Stage Directions: Enter John and Jesus

Stage Directions: Enter John

But now the real drama gets underway. Things come into clear focus with the arrival on the scene of a young man named John. John was a fiery orator-what today might be called a "rabble rouser" -- and he preached in the bleak area down near the Dead Sea. People came out to hear him. John brought them small comfort. He was blunt and outspoken. He was not one to pull his punches. When King Herod Antipas committed adultery, for example, John told him he was wrong. It cost John his head. John told the people that the Day of Judgment was coming and that they had better prepare for it. He said that very soon God would send his Messiah to bring in this day. He said that they couldn't get by on the lame excuse that they were the "chosen people"; God could raise up a people from the very stones about them. He said that they had better repent and believe, and that they should show that they meant it by being baptized. Thus he was called John the Baptizer.

Stage Directions: Enter Jesus

One day when John was preaching, Jesus, then a young man of about thirty, appeared in the crowd and asked to be baptized. He may have wanted to show that he believed in John, or he may have wanted to identify himself with the sinful humanity he was going to serve. At any rate, John (who felt unworthy of doing so) did baptize Jesus in the River Jordan. The moment had tremendous significance for Jesus, for he seems to have received unmistakable confirmation that he had a special vocation to which God had called him.

Jesus was therefore immediately faced with the question, "If I have been called by God, if I am to be the Messiah, what kind of Messiah does he call me to be?" Jesus struggles with this problem alone. Various tempting short cuts are offered to him:

He sees the loaf-shaped stones around him. Why not change them into bread? A Messiah has that power. What a capital ideal Give the poor downtrodden Palestinians food for their hungry stomachs, and there is nothing they will not do for him. Fill their stomachs, and then fill their souls. Splendid! They will surely listen to anyone who alters their economic condition. And isn't this, after all, the kind of thing the people were hoping for from a Messiah? Someone who would relieve their dreadful poverty? Isn't this really the way to show his compassion toward them?

But another voice intervenes, the voice of the true Jesus, who finds in his Jewish heritage a more important truth, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" ( Deut. 8: 3). He does not say that bread is unnecessary, but simply that bread is not sufficient. There is a more fundamental need in man.

Another picture appears. Instead of using bread as a lure, why not use religion itself as a lure, by posing as a wonder-worker? Climb to the very top of the Temple and then jump off; use the power of God so as to land unhurt? This will be a spectacular proof of his Messianic calling. By challenging God's power, Jesus will prove God's power. Then people will pay attention. Isn't this also what the people have deeply yearned for? A Messiah whose claims are so clear-cut that the people can rally around him without any qualms or questions? Doesn't he owe this much to them if he is to be their leader?

But another word comes: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God" ( Deut. 6: 16). And Jesus rejects the notion of winning followers by spectacular means. (Remember this when we discuss Jesus' miracles.)

A third short cut is offered. Jesus sees all the kingdoms spread out before him. By worshiping evil, he can gain political control of them all. Then people would listen. What an opportunity! Doesn't he really owe this to his people? To free them from bondage to Rome? To be a political leader around whom they can rally? Isn't this worth a few compromises?

But Jesus turns this one down too. He is not to serve evil. "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve" ( Deut. 6: 13).

Jesus thus refuses the kind of Messiahship that would be a worship of the power of evil rather than a giving of himself to the true God. God, not Satan, is the object of his loyalty. Nor will he be simply the kind of Messiah the people want. He must be Messiah on God's terms, not theirs.

No comments: