Messiah - 5 October 2007

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he." John 4:23-26
But it took a while for the promised Messiah to turn up. I suppose at first everyone was looking all the time but as the years went by enthusiasm dwindled and as the Promised Land was freed, then occupied again most people sort of gave up thinking in real terms about a Messiah.
I have been hearing for over thirty years how we are in the last days and Jesus is coming back soon. But when I hear this message preached there is a part of me that finds it hard to take on board even though I know it to be true and scriptural.
Of course those who were looking were probably looking in the wrong place, expecting the coming King to be born into a palace, not a stable and to be a conquering King like David not an itinerant preacher from Galillee. They certainly would not have expected this Messiah to allow himself to be crucified.
Sometimes we wait a long time for God’s promises to be revealed in our lives and sometimes when they are, they are not what we expect. Our prayers for the recovery of a sick loved one can be answered by a glorious and peaceful passage into the arms of Jesus. Sometimes God’s perspective of what we need is different from our own and it is only in hindsight that we see His hand in our lives.
One thing we can expect is that He will come, as Jesus did, in humility, in healing, speaking the truth in words that we can understand and that He will in real terms save us from what we are and transform our lives.
The danger we face is that we do not recognise Him as His own people did not. That sometimes we can miss Him because he is disguised as a stranger, a prisoner, one who hungers or thirsts or suffers. We expect Him to chose the righteous, the upright, the respectable but He seems to prefer the tax collectors and sinners. Not everyone follows Him and it is not always easy but those who do find eternal life.
The wheel of faith has come full circle, once more it is about God’s relationship with an individual, but this time it is you or me. Where will you find Christ in your life today?