Your Jesus

We read throughout the new testament, from John's ministry to Paul's missionary journeys, how the Jews continually rejected Jesus as their Messiah and His message of the gospel. They were so sure Jesus wasn't the one because to them, He didn't fit the bill. They had their own picture of the Messiah painted in their mind. Honestly, their picture was very reasonable. It had been painted by centuries of prophecies of a great deliverance of Israel.

In Zechariah 9, we see

"9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River[b] to the ends of the earth. 11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. 13 I will bend Judah as I bend my bow and fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword. The Lord Will Appear 14 Then the Lord will appear over them; his arrow will flash like lightning. The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet; he will march in the storms of the south, 15 and the Lord Almighty will shield them. They will destroy and overcome with slingstones. They will drink and roar as with wine; they will be full like a bowl used for sprinkling[c] the corners of the altar. 16 The Lord their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. 17 How attractive and beautiful they will be! Grain will make the young men thrive, and new wine the young women."

Numbers 24:17,19:

“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel . . . a ruler will come out of Jacob . . .”

There are many more prophesies littering the Old Testament that take on a similar tone, so it wasn't a far-fetched idea for them to think the Messiah would free them from Roman rule. The problem was that although they got part of it, they couldn't see the full picture. They couldn't see Isaiah's prophecies in chapter 53. They were so focused on the Messiah they wanted that they couldn't recognize the Messiah God sent.

As a Christian today, it's easy to look back on the stories in the bible of the Israelites and think of them as stupid or hypocritical because hindsight is always 20/20. However, we too do the same thing. Many of us create the God we want to worship, not the one who is actually the king of the universe. We want the God that agrees with everything we do and gives us everything we want, and that's who we worship and pray to. If we're being honest, a lot of us that claim to be saved don't actually know the gospel.

It might do you good to spend some time in God's word, just you and the Holy Spirit, no one else. Read and understand who God is, what He stands for, what He wants you to stand for, and honestly evaluate if that has been the blueprint for your life, or something else.

Don't be so blinded by your own Jesus that you reject the real Jesus.

Peace and love of Christ be with you all!