Yesterday I shared a little about what people at the time of Jesus’ birth expected from Messiah. This person was supposed to show up and lead the people of Israel just as the warrior king David had a millennia earlier. Messiah would defeat Israel’s enemies and ultimately set up an Empire. This Messiah King, according to the Scriptures, would reign in righteousness, justice, and power. The entire world would come to Jerusalem to worship the Messiah and to receive justice from him.
But, what actually happened?
Well, Jesus showed up.
Born among family and animals and placed in a feeding trough.
Escaped as a refugee to Egypt when the existing empire got wind of His existence.
Returned to Israel and grew up in a small backwater town.
Worked with his hands and learned how to deal with people.
Not the kind of king that was really expected.
In fact, as Jesus began to share what he believed was the truth about God and God’s reign, all of those folks who expected a Warrior Messiah turned on him.
Why?
Because he didn’t live up to their expectations.
If Jesus was truly the Messiah, then what exactly did that mean?
If He was not here to defeat Israel’s enemies and set up a Messianic Empire, then what did he actually do?
In the beginning….
At the very beginning of the Bible there is the story about how God made the heavens and the earth. All things were created and the Cosmos set in motion.
After a while, the humans there decided to think for themselves and deviate from the path that God had set before them.
They hid from God.
Then, the story tells us that in the cool of the afternoon, God came walking through the garden. God called out to the people, “Where are you?” This is told in such a way that we are supposed to think that this was something the God did regularly. God walked through the garden with a desire to spend time with them.
This theme of God coming to people with a desire to spend time with them is found throughout the Bible.
That idea found its completion in the person: Jesus.
The writers of the Gospels tell us about Jesus who came and pitched His tent among us. They write about the Jesus who hangs out at weddings and really likes good wine.
Jesus shows up at parties and hangs out with lepers and cripples and women. He held little children on his lap and told his grown disciples that God’s reign was going to be filled with people just like those children.
Not warriors.
Not politicians.
Certainly not Emperors.
It seems that the expectations that Israel had were off just a tad.
Instead of a Warrior King, they got a Servant King.
That Servant King desires to reign over a kingdom filled with people who are like those children that He held.
Childlike faith.
Childlike wonder.
Childlike…you fill in the blank.
I look around us today and see people who still think that a Warrior King is God’s plan.
They believe that Empire can save them.
But, is that what God has shown us?
No.
God desires to walk with us in the cool of the afternoon.
God’s reign is built on Love and Relationships.
Not power and Empire.
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