I was reading Matthew 11 this morning. In this chapter, John the Baptist's disciple approach Jesus and ask him on behalf of the incarcerated John if Jesus is the One Who Is To Come. Because, frankly, He is not really doing what anyone expected of a Messiah. When is Jesus going to ride a stallion into battle with the Romans and spill the blood of Israels enemies? When is He going to act Davidic? When is He going to rebuild the glory days of the kingdom of Israel and make every other nation sorry for crossing them?
Jesus responds and tells them to tell John that they lame and the lepers are getting healed. The dead are being raised. The poor are hearing the kingdom news. Oh, and sorry if this approach is offensive to people. The Messiah is taking a little different approach than people might have expected. This kingdom will be more about exalting servanthood and less about a making war against the Roman occupiers. Jesus will seek to conquer people's hearts.
The Promised One was a Lamb whose purpose was sacrifice, not a king intent on conquest. I bet that was really tough news for John.
Just thinking out loud.....
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1 comment:
What a radical response! Notice Jesus didn't say he was proclaiming liberty to the captives, significant to John since he was in prison.
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