Search and Rescue

And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near (Eph 2:17).

Immediately after any disaster, emergency responders begin looking save survivors.  It's called "search and rescue."  They move quickly because the clock is their enemy.  They come to the scene and sift through the rubble.  The victims are unable to rescue themselves.  They desperately need lifesaving assistance from the outside.  Paul tells his friends in Ephesus how Jesus came on the ultimate search and rescue mission.  "And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near" (v17).  Christ came to those who couldn't save themselves, no matter where they were.  He delivered the Gospel to those who were right around the corner.  He delivered the Gospel to those who were out in the boondocks.  

Christ came on the ultimate search and rescue mission.

The Apostle Paul reminds us how Jesus came preaching peace.  First of all, Jesus came.  Simply, He came.  Christ came on His search and rescue mission looking for us no matter where we were.  He came because we couldn't save ourselves.  Jesus told His new buddy Zaccheus how He "came to seek and to save the lost" (Lk 19:10).  He responded to the greatest spiritual disaster the universe has ever seen: the Fall.  And He came.  Some folks call it the Incarnation.  God taking on human form.  Seems to me it's the ultimate search and rescue.

Jesus left the comforts of His heavenly paradise with a message.  "He came and preached peace" (v17).  But there's a little problem with most of our English translations here.  Our language struggles to get across exactly what Jesus came to do.  Paul uses he Greek verb euaggelizo, the kissin' cousin of euaggelion, the Gospel!  It means to proclaim or announce good news generally or declare the Gospel specifically.  It can generally describe making a general proclamation of good news.  In the NT, it almost always means to evangelize and tell others the Gospel.   It's what the angel announced to the shepherds during one of the greatest light shows the world has ever scene.  "I bring you good news (Gr. euaggelizo) of great joy that will be for all the people" (Lk 2:10).  When Phil went hitchhiking with an Ethiopian, "he told him the good news (Gr. euaggelizo) about Jesus" (Acts 8:35).  And Paul couldn't wait for his big trip to Rome because he was stoked "to preach the Gospel (Gr. euaggelizo)" (Rom 1:15).

Jesus came with a message.  He came with Good News.  Literally, "He came and gospelized."  And just what was that Good News?  Christ came to do for us what we could never do for ourselves in a gazillion years.  He lived the perfect life that we failed to live.  He died the bloody death for sin that we should have died.  He rose to the new life that we certainly don't deserve.  We were the Walking Dead yet He made us alive (Eph 2:5).  That happens when we place our trust in what He's done for us.  THAT'S the Good News!  I don't know about you, but that sounds better than good!  That sounds GRRRRREAT!!! 

The apostle tells the Ephesians that Jesus' Gospel was all about "peace" (v17).  And who couldn't use some of God's peace in their lives?  Because of our sin, we're at war on two fronts.  We're rebels and terrorists fighting against the King of Kings.  And we're waging war against each other.  The Prince of Peace brings us Good News that we can stop fighting (Is 9:6).  But God's peace is so much more than lack of fighting or war.  It's that great Hebrew word "shalom."  This is God's perfect order and rhythm of life.  Jesus has come with the awesome news that He's restoring God's perfect shalom to His creation.

Christ went everywhere on His divine search and rescue mission.  Paul reminds the Ephesians specifically how Jesus came "to you who were far off" (v17).  I realize that Ephesus is about 700 miles from Jerusalem, but that's not what he's talking about.  The apostle is reminding the Ephesians that most of them come from a Gentile background.  Dr. Luke wrote all about what went down when Paul hit town in Acts 19.  He went to the local synagogue first where some Jews believed the Good News that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah.  Jewish leaders gave the man from Tarsus the boot so he moved to Tyrannus Hall.  At this point, non-Jews flocked to hear the Good News.  He taught in Ephesus for about three years and saw the Gospel absolutely turn the metropolitan area upside down.  What was happening in Ephesus was happening all across the Roman Empire as folks heard about Jesus.  People from all sorts of religious, cultural and social backgrounds placed their faith in the risen Rabbi from Nazareth.  And that certainly included lots of Gentiles like the folks in Ephesus, "you who were far off" (v17).

Jesus came on His search and rescue mission to those far away.

Paul reminds us that Jesus also preached Good News to "those who were near" (v17).  And why wouldn't He?  After all, He came to God's chosen people as the ultimate fulfillment of every covenant promise Yahweh made to and through folks like Abraham, Moses and David.  Moses talked about God's intimate relationship with Abe's descendants.  "For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us?" (Dt 4:7).  One of the psalmists wrote a hit song about "the people of Israel who are near to Him" (Ps 148:14).  In a very gracious way, God was and is close to the Jewish people.  

Jesus came on His search and rescue mission to those who were close.

Paul lets us know that Jesus actually fulfilled something Isaiah predicted would happen 750 years ago.  "'Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,' says the LORD, 'and I will heal him'" (Is 57:19).  There it is!  Peace.  To the far.  To the near.  God promised it.  The prophet predicted it.  Jesus preached it.  

Christ came on the ultimate search and rescue mission.

So what do WE do with this?  First, this is a reminder that long before we began looking for Jesus, He came looking for us.  Think of yourself as someone trapped in the rubble.  You began crying out for help once you heard Someone was searching to save you.  Second, because Jesus came to us and rescued through His Good News, He calls us to the same (Mt 28:18-20).  The Apostle Paul certainly dedicated his life to telling everyone about Jesus (1Cor 9:19-23).  He would do whatever he could, wherever he was, to tell whoever he would meet about the One who rescued him.

Since Christ came on the ultimate search and rescue mission for you and me, let's do the same.  The alarm is sounding.