Sedalia Circuit Pastors’ Conference εκτρωμα
When Christ Jesus our Lord was born of the Virgin, He did not look like the Son of God. He looked like a defenseless child. The angel needed to explain, “*The child will be called… the Son of God*” (Luke 1:35). The preached Word was the only way Mary could recognize God in her arms. When Christ Jesus our Lord presented Himself at the Jordan, He did not look like the Son of God. He looked like just another sinner. John had no idea Jesus is the Christ until a divine promise—with a feathery sign attached to it—floated down out of heaven from God. The Word and its visible element were the only way John could recognize God in the water. I myself did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is He.” And I have seen… this is the Son of God (John 1:33-34). When Christ Jesus our Lord hung expiring upon His cross, He did not look like the Son of God. He looked guilty. When His infant arms and legs were held in place for circumcision, He did not look like the Son of God. He looked easy to cut. When He went down to Nazareth and submitted to His parents, He did not look like the Son of God. He looked like He could be led by the nose. When His mother and brothers came looking for Him, they were not looking for the Son of God. They were looking for their social outcast; their pariah; their misfit. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, He was hungry. Something about our Lord’s appearance allowed his accuser to speak in conditional clauses: “*If You are the Son of God*…” Jesus is also called the Son of David—and aptly so—because David was the last and least of all the possibilities. The Scriptures might want us to think the Lord of Hosts prefers the unlikely candidate for His highest office and His best work among men. A friend once said to me, “The office is full of misfits.” You might remember from middle school that misfits look like easy targets. Even if no one would have called you a misfit before you entered the office, you became one the moment you arrived. Defenseless, indistinct, guilty of sin, easy to manipulate, pariah: I wonder how many other descriptions of our Lord’s outward appearance also describe the office into which you have been called. “*As one from whom men hide their faces*” (Isaiah 53:3). The Misfit of All Misfits faces a looming and dangerous opponent. He does not look like the Son of God. He does not look like a good choice. He looks like an easy target. He looks like He wants something; like He might be open to suggestion. Apply some pressure and He might move. Make the right accusation at the right time, and He might even be knocked out of office by a weapon as flimsy as a teenaged girl. The Misfit only has one hope, one strength, one defense. “*It is written*” will always be all He needs.
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