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Bible Reading: 1st Peter 1:10-12 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (11) Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (12) Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
Mark 1:14-15 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, (15) And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
The Mystery of the Messiah’s Ministry
In this fourth and final part of the series The Mystery of the Messiah, we’ll see that the ministry of the Messiah was one that was and still is highly misunderstood.
This is especially the case to those in the days of Jesus who thought the Messiah would come to deliver them from the tyranny of the Roman government. This is part of the reason Jesus was so rejected. He came preaching about personal responsibility and repentance, not overthrowing the government like so many Jews hoped!
An overthrow of the government may have sounded appealing to the Jews, but what they needed was repentance from dead works. Jesus focuses on giving you what you need. This is something that, though it be less appealing to the flesh, will get you into eternity with God!
To illustrate this misperception, we’ll look at the life of someone who arguably would have been the most familiar with the ministry of the Messiah…John the Baptist.
It seems that even John the Baptist had a certain perception of what the ministry of the Messiah would look like. John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the prophecies found in Isaiah and Malachi.
Isaiah 40:3 – The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Jesus confirms this in Luke 7:27 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Malachi 4:5-6 – Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: (6) And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Jesus confirms this in Matthew 11:14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
We get the impression that John the Baptist had certain expectations of the Messiah’s ministry through the kind of messages John preached. What was John’s message?
Luke 3:3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Luke 3:7-8 …O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance…
Also, Matthew 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Instead of looking for the Messiah to deliver Israel from Roman authority, it seems John the Baptist’s expectation was that the Messiah would show up and judge all the hypocrites.
Basically, John the Baptist’s message was, “Turn or burn sinners, because the Messiah is here and He is not messing around!!”…or something like that!
The Mystery of the Messiah’s Message
We read of one of the first messages preached by Jesus, known as “The Beatitudes”, or supreme blessings, is found in Matthew 5:3-4 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (4) Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
This was hardly the message the Messiah was expected to preach! A lot of people today also have a lot of expectations of Jesus that He does not fulfill and because of this, they get offended.
It was John the Baptist who identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, John 1:29 …Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John would also say, John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease. Yet, we find that even he had certain preconceived ideas about the Messiah.
Not much longer after this, John would be thrown into prison at The Fortress of Machaerus, which is located on the northeastern shore of the Dead Sea, at the mouth of the Jordan River.
He was put there by Herod Antipas, not simply because he preached about repentance in vague generalities, but because he specifically identified what should be repented of…namely Herod’s adulterous relationship with his brother Philip’s wife.
Because the ministry of Jesus wasn’t one of judgment and eternal punishment, as John supposed it would be, even John the Baptist seems to have doubted the ministry of Jesus as being the Messiah. This is where we find John asking the question in Luke 7:19 …Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
It was to this question that Jesus responds in Luke 7:21-23 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. (22) Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. (23) And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
This was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; (2) To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD…
John the Baptist was looking for Part 2 of this prophecy in Isaiah 61, which reads in Verse 2… and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn. Jesus’ response to John was basically, “Remember John, there is another part of the prophecies that must be fulfilled first. We must fulfill the first part before we can fulfill the second part.”
Maybe upon hearing this response, John the Baptist realized that he too had the wrong perspective of what the message of the Messiah would be and thus became more willing to accept the will of God.
So, we see that the ministry and message of Jesus did not fit the preconceived ideas of what was expected of the Messiah, even to John the Baptist, who was most familiar and ready for it.
Many today will not accept Christ, because His ministry and message do not fit into their preconceived ideas, much like those in the days of Jesus. But, His ministry is God’s chosen way and anyone who accepts this chosen way will get to God’s Heaven through the ministry and message of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Christ of God!
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Pastor Fulmer
Pastor Fulmer's Blog 