Today’s Scripture Reading (December
25, 2019): 2 Kings 13
It
wasn’t supposed to be this way. All of the prophecies, all of the hopes of the
people, combined into one thought. Someday, maybe soon, the Messiah will come.
This messenger sent from God would come in power, and he would shake the very foundations
of the world. Of his era there would be no end. His fame would stretch from one
end of the world to the other. And the rulers, especially those who dared to
come against God’s chosen people, would shake with fear. And his kingdom would
reign forever. And some believers in God are still waiting for the Messiah to
come. For this person of power and fame
to set the world once again right. Waiting with hope that today might be the
day that God would force a stop and make things the way that they were always
intended to be.
There
is another truth. It is the one that we know and proclaim on this day. The
Messiah has come. He came into the world, not as a mighty warrior sent from
heaven, but as a child born in weakness. His origins are that, while the child
was a descendant of David, he was born into an unknown family far from the
places of power. And instead of a cradle in a palace, the first place where he
laid his head was a manger in cold cave, a place where the animals were driven
to shield them from the elements. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
There
had been hints along the way that maybe it would be this way. The “Suffering
Servant Passages” of Isaiah indicated the coming of a different kind of
Messiah. And then there was the deliverer in this passage. Maybe we could call
him (or perhaps even her) a mini-Messiah. He wasn’t the one who was promised,
but he was sent at time when Israel needed to be delivered. At a moment in time
when the people of Israel were being oppressed by the King of Aram, an area
that occupied part of modern-day Syria, including the city of Damascus,
Jehoahaz, the King of Israel, cried out to God for help. And God sent someone
who set everything right once again, and the people were able to return to
their homes without fear. But we don’t even know his or her name. Just that it
happened.
Today
we celebrate the birth of someone who was just as much an unknown as the
deliverer of Israel was during the time of Jehoahaz. Except that we know his
name. He is Jesus, who was born in a cave among the animals to an anonymous
couple, who grew up to become a miracle worker who taught us about his Father
in Heaven, and who died the death of a criminal to set us free form the sins
that we have committed. We are no longer waiting. The Messiah has come, even if
it wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2
Kings 14
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