CHERISHING PEOPLE IN THE HUMANITY OF JESUS (4)
In the Gospel of Luke
Cherishing People with the Words of Grace Proceeding out of His Mouth
Christ as the Man-Savior came to a synagogue in Nazareth and read a portion from Isaiah that says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to announce the gospel to the poor… to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of jubilee,”( Luke 4:16-22 ). If we were the Lord, we might have read the law from Exodus 20 to the people instead of the jubilee of grace from Isaiah 61. To read the law to them would have condemned them. Instead, the Lord read a portion from Isaiah to them to cherish them with the words of grace proceeding out of His mouth.
Eating and Drinking with the Tax Collectors and Sinners
Christ as the Son of Man came to eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners, even as their friend, to cherish them that they might be nourished by Him with His redemption and salvation ( Luke 7:34 ).
Cherishing Zaccheus
Christ as the Son of Man went to Jericho, passed by the tree from which Zaccheus was expecting to see Him, and looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay in your house,” in order to cherish him that He might nourish him with His salvation ( 19:1-10 ).
In the Gospel of John
Cherishing Nathanael
When Christ as the God-Savior was recognized by Nathanael as the Son of God, He answered him that he would see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on Him as the Son of Man, like the heavenly ladder seen by Jacob in his dream, as a kind of cherishing to encourage Nathanael to follow Him that he might participate in His nourishment with all the divine benefits as revealed in the entire Gospel of John ( 1:45-51 ).
Cherishing an Immoral Woman of Samaria
When Christ as the God-Savior wanted to save an immoral woman of Samaria, He traveled from Judea to Galilee through Samaria, He detoured from the main way of Samaria to the city of Sychar, and He waited at the well of Jacob, near Sychar, for His object to come that He might cherish her by asking her to give Him something to drink so that He might nourish her with the water of life, which is the flowing Triune God Himself ( 4:1-14 ). He waited at the well of Jacob for her to come in order to cherish her so that she could be nourished with the living water of the Triune God.
Cherishing an Adulterous Woman
When none of the accusing Pharisees could condemn the adulterous woman, Christ as the God-Savior, in His humanity, said to her, “Neither do I condemn you,” to cherish her that He, as the great I Am, might nourish her with the freedom from sin and enable her to “sin no more” ( 8:3-11 , 24 , 34-36 ). Christ is the divine, great I Am, who can set people free from sin. (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups”, ch. 10, pp. 148-150)
The church in Zamboanga 