The Preteen Messiah
It is a difficult week to set our minds on anything other than very challenging headline news. That makes it the most important time to firmly establish our minds on eternal Truth before applying them to the troubling events of our day. With that as a preamble, I invite you to consider the following scenario:
What would you think and how would you respond if a pre-teen from your community suddenly claimed, ‘I am the Messiah’?
Truly play this out. Think of a 12-year-old from your neighborhood, your church, or even your family. How would you respond if he suddenly proclaimed he is the Messiah?
The answer is self-evident: You and I would both be appalled and utterly unconvinced by the claim, and for good reason. In addition to the absurdity of the claim, we already know the identity of the Messiah!
But consider for a moment the context into which Jesus first claimed to be the Son of God. We find the account in Luke 2:41-52. Jesus is twelve years old. He is just a boy. And yet, when his parents, Joseph and Mary, lose track of Him only to find Him preaching in the temple, He responds to their concern with the ultimate outlandish claim that He is the Son of God: “Why were you searching for me?’ Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
It was one thing for Joseph and Mary to hear this, as they had already experienced the miracle of Jesus’ conception. If anyone would be able to accept this over-the-top claim, it would be them. But the Gospel of Luke tells us that even they did not understand (Lk. 2:50).
If even Jesus’ parents did not understand, how must the rest of those who heard the claim have responded? It seems clear they would respond the same way you would if a pre-teen in your community claimed to be the Messiah. No matter how impressive the child, you and I would respond dismissively at best. After all, it is only a child from your neighborhood. (Note: This truth hits particularly close to home for me, as my namesake Nathanael proclaimed in John 1:46: “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”)
So it should come as no surprise that when the pre-teen Jesus from Nazareth suddenly claimed to be the Son of God, virtually nobody believed Him. It would be another 18 years before Jesus would be baptized, recruit His disciples, and begin His public ministry.
What does this mean for you today? It means the God of the universe—including His Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, who was left behind by Jesus for the purpose of filling your very being—is as real when He shows up in unbelievable circumstances as He is when He shows up where you expect Him.
He is as real in the heart of a child who believes as He is in the heart of a preacher.
He is as real in heartbreak and tragedy as He is in triumph and rejoicing.
He is as real as a 12-year-old preaching in the temple and surrounded by a community of disbelief as He is the risen Savior seated at God’s right hand (Eph. 1:19-20).
Your God is unchanging. He is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8). But He shows up in the most unexpected ways.
He shows up in what seems to be both victory and defeat.
He shows up in mountaintop moments and in times of immense grief.
He is seated forever at the righthand of God the Father. But he was first a pre-teen from the neighborhood.
Have you recognized Him? Have you noticed His presence in your everyday?
There is great strife in our world today. But your God is in the midst of it all, and He is who He claims to be. He is the Messiah!
The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.