Hoped-for Deliverer, August 29

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.—Psalm 34:17JNN 255.1

When the Saviour began His ministry, the popular conception of the Messiah and His work was such as wholly unfitted the people to receive Him. The spirit of true devotion had been lost in tradition and ceremonialism, and the prophecies were interpreted at the dictate of proud, world-loving hearts. The Jews looked for the coming One, not as a Saviour from sin, but as a great prince who should bring all nations under the supremacy of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. In vain had John the Baptist, with the heart-searching power of the ancient prophets, called them to repentance. In vain had he, beside the Jordan, pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. God was seeking to direct their minds to Isaiah’s prophecy of the suffering Saviour, but they would not hear.JNN 255.2

Had the teachers and leaders in Israel yielded to His transforming grace, Jesus would have made them His ambassadors among men and women. In Judea first the coming of the kingdom had been proclaimed, and the call to repentance had been given. In the act of driving out the desecrators from the temple at Jerusalem, Jesus had announced Himself as the Messiah—the One who should cleanse the soul from the defilement of sin and make His people a holy temple unto the Lord. But the Jewish leaders would not humble themselves to receive the lowly Teacher from Nazareth. At His second visit to Jerusalem He was arraigned before the Sanhedrin, and fear of the people alone prevented these dignitaries from trying to take His life. Then it was that, leaving Judea, He entered upon His ministry in Galilee.JNN 255.3

His work there had continued some months before the Sermon on the Mount was given. The message He had proclaimed throughout the land, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17), had arrested the attention of all classes, and had still further fanned the flame of their ambitious hopes. The fame of the new Teacher had spread beyond the limits of Palestine, and, notwithstanding the attitude of the hierarchy, the feeling was widespread that this might be the hoped-for Deliverer.—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 1-3.JNN 255.4

Further Reflection: Do I yearn for the day when Jesus will deliver me from the presence of sin?JNN 255.5