Have you ever wondered why every time the Lord Jesus healed someone, he told them not to tell anybody about it?
It was because he wasn’t seeking fame or popularity, and he didn’t want people to flock to him for the wrong reasons.
Yes, he healed people, fed them, comforted them when they were bereaved and even raised the dead back to life.
But these were offshoots of his ministry.
Main mission
His main mission was to seek and save the lost.
"The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10).
He came that we may have abundant life (John 10:10).
This was his ministry, and he didn’t want anything or anybody to disrupt this mission with the wrong expectations.
He was compassionate enough to do good, but he didn’t seek the fame that was associated with his good deeds.
As for fame and popularity, remember how Satan tempted him with celebrity ideas and how he rejected them vehemently?
His calling was not about earthly power or reputation.
Today, many people of God want to be popular, so they direct human traffic to themselves.
To them, popularity and fame equals wealth, power and authority--so they can lord it over others.
Well, our Lord Jesus was different. He didn’t want people he had helped to go about broadcasting his deeds.
Of course, as we know, the people flocked to him nevertheless, some for food and instant miracles.
What Messiah?
There was a reason why the Jewish leaders kept on interrogating Jesus about who he was.
They were expecting a Messiah all right, but what kind of Messiah were they expecting?
Was he that Messiah or was he another kind?
So, by not drawing attention to himself for the wrong reasons, the Lord Jesus wanted to disabuse the minds of the people about the kind of Messiah they wanted him to be.
From ancient days, the Jews looked forward to a militant Messiah who would overthrow the Roman empire and institute a Jewish kingdom.
With their history of slavery and deliverance after 430 years in Egypt, it surprised the Jews that they had not yet become an empire.
Africa is also surprised. How come despite our independence from colonial rule, we are nowhere near being a superpower?
Like the Jews, we are prone to ask: are we really independent?
What kind of saviour do we want to deliver us from this development stagnation and the vicious cycle of deprivation?
Disappointment
Instead of becoming an empire, the Jews suffered one defeat after another in the hands of oppressors, until they were carried into exile.
Upon their return, the Romans colonised and brutalised them.
Then Jesus appeared on the scene healing the sick, feeding the masses, raising the dead, gathering multitudes and talking about a kingdom.
Could he be the anticipated Messiah?
If he was, then he must do something spectacular against their colonial masters, the Romans.
But the Jews were disappointed. Instead of a show-down with the colonial masters, he was treating them with kids’ gloves.
Instead of a fight, he was preaching reconciliation, even paying taxes to them!
Instead of a Rambo-style coup d’etat against the Romans to establish a Jewish empire, Jesus was talking about a heavenly kingdom where people would spend eternity with God.
Instead of vengeance and reprisals against their enemies, this Messiah was propagating forgiveness, love and peace.
What kind of Messiah was that?
No show-down!
The show-down in the temple, where he drove out the money-changers and business people for turning his Father’s house into a den of robbers, portrayed him as a different Messiah.
His criticism of the Jewish leaders’ hypocrisy and the evil behaviour of ordinary citizens were directed at the core of the human problem; namely sin—the small word with a huge problem.
Therefore, it was sin, not the Romans, who had colonised them. Humanity’s inclination towards sin, with its associated guilt and shame, is global.
Coup d’etats, electioneering campaigns against political opponents and the blame game associated with them all point to the sin of humanity as the culprit.
True freedom
After experiencing military coup d’etats and election victories in this country, we now know that none of them is able to deal with corruption, immorality, blood-shed, pride, hatred, vengeance, jealousy, disunity and the vices that weaken a nation.
The problem with humanity is our sin-infested heart.
One author said, “Through the fallen human family, sin permeates the social order, alienating persons from God, from one another, from themselves and the rest of creation.”
True freedom comes from being delivered from sin’s persistent influence on humanity.
“So, if the Son of God sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 3:36).
Therefore, the most effective coup d’etat is the one staged against our sinful nature.
The writer is a publisher, author, writer-trainer and CEO of Step Publishers.
E-mail: lawrence.darmani@gmail.com
