After the fall in the Garden, God explained the consequences to Adam and Eve for believing the lies of the devil (rather than trusting God). He then turned to the devil and promised him that '. . . He shall crush thy head and thou shalt bruise His heel". This message indicated that God had a plan for our salvation - that a man would one day conquer evil and save mankind from death. It was Jesus' heel that would be bruised (through crucifixion) even as He crushed satan's head (authority/power).
God described to the prophet Isaiah who the Messiah would be and what He would be like, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and He shall rule . . .". He says in another place, "The government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace'. The prophet Daniel spoke about the glorious and powerful Messiah to come saying, 'Behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed'. Also, foretelling His coming to earth with power to judge and destroy, " . . He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked'. The Christ was to be a mighty King who would not only conquer and rule the world - with just a word! - but would do so after crushing all those who opposed Him.
This is the Christ the Jews were expecting and looking for at the time of Jesus' birth. One who would not only rule over Israel, but free it from the domination of Rome, subjugate all other nations and rule over the whole earth. However Jesus, our Savior, was not the Christ the Jews wanted. Jesus came as a poor weak insignificant peasant and, as a result, was rejected by His people.
God described to the prophet Isaiah who the Messiah would be and what He would be like, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and He shall rule . . .". He says in another place, "The government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace'. The prophet Daniel spoke about the glorious and powerful Messiah to come saying, 'Behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed'. Also, foretelling His coming to earth with power to judge and destroy, " . . He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked'. The Christ was to be a mighty King who would not only conquer and rule the world - with just a word! - but would do so after crushing all those who opposed Him.
This is the Christ the Jews were expecting and looking for at the time of Jesus' birth. One who would not only rule over Israel, but free it from the domination of Rome, subjugate all other nations and rule over the whole earth. However Jesus, our Savior, was not the Christ the Jews wanted. Jesus came as a poor weak insignificant peasant and, as a result, was rejected by His people.
This rejection was a disappointment but not a surprise to Jesus. The prophet Isaiah, speaking about how Israel would respond to Jesus, said " . . He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised and we esteemed Him not; we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted'.
The prophet Zechariah spoke of Jesus, the suffering Messiah, as King but not as a conquering or majestic one - ' . . . behold, thy King cometh unto thee; He is just and having salvation; lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass'. Jesus, the King of Israel, on entering Jerusalem, was 'lowly' (humble, gentle, meek), a peasant riding a donkey, surrounded by powerless poor people. He came without any show of power, wealth or political influence. This Messiah, to those expecting a triumphant and glorious Christ . . . was a joke!
Jesus came to conquer and destroy sin, first, and this also was foretold by the prophets. Isaiah said, "Surely He hath borne our griefs . . . He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement that brings us peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed . . . the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all . . . for the transgression of My people was He stricken . . . His soul an offering for sin . . . He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities". Daniel also, foretelling Jesus' life and death, said then " . . . shall the Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself". 'Cut off' means to have one's life cut short - to be killed.
Jesus' sufferings and death crushed the devil, death and sin and secured for us eternal life. The writer of Hebrews said 'We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He, by the grace of God should taste death for every man . . . that through death He might destroy Him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them . . .".
Jesus came to conquer and destroy sin, first, and this also was foretold by the prophets. Isaiah said, "Surely He hath borne our griefs . . . He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement that brings us peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed . . . the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all . . . for the transgression of My people was He stricken . . . His soul an offering for sin . . . He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities". Daniel also, foretelling Jesus' life and death, said then " . . . shall the Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself". 'Cut off' means to have one's life cut short - to be killed.
Jesus' sufferings and death crushed the devil, death and sin and secured for us eternal life. The writer of Hebrews said 'We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He, by the grace of God should taste death for every man . . . that through death He might destroy Him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them . . .".
We know (because of the demands of justice) that if Jesus had come as the conquering Messiah (as the Jews hoped He would) rather than the suffering One first, He would have had no choice but to destroy all of humanity. After all humanity was condemned to death, the consequence of our sins - death was all we deserved. Jesus took the sin away, paying the penalty in His own sufferings. It was only after the Messiah suffered and died to save us that He would later appear as the conquering Messiah to reward the faithful and condemn the wicked (those who refused to welcome God's mercy, purchased by Jesus' death). This is the Messiah we (and the Jews) are still waiting for who will come 'on the clouds of heaven, bringing justice . . .' .
