The Messiah Has Come

Roy Loney

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     On a never to be forgotten night a group of simple shepherds sat watching their flocks on the Judean hills, when suddenly the midnight stillness was broken by a melodious voice that announced to them the greatest news the world has ever known: "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." This startling announcement was scarcely ended when the entire heavens were filled with the shining forms of angelic beings, singing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will toward men." When the frightened shepherds had regained a measure of their natural poise, they determined to go to Bethlehem and ascertain for themselves the meaning of the heavenly announcement. There they found a baby king, the long awaited Messiah of Israel, born not in a royal palace, surrounded by the regal splendors of a King's court, but in a lowly stable, and lying in a manger. A meek little peasant woman, not a proud and haughty princess, had mothered the child.

     Due to the widespread use of the Hebrew prophecies which had been translated into the popular Greek language, much of the eastern world was living in mild expectation of the imminent appearance of a great personage who would redeem Israel. Distorted views as to the nature of his royal mission blinded the minds of those most concerned, the Jews, and they could put no credence in the report that this child of the Bethlehem stable, could be the great son of David who was to restore oppressed Israel to the past splendors of the Solomonic reign. Only the aged Anna and the venerable Simeon (Luke 2:24-38) saw in him the fullfillment of Israel's hopes. Even his immediate relatives could not understand the divine purpose of the Lord Christ.

     Growing to manhood in the obscure village of Nazareth, this child attracted little attention until the Baptist, on the banks of Jordan pointed him out, with the stentorian announcement that he was "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world." From that moment the eyes of thousands of expectant Jews were focused on this One they had known as the humble carpenter of Nazareth. What good thing, they asked, can come out of despised Nazareth? Was not the Christ to come from David's city of Bethlehem? Their carnal hearts could not understand how this man of such humble origin could be the predicted King of Israel. All the prophecies pertaining to the Messianic shame, humiliation and suffering (Isaiah 53) were either ignored or forgotten. Surely the long awaited King would come clothed in the regal habiliments of a royal personage, not in the rough garb of a carpenter. But in him was fulfilled the divine prediction that he "hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him."

     But when thousands of afflicted persons were instantly healed by the touch of his hand; when the dead were raised to life, the multitudes were fed, and the raging tempests were stilled, they wondered with amazement what manner of man he could be. He who made both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak, was, at least, acclaimed as one 'who had done all things well." So there was a great

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searching of hearts as to the real identity of this most unusual man. However, it was his teaching that caused the greatest consternation. If a man wants to heal the sick, they reasoned, let him alone; but when Christ exposed the hollow pretensions of the self-righteous Pharisees, and trod heavily on the dignity of the proud, aristocratic Sadducees, whose materialism was held up to public scorn, they thirsted for his blood. No man was safe who threatened their prestige. His last entry into Jerusalem, not with royal pomp, but riding a lowly ass, accompanied by a frenzied, shouting multitude who proclaimed him as the Messiah of the prophets, aroused the ruling class as nothing previously had done, and his act of cleansing the holy temple of the rank commercialism of the pretended saints of the Lord, aroused their undying hatred, and his doom was sealed! The Messiah had come to his temple. He had challenged the right of their authority, and now nothing could stay their anger.

     Knowing that his earth life is drawing to a close, and that the hearts of so many of Israel were beyond redemption, Jesus, in tears, takes his farewell of apostate Jerusalem: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate ... ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

     Arrested in lonely Gethsemane, deserted by his cowardly disciples, he is led from judgment hall to judgment hall. Every semblance of justice is denied him, and the awful sentence of crucifixion is then pronounced. Crucified between two thieves, the suffering Lord prays for the pardon of his executioners. The sun hides its face behind a veil of midnight darkness as his life ebbs to its close, and his last agonized struggle ends in death. Israel had crucified her King! "He came to his own and his own received him not." The rejected King has since that time become the ruler of millions of consecrated hearts, while Israel has become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations, according to divine prophecy. They wanted a king who would bring them national fame and material splendors. God sent them a king who sought to bring them moral purity and spiritual redemption. Instead of a material Jerusalem, he offered them a spiritual city whose builder and maker is God. Instead of an earthly throne, he received a throne in the highest heavens. Instead of ruling a material nation with the scepter of earthly power, he rules today as a Saviour in the hearts of all who love him. He sought not to restore a physical nation to its former glory, but he does seek to bring all men's hearts back to God. No longer is he interested in cleansing a material temple, but he does cleanse the souls of men from the defilement of sin. His conquests are not with carnal weapons, but with the sword of the Spirit he takes "captivity captive" and delivers men from the bondage of sin. The spiritual seed of Abraham are now the true Israel of God, and fleshly circumcision has been superseded by that circumcision of the sincere heart that puts its trust in Him, who in infinite compassion, came to seek and to save that which was lost. Blessed be His name!

     Jesus my Saviour to Bethlehem came;
     Born in a manger to sorrow and shame:
     O, it was wonderful, blest be his name,
     Seeking for me, for me.