The prophet has a word for Assyria as well. This nation will be the one used by the Lord
to execute His judgment against Israel but He has no covenant with that
people. Once they have served His purpose
He will destroy them as well, but they will not return. He will do so as the avenger of His people,
He remains " the light of Israel."
The Assyrians are arrogant and proud, believing that their strength has
won them this victory, believing that they set boundaries and rule over the
world when in truth it is the Lord God of hosts who has worked through them to
accomplish His will. They will get their
own demonstration of His power when wasting sickness strikes their warriors and
fire consumes their kingdom and there are so few trees left in the forest that
a child can count them.
John sends messengers to Jesus to ask if He is Messiah. Is John doubting this now that he is in
prison? Has his own situation caused him
to wonder if his life was an error? We just
don't know. Older commentaries suggest
John sent these messengers for their own benefit, to see for themselves Jesus'
works, to get them to become Jesus' disciples.
I wonder, though, if that is right since Jesus' reply so pointedly
leaves out the setting free of prisoners from the messianic works. The one thing John perhaps needs, comfort
that he will not languish in prison, is not mentioned in Jesus' list of His
works, but do the works done for others point to His identity. If Jesus does not do the one thing you need,
is He no longer counted as Messiah?
Jesus affirms John's ministry and message and calls us to stand strong
against the violent ones who would take the kingdom by force, the ones who
killed the prophets and who will soon crucify Him.
We can indeed become enslaved to sin and believe that
instead we have power and control. That happens
when we redefine sin to suit our passions and desires. That can be sexual desire or it can be greed
or some other motive. We are called to
discipline our desires and passions to the Word of God, not the other way round
as we see today. How do we define
ourselves? What is the "I"
that exists? The call of God on our
lives is to deny self, take up our cross and follow Jesus. We are to recognize Him as creator and Lord
of our lives. Our lives are not our own,
do they belong to sin or to God, that is the question to be answered.
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