The story of Jesus saturates the meta-narrative of the Bible. One scholar, J. Barton Payne, has found as many as 574 verses in the Old Testament that somehow point to or describe or reference the coming Messiah. Alfred Edersheim found 456 Old Testament verses referring to the Messiah or His times. Conservatively, Jesus fulfilled at least 300 prophecies in His earthly ministry. The pharisees and the priests did realize that Jesus was the fulfilment to all the prophecies concerning Messiah but unwilling to accept Him so. The Sanhedrin, Pharisees, Sadducees, the scribes were operating in a religious institution setup where they were holding tremendous authority and position in the society. But when they found a large crowd following Jesus and accepting Him as Messiah, they were afraid the religious institutions and synagogues will no more be revered, and they will lose their ground. Their fear is portrayed in their remarks which says, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!” John 12:19.
Let me highlight some of the mistaken assumption of the disciples, Pharisees, the crowd, the Roman governors regarding Jesus’ agenda:
- To overthrow the Roman kingdom and establish His own Kingdom and restoring the kingdom to Israel.
- Hold on to equal or more power than the government,
- To be the king of the Jews,
- To establish a clear divide between Jew and the gentiles
- To approve and establish the temple concept,
- To build a tent and a shrine for Jesus (In the mount of transfiguration)
- To cater to the largest crowd.
Assumption 1: Overthrow the Roman Kingdom and Restoring the kingdom to Israel:
The disciples assumed that He will at some point overthrow the Roman government and establish a new government. To a larger extent, Judas thought so. And why would he not? He was managing the finance, and he would have soon realized that there is a good portion of power and authority attached to it. Hence, he mistook all of Jesus’ deliberation which included feeding a big crowd, healing all types of sickness, challenging the government, and law enforcement as gaining power to overthrow the government and becoming the king. Even though Jesus demonstrated servant leadership by washing the feet of the disciples, some were subconsciously always expecting that he would restore the kingdom. After the resurrection when Jesus was about to be ascended the disciples at the final moment clarify it. ‘Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”’ Acts 1:6. Jesus had said lot about His second return and restoring the kingdom, but they mixed this with the present time. And that is why we see Jesus responded by saying “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” Acts 1:7. And then, Jesus gives them the supplementary commission in verse 8 of Acts 1, “You will be my witnesses”. We are still getting it wrong; don’t you think so? Today it is all about establishing our own jurisdiction, little kingdom for Churches and Christian Organizations. Disagree with me if it is not the case. Denominational powers, positions, dynasty are so evident in Christendom, making it similar like any other religious bodies existing.
Assumption 2: To be King of the Jews:
The people mistook Jesus’ agenda like others. Seeing Him feeding the big crowd of more than 10,000 people at one time with just a handful of meal of the little boy. The crowd was trying to take Jesus by force and crown Him to be the king. The reaction of Jesus is recorded in John 6:15 “Therefore when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him King, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”. Today we don’t have a dearth of Christian celebrities whose sole moto is to make their followers worship them as heroes. When Jesus knew the intention of people he slipped away from the crowd. But celebrity pastors / leaders today ensure a coronation ceremony is prepared every time to be heard and known for a larger crowd, nationally and internationally.
Assumption 3: To establish his own nation:
Pilate the governor thought too, that Jesus is the leader of the Jewish Nation. During the trail He said “Your own nation and the chief priests handed over to me. What have you done? Jesus had to immediately clarify by saying “My kingdom is not of this world.” John 18:35-36. It would have been shocking for Pilate to hear what Jesus responded. Probably the Roman government have heard a lot of Jesus going to be the king. Even the riding on the donkey which generally indicates the trait of one becoming a king. But what he would have failed to understand is when Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of the world,” that it is not for now.
