The Jews of Jesus’ day wanted a conquering messiah who would free them from Roman occupation. When Jesus told the disciples that the Jewish religious leaders would kill him, Mark 8:32 tells us that “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” James and John asked Jesus, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” (Mark 10:37)
What was their problem? The Jews expected a conquering Messiah. Living under Roman rule was brutal, and they naturally wanted freedom. Within every human is the desire for freedom. God did not create us for subjugation by other humans. But the freedom Jesus offered was not freedom from political oppression but spiritual freedom. As Jesus said, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
“The disciples had expectations for the Messiah because Jews had been talking about it for years,” according to Paul T. Penley. “They had blended God’s prophetic promises with nationalistic ambition. They were already so certain about the Messiah’s unstoppable political establishment that they were ready to rebuke Jesus for thinking otherwise.” Paul T. Penley
It was not as if the Old Testament did not hint or even warn that the Messiah would suffer. As early as Genesis 3:15 says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Isaiah 53:4-5 says, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
The suffering messiah
A suffering messiah is hard for us to grasp. We shy away from any suffering. If we have pain, we take something to make the pain go away. Human nature wants to avoid suffering. But we are confronted with a God who came down in the form of a first-century Jewish man who died a horrible death on a cross. Jesus said in the famous verse John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
What does eternal life mean? Does it merely refer to the afterlife, to heaven, or speak to something that begins on earth when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior? 1 Peter 2:24-25 tells us that Jesus “Himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
Jesus endured crucifixion for us–for we who cause so many problems on this planet. He died for our species who causes environmental destruction and genocide. Jesus did not just die for the nicest among us. He also died for Vladimir Putin. He died so anyone who accepts Him into their heart will have eternal life. In Romans 10:9-10 we are told that it is by confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in our hearts that He was raised from the dead that we are saved from our sins.
Our hearts as the holy of holies
The Jews of Jesus’ day are not the only ones who want a conquering messiah. Some modern-day Evangelical Christians want one also. There are interpretations of the book of Revelation that indicate we still cling to the conquering messiah. When we do, we forget that it is through the suffering messiah that our sins are forgiven, and we have intimacy with God.
In the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, there was a room called the holy of holies where God’s presence dwelt. The high priest went in once a year to offer a sacrifice. He wore a robe with bells on the hem and a room around his ankle. If he had any unconfessed sin, he would die, and someone would pull him out. That is how seriously God takes sin.
When Jesus died, Matthew 27:51 says that the curtain in the temple separating the holy of holies tore in two. As a result of His death, we can come before God the Father any time we want, and our hearts become the holy of holies. Hebrews 10:19-21 makes it clear to us that through the death of Jesus, we can “enter the holy places” and “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.”
Image by Michael Henkel from Pixabay
Your writing is amazing have a wonderful Easter