Bridging the Gap

(...continued from part one...) 

What the people did not know was that their long-awaited Messiah had also been waiting! He was alive and well, living in quiet anonymity in the unlikely town of Nazareth.

Imagine how Jesus must have felt when he arrived at the Jordan, saw the crowds of mostly sincere souls, and heard John yell out, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him” (Luke 3:4). In response, most of us would have exploded with tearful emotion, “HERE I AM. I HAVE FINALLY COME. GOD SENT ME TO BRING YOU NEW LIFE!”

 But not Jesus. Instead, he calmly navigated his way through the people and waded into the Jordan toward John. And all the people gasped and thought, There he is! There’s our long-awaited Messiah! Doubtful. My guess is that they were all thinking, There’s one more repentant sinner. I think that makes at least fifty-two today.

No parade. No drum roll. Not even an explanation. Jesus allowed himself to be thought of as a sinner. Only John knew the truth about the sinless One standing before him:

But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. (Matthew 3:14–15)

How could he do that? Especially after waiting for decades in anonymity, how could he not immediately let the people know who he really was and all that was in his heart?

Jesus’ anonymous season had prepared him for this moment. The choices he made in the Jordan River are reflections of choices he had been making before the Jordan River. Something in surrendering to hiddenness strengthened Jesus to not make a name for himself, to not be his own PR person. Something in embracing that prolonged season of obscurity enabled him to appear to be less in order to be able to do more.

Hidden years, when heeded, empower a soul to patiently trust God with their press releases. All that waiting actually grants us the strength to wait a little longer and not rush God’s plans for our lives.

From anonymous: Jesus' hidden years... and yours
© Alicia Britt Chole

• Series 1