By Stuart Powell
Calvin Coolidge became president of the United States upon the death of Warren Harding in 1923. In his autobiography, Coolidge noted one of his first acts in office was to send a telegram to Rev. Dr. Jason Noble Pierce, pastor of First Congregational Church in Washington, D.C., requesting a meeting upon his return to the nation’s capital. Though neither man provided details of that meeting, a posting at the Coolidge Foundation blog surmises the president likely petitioned the pastor “to seek the blessing of Almighty God for the facing of the hour, as he took up the heavy mantle of the presidential office.”
In his 1925 inaugural address, Coolidge challenged the country to seek God’s favor in pursuing a divine purpose:
America seeks no earthly empire built on blood and force. No ambition, no temptation, lures her to thought of foreign dominions. The legions which she sends forth are armed, not with the sword, but with the cross. The higher state to which she seeks the allegiance of all mankind is not of human, but of divine origin. She cherishes no purpose save to merit the favor of Almighty God.
Jesus made a similar appeal to the favor of almighty God in the synagogue of Nazareth. Luke’s record begins with Jesus reading from the beginning of 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 favor.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:18-21).
While Jesus proclaimed the year of the Lord’s favor in Nazareth, the day of grace did not fully arrive until he was raised on the cross as King of the Jews. There, Jesus paid the price to release the captives and free the oppressed. Jesus fought for our freedom, as Coolidge described, “not with the sword, but with the cross.”
As we commemorate Presidents’ Day, let us also remember the price Jesus, our supreme and eternal king, paid to bring liberty to all people. His body and his blood offered on the cross was the ransom for the sinful rebellion of humanity.
Stuart Powell lives outside of Terre Haute, Indiana, where he serves with the North Side Christian Church.
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