Reading the story of Israel in the Old Testament, there’s a common theme that appears again and again: God does not always act in ways people expect.
When God delivered Israel from slavery, He chose Moses not while he was prince in Egypt but when he was reduced to working as a shepherd for a foreigner.
When God delivered Israel from the Midianites, He chose Gideon, the least important member of the least important family of his tribe.
When God delivered Israel from their enemy Goliath, it was not by an equally huge armed warrior, but by David, a slightly built boy shepherd with a sling.
And when God spoke to his prophet Elijah at Mount Horeb, it was not in the wind, an earthquake, or a fire, but in a still small voice.
Finally, when God would bring ultimate deliverance to His people—and to all people—it would be in a way that no one in Israel was really expecting, not even John the Baptist.
Many in Israel expected God to act and bring about the restoration of Israel in certain ways. In all of Israel’s history whenever they were independent of foreign control and were strong as a nation it was brought about by a strong political and military leader like King David was. David’s reign and rule over Israel’s enemies was irresistible.
So, the people of Israel in Jesus’ day also expected the rule of the promised Messiah to be irresistible. Some, like the Zealots, backed by a great many Old Testament (OT) prophecies, expected deliverance from Roman occupation and a return to Israel of political independence and the glories of old. Israel, for many generations, had been under the thumb of foreign powers. Then some, like the Essenes, also supported by many OT prophecies, expected a final eschatological judgment.
In this end time judgment all sinners, both inside and outside Israel, would be condemned and the righteous glorified. Their expectation of how the Messiah was to act when He came is much like the way we expect Jesus to judge the world when He returns at the end of the age and judges all nations.
Though there were differences among the different Jewish sects on just how the Messiah would act when He came, generally, it was expected that when He did come, God would restore Israel to its former glory. Then comes John the Baptist, who was assigned to prepare the way for the Messiah. He makes a prophecy in Matthew about the Messiah that suggests a powerful judgement.
“The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire . . . His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3: 10 &12)
So, John the Baptist has a vision of the Messiah that was much like what we expect when Christ returns at the end of the age. And so this long-awaited Messiah arrives in the person of Jesus Christ.
However, in Jesus, God acted in a way that was unexpected. Unlike the overwhelming power of King David, Jesus’ proclamation of the Good News and His call to repentance could be resisted. On the one hand, the demons and the forces of nature could not resist Jesus’ word and command. At His word a fig tree withered and all demons He encountered fled at His command. Yet many people rejected His words and did not believe. Although Jesus drew large crowds, very few recognized him as the Messiah and believed His message.
John is in prison. He knows death could come at any time. Yet Jesus is not acting as He expected. He is not cutting down trees that do not produce good fruit and throwing them in the fire and Jesus is not gathering the wheat into His barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
He sends some of his disciples to inquire of Jesus if He is the Promised Messiah. Jesus points out some of the things happening just then in his ministry that assure John that He is the Messiah.
“Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.’” (Matthew 11: 4, 5)
It is not that the prophecies of John concerning the Messiah coming in judgement were wrong. Those prophecies will come about, but at the second coming of the Messiah, when Christ does return in judgment.
So, God did not act as expected by the people of John the Baptist’s day concerning the coming Messiah.
What are our expectations today for the return of the Messiah at the end of the age? That will be the topic of my next column.
Blessings!
Rev. Terry Goerz,
Redeemer Lutheran Church.