What Kind of Messiah Were They Expecting? Who is Jesus?

 

COME THOU LONG EXPECTED JESUS

born to set your people free;

It seems likely that first century Jews expected a warrior on a mighty stallion, to set them free from their Roman occupiers.  Jesus turned out to be a very different kind of king - a meek and mild man entering Jerusalem on a donkey.  How confused they must have been, and some people disappointed or unbelieving, maybe even angry. 

What kind of Messiah are we expecting when we approach Christ in prayer?  A fixer, a doer, a powerful Saviour who gives us a straightforward, single answer…the answer or result we want?  

The old hymn continues

from our fears and sins release us;

let us find our rest in Thee.

These lines speak of a very different kind of freedom than I previously thought I wanted.   And because God is God, the freedom is and will continue to be much better!

Who are you expecting?  Does the conflict between our expectations and reality continue to this very day?  

This Sunday is Palm Sunday.  I wonder who we are expecting?  

Luke 19:28-40   MSG

After saying these things, Jesus headed straight up to Jerusalem. When he got near Bethphage and Bethany at the mountain called Olives, he sent off two of the disciples with instructions: “Go to the village across from you. As soon as you enter, you’ll find a colt tethered, one that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says anything, asks, ‘What are you doing?’ say, ‘His Master needs him.’”  The two left and found it just as he said. 

 

They brought the colt to Jesus. Then, throwing their coats on its back, they helped Jesus get on. As he rode, the people gave him a grand welcome, throwing their coats on the street.

 

Right at the crest, where Mount Olives begins its descent,  the whole crowd of disciples burst into enthusiastic praise over all the mighty works they had witnessed:

Blessed is he who comes,

    the king in God’s name!

All’s well in heaven!

    Glory in the high places!

Some Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, get your disciples under control!”          

 

But he said, “If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise.”

 

Inner Eyesight

Spirit, open my heart

    to the joy and pain of living

What has the joy and pain of living been like for you recently? Is your heart really open to the joy and pain of reality?

I confess that most of the time mine is not. When I'm surprised by joy I don't give myself time to really relish it. I'm too busy and focused on my to-do list. But I am getting better at it!

When pain comes, my fear, (Falsehood Experienced as Reality), roars so loud that I am tempted to run away. When I do face the reality I face it like a problem to be solved, rather than a life to be lived. Am I really willing to feel it?

Occasionally, the joy and pain of living happens when we are alone…maybe we receive some good news in an email. Or we read the bad news in the newspaper. But more often, other people are involved…unless we run away.

In St. Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, he asked them to face openly the joy and pain of living in community. 

He suggested they face it dressed in the wardrobe that God has picked out for all of us as Christians: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline, forgiveness, love, and gratitude. 

He suggested that living in community was like a dance. We listen to the music and we keep in step with the people around us. We don’t go off doing our own thing. The peace of Christ will allow us to do this, if we let it.

May it be so.

Excerpts from Colossians 3 MSG

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it.

Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness.

Art from Regent student, Daniela Armestegui