Hi First Presbyterian Church,
It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! In our reading today from Lent for Everyone, NT Wright reflects on Matthew 11:1-19. In this section of the Gospel, John the Baptist (who had already been arrested by Herod and would soon be executed) sent a message to Jesus asking him if he was indeed the Messiah. Wright makes an insightful observation: Jesus hadn’t tried to take Jerusalem by force to claim it for his messianic kingdom, and John was in Herod’s prison and Jesus hadn’t come to rescue him. No wonder John had questions as to whether or not Jesus was truly the Messiah! John seemed to be expecting the Messiah to arrive more forcefully and actively. But that was not the way of Jesus. Wright says that Jesus’ response to John (and the crowds) is essentially, “If you were expecting something else it’s you that needs to adjust your picture!”
Wright continues to reflect on how the crowds also misunderstood the purpose of his messianic mission. “John looked too crazy, Jesus looks too normal. Sometimes even Jesus just had to plough on, realizing that people hadn’t understood, but going ahead anyway. Sometimes we have to do the same.”
As I reflect on Wright’s commentary and on the reading from Matthew 11:1-19, I realize that people continue to misunderstand Jesus still today. Many Christians today believe that the mission of Christ’s Church is to take the world by force and claim it for the Kingdom of God. Some Christians would have the Church join forces with the world’s power. Other Christians would have the Church try to supplant the world’s power to be its sole possessor. I don’t think Jesus wants either of those things.
God’s power cannot be wielded by the world. God’s power is realized through grace, forgiveness, mercy, and self-denial. God’s power led Jesus to be executed by worldly forces who believed that their actions against him were somehow gaining the upper hand on God’s power. The irony is that Jesus’ commitment to self-denial and obedience to God that led him to be crucified was exactly how he broke the vice grip that the world’s power held over humanity.
We experience God's power today when we allow the Holy Spirit to make us more like Jesus than to continue to expect the world’s understanding of power to do anything good for us. The journey of Lent leads us to the cross every time. It is only by following Jesus to the cross where he laid down his life and offered forgiveness to his enemies that we experience the power of resurrection over sin and death.
Will you follow Jesus - the Messiah and the Son of God - to the cross and lay your life down for even those who would rejoice to see you on the cross? That is what God’s power looks like in a Christian’s life.
Peace,
Aaron