Assumption 4: To be a powerful team:
The disciples when soon realized that Jesus had tremendous power to heal any sickness and cast demons, wanted to be identified as a powerful team. They probably believed Jesus will endorse exercising their power at any situation at any given point. In one instance when they enter a Samaritan village it says they did not receive Him. Immediately James and John say, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” John 9:54. There are so much undue powers exercised by Churches and Christian organization that only feeds their agenda. Mega Churches pastors/leadership team are like gods and demi-gods. Such Churches/organizations, pastors and leaders have become become brands. People are made to feel that they lose if they don’t make it on Sunday. And this has only widened the gap more between the clergy and laity, Missions and responsibility.
Assumption 5: To keep racial and multicultural distinction:
While the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Scribes believed to keep the divide between Jew and the non-Jew, Jesus breaks it by going to the Samaritans and sharing the good news of the Kingdom. He broke anything that would bring a divide between any groups of people who were downcast and poor. How is the situation today? Are we still not divided by caste, race, culture and then superficially display feigned love to the world? In the book of James, he addresses on the sin of division. James 2:2-7, “If someone come into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes…”, how do we treat them in comparison to the normal person visiting the fellowship. The attention and focus immediately falls on such group. They soon will be consulted for every decision in the Church. They become the voice in the group. These are not just happening subtly, but outrightly. We boast about them and exalt them Sunday after Sunday because they happen to be the prime source of income.
Assumption 6: To approve and establish the temple concept:
The temple dignitaries were not happy because Jesus was rebuking them on the superficialities, meaningless rituals, on observing laws, obligations and on the concept of Sabbath. They were holding the synagogue as private membership for the Jews who abide by the laws and do not question them. We see a man in the Bible in John Chapter 9, who was born blind and was healed by Jesus. But when the parents were interrogated by the temple priests and leaders. They were not willing to take a stand and endorse how their son was healed because it is recorded that they were scared they will be thrown out of the synagogue. Jesus was not the one to approve the institution which was soon turning to be a business and power center. Jesus soon predicted the demolition of the temple which happened in AD 70. If you still believe that Sunday meeting place is the holy sanctuary and is the Church, then you have miserably failed in your understanding of Church. I have addressed this in many of my previous blogs, the true concept of Church. Christ never meant the building facility to be the Church. The grandest temple was running parallel while Jesus the Lord of the temple was in their midst. Therefore, before the end of His time on this earth, He predicted the demolition of the greatest temple. Meeting together is not wrong at all. But when the purpose of meeting is not met, then there is a problem. How is the Church body carrying out Christ’s mission today? Churches exist for themselves for Christians alone. We are deaf and dumb to the crying world.
Assumption 7: Establish a mega Church Model:
Jesus was always moving from one place to another. He went through the village, towns, and cities to share the good news. Study shows that Jesus visited close to 175 towns and villages of Galilee. He never meant to institutionalize Church and generate funds and then connect to the Mission. It was the other way around. When we see in Mark 1: 35-36 Jesus was in a deserted place praying and the disciples find Him and inform Him that the crowd is waiting for Him. The disciples assumed Jesus would prefer to address a crowd from where He is and continue with the follow up meetings like what we have on Sundays. But Jesus had to immediately abandon the idea of staying there and wanted to go to a different place where they are yet to hear the good news. We assume staying in one place where opportunity opens to build a structure in spaces and call it a Church. Hence, many Churches are doing a life coaching program without equipping their congregation to get out of the comfort zone, be a Church, and include the people in their empty space.
These are some of the mistaken agendas we follow and settle with a new religion calling it Christianity. Money, power, fame, building a kingdom, income generation programs have become the underlying agenda in Christendom sadly. The actual gospel is manipulated and muddled by the so-called Christian giants who have made the mission their profit and Church an income generation coaching center. It is time to repent and realign our agenda with Christ’s agenda. Jesus’ coming to this earth is to seek and save the lost. Unless all our initiatives are aligned to this, we are doomed and waiting for God’s wrath to descend upon us. Today our priorities have completely shifted. We are no more a witness for the gospel, but just settled with the Christian name. If you have not reached someone with the gospel and lead someone to Christ in your lifetime, then it is time to check your Christian faith. If your Church is not missional then it is going towards a slow death.
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