Is Jesus Coming To Celebrate Or To Conquer?
Good Morning Friends,
I am not saying that Jesus was a party crasher, but few expected him to show up for the Passover Feast. Those in power wanted to kill him as a sacrifice to forestall the wrath of the Romans. Some people believed him to be the Messiah having seen Lazarus raised from the dead. Regardless, Jesus showing up for the Passover Feast would be nothing less than an act of going into the heart of the enemy camp. This would be a pretty bold move. But most did not understand what Jesus was doing. You see, Jesus wanted to prompt people to decide how they were going to live, whether they were going to live in abundance or in the lies of fear. Jerusalem was the best place to make the biggest impact in this Kingdom agenda. And the feast day coming would be the best time as well. However this reason for his presence is not clear to everyone. Is Jesus Coming To Celebrate Or To Conquer?
Scripture: then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes. They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their children’s children shall live there forever; and my servant David shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations shall know that I the Lord sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is among them forevermore.
Ezekiel 37:21-28 (NRSV)
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples. Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?”
John 11:45-56 (NRSV)
Message: The stage is being set in our Gospel verses today as the drama moves toward a climax in the next week. There will be opposition, sorrow, suffering, deceit, courage, passion and more. And the setting is the powerful uniting of people during the Passover. But people are confused about Jesus’ intent. Thankfully we get a clue at what Jesus was aiming for in Ezekiel 37. It is a picture of people who have an intimate love relationship with God. They are permanently in His presence, knowing Him better day by day and worshipping Him constantly. Fortunately for us, we do not have to wait for the return of Jesus, or experience the feast days (though it would not hurt) to gain that same kind of relationship. You see Jesus comes three times. He came in the flesh. He comes to conquer our hearts through the Spirit and will come a third time to rule. We have the Word. We have prayer. We have collective worship of the called-out body of believers who can encourage us in our relationship with the Divine. The stage is set. Prepare yourself. The greatest event in all of history is about to occur in the storyline. The love of God in sending His Son to save us is coming into focus. So indeed, Jesus is coming to both celebrate and to conquer, but not in the way expected. The scene is set for Jesus to give his life for the world. And we are called to follow in his footsteps of love.
Pray we believe that Jesus not only has power over our decaying bodies and the ability to forgive sin, but can call us to life as well. Pray Jesus conquer our hearts. Pray we celebrate life in abundance. Pray we worship in the Spirit until Jesus returns to rule. Pray we understand the biblical context of the festivals. Pray we see the work of Jesus Christ in harvesting human beings into the Kingdom of God.
Pray we embrace this God-given annual reminder of Christ’s role in securing redemption and salvation for all humanity. Pray we take, eat and drink deep in the connection between the coming festivals and the new covenant in Christ as the very elements of the Passover, the Holy Spirit power of Pentecost and our very salvation.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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