Servant

Rejection and Suffering

/ David R Maas / Leave a comment

To be the Messiah of Israel meant suffering and death for others, and Jesus summoned his disciples to follow that same path – Mark 8:31.

Jesus explained what it meant to be Israel’s Messiah and the Son of God as his entourage approached Jerusalem, suffering and death. This was contrary to popular expectations, including those of his closest disciples. He also summoned anyone who wished to follow him to take up his cross and emulate his example. Failure to do so would result in shame before the Lord of Glory.

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His Kingdom

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Jesus arrived in Galilee proclaiming the “Kingdom of God” – “Repent, for the kingdom is at hand.” In his ministry, the reign of God was invading the Earth, but his realm was of a different nature than the governments and ideologies of this fallen world, and on more than one occasion, Jesus refused political power, especially when it was offered by Satan.

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Unexpected, Rejected, Crucified

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The Son of Man is revealed and comprehended in his sufferings and self-sacrificial death for others, including his enemies. 

This theme is found several times in the Gospel of Mark, namely, the inability of men to recognize Jesus as the Son of God until AFTER his crucifixion and resurrection, and most paradoxically, the first man to identify him as the “Son of God” was the Roman centurion on duty at his execution. His self-identification as the suffering “Son of Man” made him unrecognizable and distasteful to unregenerate men. He was the kind of Messiah no one expected or wanted.

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The Anointed Servant

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In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus first appears when he is baptized by John in the River Jordan. The passage identifies him with his hometown of Nazareth, a small village of no consequence, though its very insignificance plays an important part in the larger narrative. Jesus is the Messiah who does not fit popular expectations even as he is anointed by the Spirit of God in fulfillment of Scripture, a role he fulfills as the Servant of Yahweh.

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His Path

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Jesus proclaimed a new political reality, the Kingdom of God, one that bears little resemblance to the political systems of this age.

The Nazarene appeared in Galilee and began to proclaim the Kingdom of God – “Repent, for the kingdom is at hand.” In his ministry, the reign of God began to invade the Earth in earnest. However, this realm was and is of an entirely different nature than the political systems of the nations. Moreover, on more than one occasion, the Messiah of Israel refused to embrace the kind of power that dominates the governments and ideologies of this fallen age.

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