The Unexpected Messiah...

I am struck today by the glory and majesty of Christ. I have recently been studying the beliefs of first century Jews. They had ideas about the Messiah that were so far from who Jesus was. Obviously, Jewish expectation of the Messiah varied largely from group to group. But none of them were expecting the Messiah to look and act like Jesus. Nor were they expecting the Kingdom of God to roll in the way that it did. As Christians, we know this. We know Jesus was different from what they thought, or they wouldn't have crucified him. But when you study the specifics of what they really thought it would all look like, you see how Jesus must have been such a disappointment to them.

And yet, Jesus was the Messiah, the Branch, the Son of Man. He was the Suffering Servant that no one expected would be the same man as the Messiah. How could the One who came to wipe Israel's enemies away, to redeem His chosen nation, to bring the Kingdom of God to earth be the same man that would be rejected and suffer for the sins of many? It was outside the realm of possibility for the average Jew. But here comes Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God, King of all. He comes and brings in a new Law, a new Covenant, and doesn't touch the hair on a single Roman soldier.

Looking back, it makes sense. We can see how Jesus brought in the Kingdom even if he didn't do it politically or socially. But for them, it was inconceivable. And it makes me wonder, what expectations do I have for Jesus that do not parallel the reality of who He is? Am I waiting on something that, when it does not happen, I will look upon the King of Kings with disappointment? God, may it never be. I pray that I have looked upon His face enough to have set all my expectations unconditionally on Him for who He is. But I fail too often. I look to what He does over who He is more than I'd like to admit. 

So today I am reminded that it is never about me, or my ideas of how things should go down. It is forever and always about the majesty of Christ, bringing glory to Him as He is lifted up for all nations to see and to worship. Even, or especially, when He goes outside my preconceived notions.

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Lesson for Today: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.