Recognizing the Messiah

Have you ever been somewhere, recognized the landmarks, but still have no idea where you're going?

Well, that's me every time I go back "home" to Northern Kentucky to visit.  I lived in the Northern Kentucky area (which is really just a large suburb of Cincinnati) for most of my life.  But eight years ago, I packed up and moved away to pursue ministry opportunities in other parts of Kentucky and Illinois.

Now, when I go back, I routinely have to ask for directions when traveling.  People give me a hard time, since I had lived there so long.  They don't understand how I can forget.  The reality is places change and so do people.  The longer I live elsewhere, the less I remember about the area. 

I can literally drive in parts of Northern Kentucky, recognize the landmarks--the stores, restaurants and parks of my youth--and not really know where I'm at or how to get where I'm going.  I recognize that its familiar, but I don't know fully recognize where I am.

Thus you can sympathize with John the Baptist.  In John 1, John the Baptist clearly states that he didn't know Jesus was the Messiah until AFTER he had baptized him.  He been told to look for a sign--a dove and a loud voice from heaven--which would confirm the identity of the Messiah.

We see clearly in Matthew 3 that John noticed something different about Jesus.  He was hesitant to baptize him.  But according to his own testimony in the book of John, he didn't know for sure until after the signs.  He noticed something familiar but he didn't recognize him for who he was.

Once he did, it changed him forever.  He declares Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  He knew Jesus to be the Messiah.  He even encouraged some his own disciples to leave him and follow after Jesus instead.  He recognized Jesus as both LORD and Savior.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we too must recognize Jesus the same way.  He can't just be our savior.  He can't just be the one who saves us from sin and spares us from punishment.  He has to be our Lord as well.  He must be in complete control over our life and be our king.  Only a king can grant mercy and grace, which is exactly what we need to spared from the punishment of sin.

So do you, like John the Baptist, recognize Jesus as the Lord of your life, or are you only comfortable with him being the savior?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Devotion to a false god

Image
Last week, at Disney World, I went to retrieve our stroller from the stroller parking section.  As I searched among the hundred or so strollers, I finally found mine and started to move it.  As I pulled, it snagged on a woman's garment.  Panicked, I looked up and saw it was a Muslim women in full Muslin dress.  Her body was completely covered.  Only a slit for her eyes was visible.  I was careful not to yank, and I tried to apologize as the hook of the handle caught part of her garment.  She didn't say a word and we both quietly went on our ways. As I walked away, I felt pity on her.  For one, it's Disney World in June in Florida.  I strode along in shorts and a very thin T-shirt.  Both were soaked in sweat.  I had already consumed two bottles of water and still felt weary.  She was dressed head to toe in heavy garments.  I can't imagine how hot she was pushing a stroller with two kids through a mass of people in humid air and on hot pavement. Secondly, she dres
Read more

Time for an examination

Image
For my seminary class on counseling, I had to read a book about anxiety and worry.  In the book, the author, Archibald Hart, made the case that sometimes worry can be good. He gave the example of worrying about an illness - in the case a spot on the skin that could be cancerous.  Since skin cancer is a very real, and deadly, possibility, your worrying about it should spurn you to have it examined.  In that case, it's a healthy form of worrying.  It's more natural concern than worry, even when we dwell on it.  It's our brain's mechanism to check out anomalous things. For me, Matthew 7:21-23 is one of those "spots" you need to worry about.  In the passage, Jesus says many people who drive out demons, preach, teach and do miracles will not gain access into the Kingdom of Heaven.  They'll have all the outward signs of a believer but have no real, genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. That's a very scary proposition.  It addresses those of us who
Read more

Only the Beginning

Image
Death is not the end. What a wonderful thought and phrase. For a Christian, we know that separation at death is only a temporary parting until we see one another in heaven again. More than that, we know that at death, the soul departs the body and enters heaven and the very presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. That became very real to me this week. My Grandpa died. He had been fighting cancer and dementia for many years. The battle took it's toll. He couldn't get out of bed. He hallucinated about people and objects there were not there. His personality changed. As other diseases progressed, he lost his sight. He was a shell of the vibrant person he once was. So when I got the call early Monday morning that he had passed during the night, I wasn't sad. I was relieved. I knew he was in a better place with a new body and a perfect mind in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. He could walk and run and see clearly. He was no longer limited by a body of death. Paul knew
Read more