In our scripture readings for Messiah Sunday, the apostle John describes the role of the Christ, the anointed one, also known in Hebrew as the Messiah. The Christ will do more than just free Israel from Roman occupation, as the people were hoping. The Christ, this time, will make God known...will change the relationship between God and his people. That's because, this time, the anointed one is God's very own Son, and in him...is eternal life....
Yearning for Messiah. Looking for the Chosen One. Awaiting the Saviour, who can single-handedly change the whole situation. It's almost a universal experience for us. If only the dealership had a new salesman to break all the sales records and get us into the black. If only the team had a generational player who could finally win the Stanley Cup. If only we had a dynamic young preacher who could refill the pews. If only some nice young man would sweep her off her feet, and marry her. Whether it's politics, sports, economics, or relationships, we are always and continually yearning for a Messiah.
The people of God in the first century BC had returned from exile to the promised land. But that land was conquered and placed under occupation by the Greeks, and then reconquered and placed under occupation by the Romans. The people read their scriptures, and yearned for a Messiah in the pattern of Moses, or Gideon, or King David – someone who could lead the people to political freedom and prosperity. Which, as we have seen throughout history, never seems to be permanent. The people always backslide, a new conqueror appears, there is always a need for a new Messiah, decades or centuries down the road.
We, also, tend to think short term when looking for our Messiahs. We need rescue from today, tomorrow, next week, maybe next month, possibly a time horizon as long as a year. This is why the solutions from OUR chosen Messiahs, like drugs, and fame, and money, and human heroes, all fail in the end, and fail quickly. Perhaps this is why God has made his people wait so long for Messiahs in the past – to give them a sense of perspective. When God finally anoints a Christ, the situation is dire enough, the yearning is strong enough, that the people are ready to accept him.