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By John Nkenchor
His appearance on earth took the people of His world by surprise. To them, He appeared on the scene suddenly. To those who were spiritual and ready, it was not sudden; only they were painfully small. Today, we are surprised, flabbergasted that a spiritual Being came down to dwell with man. And we see and feel His presence, even though He is not physically present.
As a baby, He was taken to the temple unannounced. The angels accompanied the two recipients of God’s glory to Him. The meeting was significant; they had waited for a long time for the Messiah—a holy man and woman. Filled with great joy and life fulfilment, they gave thanks and praises to God Almighty for granting them the grace to behold the Messiah.
Simeon was the first to see Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he found the infant Jesus with Mary and Joseph. He uttered words as dictated by the Holy Spirit. His words were frightening, first for himself, he being filled with the Holy Spirit and in a worshipful mood. He kind of told the Lord, “I have seen it all. Here is the Messiah before me. Through Your grace I have carried Him, felt Him. There is no other thing to delay my departure.” He spoke of the Holy Infant’s mission and the heartbreak that awaited the Holy Mother.
Prophetess Anna, a woman who fasted all the days of her life waiting for the majestic manifestation of the Messiah, appeared the same hour to give glory to God. In all these spiritual exercises, men in long robes who ruled and pontificated daily in the temple of God noticed nothing.
Before the temple meeting of the children of God, the Angel had appeared to the wise men and joyfully moved to the shepherds. Their appearance dazzled and instilled fear in them. See how the Bible book of Luke rendered a portion of what happened:
Luke 2:13 – “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying: “Luke 2:14 – “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will.”
The men, completely overwhelmed, probably feeling inferior and sinful to witness such a great sight and phenomenon, scrambled to their feet and raced to where the Messiah was laid. All this while, highly respected spiritual leaders were cut off. They were in deep slumber. These leaders prayed and mourned because of the fate that had befallen Israel. God promised them a Messiah, not for them alone, but for the whole world. Their immediate desire was to break the shackles of the Roman Empire.
They saw John the Baptist. They questioned him to see if he fitted the bill. John confessed that he was not the Messiah, that the Messiah was present in their midst. “This Man cannot be measured or compared with any living or dead person throughout history. His immense, spiritual, towering personality cannot ordinarily be seen or imagined, but He is the One; meek and lowly.” After several attempts to get more information about the Messiah failed, they let him go. They began calling him names.
Meanwhile, the Messiah appeared, a full-grown adult, meek, full of love and feelings for others, lifting their burdens, taking their sorrows, fraternising with ordinary folk. He moved from place to place, full of compassion for the people. Another phenomenon about Him was His Word, for the Word of God came alive. His hearers confessed of never seeing it that way. His Word was full of grace, a soothing balm that settled everything. He was everything to everybody. Presently, He is everything to everybody. And He will be for evermore.
He walked into a synagogue meekly. His kinfolk observed Him, not knowing how to handle Him or place Him. The power oozing out of Him was radiating all over. They were speaking to each other loudly with their glances. “Is this not Mary’s son? Is he not the carpenter? The carpenter’s son? Jesus of Nazareth?” Unperturbed by their discomfort and unholy inclination, He maintained His mannerisms of openness and love. The governor of the synagogue handed Him a scroll that contained Isaiah 61. They exchanged glances. “He can’t read. He is a carpenter,” they said to each other. He read the scroll loud and clear, to their shock.
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