THE GOD-MAN, HIS INAUGURATION

Thrirty years of obscurity, His apprenticeship accomplished, Jesus, the God-man, tested and equipped, steps into His ministry. What would be His topic, His focus, the first words of His new venture, His message to His people?

“Look at me! I have arrived! I am the Son of God! I’m here to rescue you! Listen to me! It’s all about me! Me…me…me…!” Was this His mission, to present Himself as the answer to their hopes and dreams?

Yes, and no! His ultimate purpose was to draw His people to faith in Himself as God’s provision for their deliverance, not from Rome but from their greater enslavement, sin. However, He did it, not by calling attention first, to Himself, not in the way we would have done it.

Jesus, the God-man, came from God, sent by the Father, to conduct the Father’s business on earth as a true Son. Check His first recorded words as a twelve-year-old…

Luke 2:49 NIV
[49] “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

The original Greek is obscure but does not include the word “house”. The word, “en”, translated “in”, can mean “about”, depending on the context. I think a better translation would be, “about my Father”, implying that He was about the Father’s business rather than the temple, mistranslated “the Father’s house”.

The Father sent the Son to do His (the Father’s) business, therefore, it was fitting that the Son’s first public statement would be about the kingdom because the kingdom was the Father’s business.

What would have been the people’s reaction had He announced Himself rather than the kingdom as His first public statement? Would they have believed the words of an unknown Galilean peasant? He had done nothing yet to present His credentials. What was the expectation of the people? They wanted a deliverer who would rescue them from Roman occupation and set up the rule of God as it was under David. How could they know that He was the one?

In one sentence, the God-man uttered a summary of His mission, yes, centred in Himself, the ultimate prize, heaven and earth united under God’s sovereign rule.

Matthew 4:17 NIV
[17] “From that time on, Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

The disciples’ question, shortly before Jesus returned to heaven, shows where their thoughts were, despite their years with Him.

Acts 1:6 NIV
[6] “Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”…

For Jesus, it would take years of living, patient teaching and demonstration, to convince His people that He was the Son of God, and that God’s kingdom was being restored on earth and that He, the God-man, was His appointed and anointed king over that realm and the Father’s way to back to Him.

Although He came as king, the God-man had only one lone herald to announce His arrival. No entourage, no trumpets, no fanfare, no pomp and ceremony, no royal trappings! Centuries before, the prophet spoke of a single person who would go before His servant, to tell His people that the king had come. How would they identify him this herald?

Isaiah 40:3-5 NLT
[3] Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! [4] Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. [5] Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!”

A lone voice crying! Not the man, but his message, would attract their attention. John, God’s appointed herald, was the man.

Isaiah 40:3-5 NLT
[3] Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! [4] Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. [5] Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!”

John was the vehicle and the voice, a strange man, an only son, born of aging parents, living as a hermit in the wilderness, eating off the land and dressing in animal skins… not the usual kind of person chosen to herald the coming of a king!

It was his message, not strange, only riveting! “Wake up, people! God’s kingdom has finally come. If you want to be part of it, prepare to change,” that attracted attention. His message was not only riveting but different, not “Clean your houses,” but “Clean your hearts!”, for cleansed hearts would be the realm in which this king would reign.

This kingdom did not require a royal residence for its king, nor did it need a trained and equipped staff to run its affairs. This kingdom would be within the hearts and revealed in the lives of those who who were its citizens by faith.

The words of Jesus announcing the arrival of this kingdom echoed John’s words…

Matthew 3:1-2 t John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, [2] “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

…tying herald and king together into one intention, one focus, not the men but their message. John was nothing but a voice. Jesus was nothing but a servant of the message…and yet, as the story unfolded, Jesus and His message became one. He was messenger and message.

Slowly, as the weeks passed, the ministry of the herald faded, and eventually died with him. After only six months, his work was done. He had earned his stripes, the accolades of the one whose arrival he had announced.

Matthew 11:11 NLT
[11] “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!”

Yet, John, the last of the dispensation of the Old Covenant prophets, was only the bridge, the greatest of the Old in his own right but yet, never as great as the lowliest of the New. He had to move on to make room for the chief player on the stage of history.

Jesus, the God-man, now unrivalled and alone, was left to fulfil the ministry His herald had announced, to prove to the world He was the worthy, sovereign ruler of God’s kingdom. He would be enthroned on a cross, crowned with thorns, garbed in a robe of His own blood, dead and buried in a borrowed tomb, only to rise in glory to take His rightful place as King of kings and Lord of lords.

To be continued…