engage. I can look for ways to share about God’s love and sow the seeds of God’s good news as opportunities present themselves. And I can pray, even for those who hurt me, asking God to open their eyes and hearts to his amazing love.  

A particularly helpful example of what it means to draw alongside others, like Jesus, is in Luke 24:13-32. Two dispirited disciples are walking away from Jerusalem back to their home in Emmaus, following the crushing disappointment of Jesus’ crucifixion and the confusing news of the empty tomb.  

- The risen Jesus does not confront them, instead he ‘came up and walked along with them’ (v 15), giving them the gift of his presence.  

- Then, as they walk, Jesus draws them out with questions, interested in their lives, their disappointments and their questions. He listens to them and gives them the gift of his interest and his concern.  

- But he does not stop there. At just the right moment he turns their attention to the Word of God and speaks hope into their discouragement, pointing out to them all that the Scriptures had said about the Messiah. He gave them the gift of God’s Word in such a way that later, as they recalled their conversation, they said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’ (v 32). 

Later they urged him to enter their home and eat with them and it was during this meal together that Luke says, ‘their eyes were opened and they recognised him’ (v 31). 

What took a few hours with Jesus on the road to Emmaus may take weeks, months or years of patient alongsiding today. But all of us, whatever our circumstances, can follow this pattern of engagement in the lives of those around us. We can become part of the solution to the needs of our world, instead of being part of the problem. With patience, encouragement and loving care, we can see our friends grow in their understanding of the good news of God’s love in Jesus, experiencing ‘freedom … release … favour’ and the transformation Jesus brings. And, in their turn, they can become ‘oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour,’ joining us as part of a movement of alongsiders, reaching out with Jesus’ transforming love.  

Leaning on God’s promises: Isaiah 61:4-11 

As we follow in Jesus’ footsteps by coming alongside the broken-hearted and hurting people around us, we do so knowing that we ourselves are being transformed by Jesus. We know that we are broken people who have heard the good news and experienced the life-giving touch of Jesus. We know that we are a ‘planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour’ and we can take confidence in this and in the promises God makes in the rest of Isaiah 61. 

As we embrace these promises by faith, we believe that God will indeed use us to rebuild, restore and renew broken lives (v 4). We know that we can trust him to provide for us (v 5), that we are called to represent him in the world as priests and ministers of our God (v 6), and that we can exchange shame for joy (v 7). We can also trust him for spiritual descendants who will bring blessing to the nations (v 9), as God promised Abraham so long ago.  

Delight in place of doubt 

I can count on these things because God himself has declared them. And I can not only take courage, but I can ‘delight’ in the knowledge that God himself has ‘clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness’ (v 10).  

As these truths fill my mind, they can not only transform my view of myself, but they can also change my view of the world around me.  I can begin to see not only the brokenness but also the possibilities. I can see, with the eyes of faith, the harvest of wheat growing among the weeds of the world. Isaiah 61:11 reminds us of the kingdom parables of Jesus, encouraging us to sow seeds that God will multiply:  

For as the soil makes the young plant come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. 

As we learn from Jesus and lean on God’s promises, we can see ourselves as a planting of the Lord, we can see the forest he will raise up through us, and we can step out alongside others as Isaiah 61 people.