The people of God are to be distinctive. We are to stand out and no one likes to stand
out and be different. The ruler,
however, was in Greece, and he decreed that no one was to be different. Many in Israel just folded into society and
embraced pop culture and secular religion.
They went along with the prevailing morals and ethics and enjoyed the
freedom and prosperity. The king was
only going to be satisfied when there was no more of the Jewish religion. There would be no king but him in the
realm. The temple was defiled with a “desolating
sacrilege “on the altar of burnt offering.
The king would only accept complete subservience to himself, any who
failed to comply and continued to practice their faith and live according to
God’s precepts were killed. In just this
last century we have seen in Germany the same cruelty to the Jews, the absolute
hatred of them that drove the Nazis to want a final solution. God’s covenant people must always be aware
that the world hates them.
Jesus’ first question to the disciples is who do others say
He is. There are many opinions about
Him, that He is John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets of
old. Do they believe in re-incarnation
in Israel? Elijah is the only one of the
bunch who makes any sense as an option since the others died and also did no
miraculous signs. The second question
gets to the heart of the matter, is your opinion the same as theirs, are you
allowing the world to form your opinion. Peter’s answer is spot-on, “You are
the Christ, the Son of the living God and for that answer he receives the
highest commendation. You haven’t
listened to the world, you have listened to the Father who revealed this
truth. Now that the truth has been
revealed to them, Jesus asks that they conceal it. As we will soon see, the reason for that is that
His mission is not at one with the expectations of the world. If the “men” of His first question are told Jesus
is Messiah, they will act in accord with what they believe about Messiah and
this will be wrong, it will force the question before its time.
Ultimately, the kings and lords of earth will learn that
they are not the be all, end all. John sees
heaven opened, all revealed, and the faithful and true rider on the white horse
appears, prepared to come in judgment.
The robe is sprinkled in blood, He has been consecrated as the original
priests were consecrated, as the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat of God, is
consecrated. The final judgment has come,
the Word of God by name. The
inscriptions King of kings and Lord of lords is the declaration of His sovereignty
and in that declaration is the declaration of war on all pretenders to the throne. As in the days of the Maccabees, it may have
looked like someone else was on the throne and all was lost, but, finally, the
Lord comes to rescue and judge.
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