In the ancient Jewish world the Messiah was eagerly longed for in the hope that he would bring about a new society freed from the oppression of Greeks and Romans. He would usher in an ideal state such as people thought existed under King David. (No one seriously thinks it did but at least Israel was free from external enemies).
As we look at our society today the Messiah no longer has a capital M but he is there all the while in the advertisements that tell us how to create the ideal world for ourselves by satisfying our desires. So many of the things that attract us do excite us for a while, but we also discover which are of lasting value and which are not.
Christmas time ends with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan and the gospel writers tell us that the event was accompanied by ‘a voice from heaven’. The voice is inaugurating the kingdom, or rather the reign, of God through a person. The Jews were disappointed. Where were the signs they had long expected would be associated with the coming of the Messiah? Their current oppressors, the Romans, were firmly in charge and Jesus showed no interest in removing them.
Instead he spoke of seeds growing in the fields and yeast fermenting the dough. He laid down only one law and that was unenforceable. His teaching ‘made a deep impression’ because he went to the heart of every person and called on them to change their way of thinking. He wanted a new world – but he wanted it through the conversion of hearts which flow into the conversion of structures. There was no way this newly inaugurated leader could legislate or enforce his programme. He appealed to the noblest that is in every human being and said to them: ‘Come. Do not be afraid!’ ‘They did not know that I was the one caring for them … with leading strings of love’ (Hos 11:3).
Post published in: Opinions & Analysis