NO.4/ MESSIAH
“What gave the Jews an indication that the time they were living in would be THAT VERY TIME when the Messiah would come? I mean, who told them to start looking?””
When John the Baptist arrived onto the scene and began baptizing the people for the remission of sins, everyone was perplexed and puzzled about who he was.
What I FIND CURIOUS, however, is that rather than asking John if he was a prophet along the lines of Isaiah or Jeremiah (they ultimately did after he denied being the Messiah (John 1:19-20)), they wanted to know "WHETHER HE WAS THE CHRIST OR NOT ..." (Luke 3:15 NKJV).
Why does this catch my eye?
Consider how the Jewish nation of Israel could trace their roots back to Adam and, by the way, that's saying something. Along with a long list of Patriarchal figures who played an important role in the unfolding of their history and influenced their societal make-up, Israel also had a long list of Prophets who dotted their historical landscape with various prophetic declarations, some of which referred to a coming Messiah.
My point?
Don't YOU find it curious that the only question on the minds of the people concerning John was whether he was "the Messiah or not?" If you've never thought about this before, then let me ask the question differently.
"What gave the Jews an indication that the time they were living in would be THAT VERY TIME when the Messiah would come? I mean, who told them to start looking?
The answer can be found in the book of Daniel where, in several places, Daniel talked about four world ruling Empires that would reign prior to the advent of the Messiah. Given to Daniel via Nebuchadnezzar's dream and his own personal vision at a later point in his life, Daniel was shown that the counting would start with Babylon. Then, the Medio-Persian Empire would conquer Babylon followed by the Greek-Macedonians and then, Rome. As you might know, Caesar was in power at the time of the Lord's ministry.
Where am I going with this?
Although there are some who don't care to mix religion with politics, biblically speaking, it's hard to separate the two. Granted, each have different domains of influence, but there is definitely a correlation and connection between the two.
For instance, in terms of when Jesus was born and the question asked of John if he was the Messiah, you can't escape the fact that the Jews were watching for POLITICAL MOVEMENT in their world to trigger WHEN to start looking for the Messiah. Are you with me here?
In other words, when Rome came to power, the Jews could both READ what the prophet Daniel had declared and COUNT how many Empires from the time of Babylon forward. BINGO! Rome was the FOURTH.
As to how this relates to us today, it's hard to escape the political landscape our nation is embroiled in today. In fact, you can hardly turn on the TV and not be barraged with a "he said, she said" narrative concerning political positions. But there is much more going on than just a political melee. And that's what I'll be talking about over the next few days.
However, to prep the heart and prime the pump, let me offer a few observations about what Jesus has to say about politics. Let me start with another question.
Have you ever thought about the term "Christ" as being political? Note the following reference. "If anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' don't believe it. For FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS WILL RISE ... " (Matt. 24:24)
As you can see, the terms "Christ" and "Prophet" are separate and distinct. That's because they are! But if you weren't aware of why the distinctions between the Kingly and Priestly functions (even the false ones) were so important to know, AND EVEN MORE SO, how they correlated with one another, you would never have thought to ponder WHY Jesus separated the two.
Let me offer an explanation.
The word Christ comes from the Greek word Cristos and means exactly what the Hebrew word Messiah means -- the anointed one. That's it. Nothing more. In regard to the Jews and how they used the term, they were looking for a Messiah because Isaiah told them there was one coming who would fulfill these words:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has ANOINTED ME ..." (Isa. 61:1)) Yup! They were looking for THIS guy.
The problem is, they were looking for the "anointed one" to set them free from Roman oppression and Jesus didn't come to do that. Instead of coming as a KING and setting up a ruling Kingdom, He came as a PRIEST to offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people ... AND THE JEWS TOTALLY MISSED HIM.
Now that's not to say Jesus wasn't a King. He told Pilate, "You say [correctly] that I am a King. This is why I was born." (John 18:37 AMPL). It just wasn't for THAT period in time.
Yes, I know these things are obvious to a serious bible student. But I've found that, even then, some of the nuances and implications of Jesus being both a KING and a PRIEST are somehow lost in the translation. By this I mean, the moment you begin suggesting that Jesus was a political figure, people get crazy and begin to think you're subverting His holiness or some other silliness like that.
So listen! Jesus is JUST as POLITICAL as He is SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS. In the Bible, it's called being KINGLY and being PRIESTLY; two different functions ALL related to the same KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!
As for how this relates to our country, the underpinnings of our country's most recent election process have both political and spiritual implications that must be understood and addressed IF WE ARE TO PARTAKE IN EFFECTING THEIR OUTCOMES.
I will elaborate on this in my next post…
