What Men Were Looking For

Why were people so violent in their reactions to Jesus? Try to imagine what they were looking for. They were Jews.

That means they had been outcast and downtrodden for hundreds of years. Whenever they seemed to be getting somewhere, a large empire would swoop down from the north or swoop up from the south and take them captive. And so they were looking for a vindicator, a deliverer to whom they could give the title "Messiah" (meaning "the Anointed One"), a Messiah whom God would send to deliver them and set them free, and through whom the reign of God would be established on earth. What would this Messiah be like? A first century "Gallup poll" would have gone something like this: FIRST MAN (very matter-of-factly): Me? I'm looking for a descendant of David, to come and rule the way King David did. Those were the days We had land, food, prestige, and a great king. Someday God will send another David who will rule over us. Then we'll have peace and justice, and the enemy will be destroyed. I only hope he comes soon.
SECOND MAN (with a snarl): I don't know just how we'll recognize the Messiah, but I can tell you this. He'll be a great warrior. He'll push those blasted Romans back into the sea, and we'll have our own land once again, without a bunch of foreigners ruling us, taking all our money in taxes and keeping us poor. I'll join up with his army first thing, and we'll hatch a revolution that will smash the Romans to bits.
THIRD MAN (rather wild-eyed): No, it won't be as easy as that. We're in too deep for any mere man to deliver us. Our only hope lies in a heavenly creature, sent down from the clouds of heaven, with legions of angels. The sort of thing The Book of Daniel talks about. He'll smite the oppressive Romans and deliver us from them, and then set up his heavenly Kingdom right here in Palestine. That's the only thing that can save us.

These were typical of the dreams and aspirations of a captive people, living under the hard rule of an "army of occupation," powerless to resist, too bitter to come to terms, too proud to accept their fate lying down. They felt sure that even in their humiliation God had not forgotten them, and that he would send his Anointed One, even though they were not all agreed as to just what the Anointed One would be like.