Thus we see that Jesus, though He was the One and only Messiah, came in a way that was different than expected - but for good reason. This lowly, sorrowful, broken man released the great mercy of God in a way that saved everyone but was seemingly hidden under rags. It was hidden because the work was spiritual in nature and the fleshy eyes of man are blind to spiritual things. Thus we know, by faith, we are saved but we don't see, with our eyes, those eternal and glorious bodies or the Kingdom of Heaven.
It is this noble (but humble and hidden), nature of Christ that Francis was talking about when he said: 'Whoever says anything evil to a poor man, insults Christ by it, for the poor man bears the mark of Christ’s nobility, who made Himself poor for us in this world.'
Francis says a 'poor man bears the mark of Christ's nobility'. What is that mark? It is poverty, for Jesus 'made Himself poor for us'. We respect the poor man because Christ chose to be poor in this world - became poor for us. Christ chose to elevate what most consider to be miserable and ugly - that which is poor - into the realm of the profoundly powerful and beautiful. Thus, when we see a poor person we should try (with the eyes of faith) to see the mark of Christ's nobility. That sign, poverty, should point us to Christ.
Thus we see that Jesus, though He was the One and only Messiah, came in a way that was different than expected - but for good reason. This lowly, sorrowful, broken man released the great mercy of God in a way that saved everyone but was seemingly hidden under rags. It was hidden because the work was spiritual in nature and the fleshy eyes of man are blind to spiritual things. Thus we know, by faith, we are saved but we don't see, with our eyes, those eternal and glorious bodies or the Kingdom of Heaven.
It is this noble (but humble and hidden), nature of Christ that Francis was talking about when he said: 'Whoever says anything evil to a poor man, insults Christ by it, for the poor man bears the mark of Christ’s nobility, who made Himself poor for us in this world.'
Francis says a 'poor man bears the mark of Christ's nobility'. What is that mark? It is poverty, for Jesus 'made Himself poor for us'. We respect the poor man because Christ chose to be poor in this world - became poor for us. Christ chose to elevate what most consider to be miserable and ugly - that which is poor - into the realm of the profoundly powerful and beautiful. Thus, when we see a poor person we should try (with the eyes of faith) to see the mark of Christ's nobility. That sign, poverty, should point us to Christ.
Jesus said we would be judged on whether we would see Him and respond to Him in the poor. He talked about the last judgment when He would gather all people together, separating the good from the evil. He addressed the 'good' and said, "When I was hungry, you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you made Me welcome; naked and you clothed Me, sick and you visited Me, in prison and you came to see Me". The righteous reply to His assertions, "When did we do these things for You Lord?" He replied, ". . . in so far as you did this to the least (the poorest/most needy) of these brothers of mine, you did it to Me".
The 'mark of Jesus' nobility' was clear in all of these people that Jesus said the faithful served so lovingly. Those 'marks' included hunger, thirst, nakedness, being a stranger, those who are deathly ill and those convicted and sentenced to prison (criminals).
Jesus, the King, chose to be poor in this world and even now, from heaven, identifies with the poor. Those who curse at, humiliate, despise and ignore the poor, forsaken and forgotten people are ignoring, forsaking, cursing at and despising Christ. Jesus made this absolutely clear - what you do to the poorest/neediest, YOU HAVE DONE TO HIM.
We call ourselves friends and servants of Christ. Jesus said, 'Where I Am, there will My servant be'. Where is Jesus? He was always amongst the poor and still abides in their midst. Where are you?!?! Does Jesus wonder about you as He seeks to help the poor, saying, "He calls himself My servant and friend, swears he wants to always be with Me but . . . where is he?"
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You forsook the wealth, glory and power of heaven, to come to help us poor miserable sinners. You chose to take on the appearance of the most insignificant, most despised and rejected of humanity - to save us from ourselves, our sinful heart and ways. Now, after winning us salvation, You direct our eyes to You in the poor and needy and tell us "As I have done to you, so you must do for each other". Help us to see You in everyone we meet but especially the poor. Help us to love and serve You in everyone we meet, following Your example of love. Help us to despise the wealth, beauty, power and glory of this world and work for, fight for, the true wealth and power kept safe in heaven, goodness and love. We place our hearts and lives in Your hands. Be exalted forever, in us and through us. Amen.
4 comments:
I want to thank you so much for this inspiring post. God bless, Lloyd
Thank you very much brother. I'm glad that it encouraged you. God bless you in your journey of faith. God blessed you with a very joyful smile!
Just found your blog. You are a blessing!!!!!!!!
Brother Tommy, thank you so much for your kind words. You have blessed me and I pray God bless you! Your brother and servant in Christ.
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