Our Messiah Is The Suffering Servant

If you are reading this blog after reading my profile you may think that you know something about me. You may have decided that you agree or disagree with my positions. You know where I'm coming from. But do you really? Perhaps, especially if you've read more than a couple of my blogs.

Jesus had a similar problem as he appeared in the temple in Jerusalem during the fall Feast of Booths. Many people were certain they knew him and where he came from. He was that young man from Nazareth whose fame had spread across the land. But did they really know him? Jesus said they did not.

So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, "You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me." So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, "When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?" The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Jesus then said, "I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come." The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, 'You will seek me and you will not find me,' and, 'Where I am you cannot come'?" - Jhn 7:28-36 ESV

Not only did they not know him, they did not know where he was going or why he was going there—wherever that was to be. Some thought he might be heading out on some kind of missionary trip to the Jews dispersed and scattered far and wide in the Greek-speaking world. Greek was the international language of the day. "Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?" they asked.
"No," said Jesus. "You will seek me and you will not find me, because where I am you cannot come."

These are stark words of warning from the Lord, words that we do well to heed. Initially they referred to Jesus' journey to the cross to fulfill the many prophecies about the Messiah who would offer his life to redeem all men from God's righteous judgment upon their sins. Speaking of him the prophet Isaiah wrote,

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. - Isa 53:4-6 ESV

Such a Suffering Servant (Isa. 53:11) was not the kind of Messiah sought after by the Jews challenging Jesus in the Jerusalem temple. Their messianic concept was of a king who would gather their armies and demolish the hated Romans in some kind of apocalyptic, supernaturally empowered battle. He would then set up a universal empire in which his chosen people would flourish and all others would be subservient.

Jesus was not such a messiah. So they would neither find him in that role, nor would they come with him on his path. His was a road leading to the cross. The cross remains the road down which all who would follow Jesus must walk. This is why Jesus said again and again,

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23).

If you and I do indeed believe that Jesus is the true and only Messiah, the Christ, then we have no choice but to follow him in a life of servanthood as we await his return. Jesus continues,

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. - Mat 16:25-27 ESV

How very different from those whose current messianic hopes teach them to destroy cities, burn flags and cars, pillage cities and kill all whom they despise.