When he saw the crowd, he had compassion on them….! What a response! But it describes the love that Jesus had for the lost in the world. The quote above comes from Matthew 9:36 (NIV) Jesus is being …Jesus! He is traveling throughout towns and villages teaching about salvation, the Kingdom of God and healing people along the way. One could make the argument, that the miracles and healings were a great “Hook” to get the attention of the crowds. Those with a marketing background would agree that Jesus knew how to capture the attention of the crowd. Just imagine what would happen if someone came to town today and went from street corner to street corner, healing the lame, the deaf, and the blind. There would be chaos in the streets. People would travel from any distance to see and be in the presence of this person. That person would become famous instantly! In no time would have a manager, marketing team, and would figure out how to use this gift to become one of the wealthiest men on the earth. No doubt anything they wanted they would have! Now mankind has not changed much since the days that Jesus walked on the earth, true we know more, have more and have made amazing advancements in education, knowledge, technology and industry but the character of man has changed little. In Galatians 5, Paul talks about the fruits of the spirit and the sinful nature. All we must do is read down through that list and we realize that we are guilty of the same flaws that plagued the church over 2000 years ago. We can even go back further to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as recorded in Genesis 18. Or even further to the very first sin that took place when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and realize that the character of man has not changed.
So what happened? Why would we accept and embrace a person who performs miracles, yet the contemporaries of Jesus rejected Him? I think the answer in part can be found in Matthew 3 and 4. In chapter 3, Jesus is baptized by John and the heavens open, the Spirit of God descends on Jesus and God says, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” (3:17 NIV) What follows in Matthew 4 is a trial by fire for Jesus. He goes into the wilderness for a 40 day fast. It is then that we discover something amazing about Jesus as Satan comes to tempt Him. First satan challenges his identity when he said to Jesus, “If”! This was an amazing attempt to get Jesus to fall. He has not eaten for 40 days, has already turned water into wine and turning stones into bread would be as simple as wishing for it. Jesus refuses to give in and satan tries again. This time, satan takes Jesus to the holy city at the very highest point in the temple and says “If” you are the son of God, jump and have the angels catch you! Again, Jesus knew that if he wanted, he could jump and would not need a single angel. He could fly, float, or simple disappear and reappear on the ground, but He refused to jump. Finally, satan takes Jesus to a very high mountain and says everything you see can be yours, I’ll leave and never cause any trouble again, you will have your kingdom and you will be loved, admired, the richest man in all the world. All you have to do is bow down and worship me. At first reading we think, how ridiculous, this was not even a temptation for Jesus but I think that is a bit simplistic. In fact I believe it could very well have been the most difficult temptation for Jesus. Bowing to satan would have meant no cross, crucifixion, or death. If Jesus had bowed to satan, the world would have loved Jesus, elevated him as a king and loved him as long as they lived. Jesus refused however and said, “Away from me, satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only!”
So why? Why didn’t Jesus take the offer? Why didn’t he jump on this chance to become the most famous, wealthy and loved man in the entire world? The answer can be best summed up with the words found in John 3:16. He loved us to much! With Jesus, it was never about Him, it was always about us. Jesus could have been famous, wealthy, an earthly king. He could have ruled on this earth, and every man woman and child would have loved him, served him, and lived their entire life for him, but in the end we would die. Without His sacrifice, our death would be the end of our relationship with Jesus and we would be separated from Jesus for eternity! Jesus has always had one desire and that is to spend eternity with us. The only way that was possible was for him to be the perfect son, the spotless lamb. Sin entered this world and destroyed our relationship with God. The only way to repair what man destroyed was for Jesus to pay the price for our sins. Jesus loves us so much that he had no choice but to die for us. He loves us so much that he was and is still willing to endure the scorn, the hatred, the betrayal, the cruelty, beatings, and death in hopes that we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. He could have, and in the minds of the worldly, maybe he should have used what he had to serve himself, but He choice us instead!
I am so very thankful that Jesus chose me!
~Mike
