What kind of Messiah where the Jews of First Century Judea and Galilee looking for? Reading the gospels, it is apparent that there were three types of Messiah they wanted, depending on the group.
The common man was looking for a caring Messiah who would feed them and care for them. They were the ones who wanted Him to feed them and heal them. After He had fed the five thousand, they were the ones that ran to Him and asked for the sign of Moses bringing manna from heaven. When He refused, they left him.
The Pharisees were looking for a mystical Messiah who would amaze them with signs and wonders. They were the ones who always came to Him asking for a miracle. When He refused, they called Him the son of Beelzebub and demon possessed.
The Zealots were looking for a kingly Messiah who would lift Judea to its former glory and make it mighty among the nations of the world. They were the ones who wanted to name Him king after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. When He refused, they gave Him over to be executed and followed false leaders that led to their destruction.
Note that each of these groups parallel Satan’s temptations. Perhaps the Lord’s response to the Father of Lies was His response to each of these. “Man does not live by bread alone. Do not tempt the LORD your God. You shall worship the LORD your God and serve Him only.”
So now we must ask the Twenty-first Century Christian, what kind of Jesus are you looking for? Sadly, we have not learned from the Jews of Judea and Galilee. We are following them into the same mistakes with the same consequences.
We see the rise of transactional faith, the kind that believes God will give you all you want: wealth, health, and prosperity. Like Satan they will also quote scripture. “Who gives their child a stone when he asks for bread or a serpent when he asks for fish? … Is not the Father more righteous than these?” We have to remember that God never promised us cake and lobster when we beg for it. In fact, He might not even give us bread and fish if He deems us as needing something else. The Father often sends us disappointment, heartbreak, and unhappiness if He sees us as needing those things to draw us to Him and to make us holy. The greatest lie Satan has told to modern man is “God only wants me to be happy.” What God wants is for us to come to Him. Jesus warned us not to expect better treatment than he received. The sad thing is that like the Jews begging Christ for bread, those who seek a transactional savior often desert Him when they don’t get what they want.
We have also seen the rise of the mystical Christian. We see it in those wanting charismatic gifts and turning to new age ideas and thinking in the church. They seek a spiritual high and the constant emotional excitement that comes from the wonderment of miracles and the power of God. They forget that all great men of God: prophets, priest, and kings, had their emotional and spiritual lows as well as their highs. No one can be up all the time. These seekers forgot that the Apostle Paul warned them in I Corinthians chapter13 that eventually all tongues and signs will fade but love will stand forever. The sad thing is that once the miracles stop and the emotional high comes crashing down, they don’t just call Jesus Beelzebub, they turn to Beelzebub via the occult to regain the power they feel they lost.
We are also seeing the rise of the political Christian. We see them in the liberation gospel, in the search for social justice, and the creation of silent majority political action committees. Left or right, these Christians seek to use the political power of the state to correct injustice rather than call on Jesus to mold their heart into a more loving soul. They fail to remember this world is not their home, that the kingdom they belong to is not of this world, and our struggles are with powers and princes we cannot see. They cannot comprehend that all they are doing is dividing their brothers, and like the Zealots they are handing our Savior over to be crucified a new.
The goals of these Christians can be seen as good. Should we not trust in God to take care of us and give us our daily bread? Should we not show the world the mystical majesty of His power and wonderment? And should we not bring justice to a world that is so unjust? Not when we let these things blind us to the Lord Jesus’s true mission. To show us the hard and arduous way to the Father. All Christians must remember what our Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient!”
So, what kind of Jesus are you looking for?
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