Have you ever met someone who remembered you, but whom you could not place in your memory? This is an occupational hazard for new pastors who meet many people at church services.
Sometimes the inability to recognize someone can prove quite humorous. A man I know was once bumped up to 1st class. The passenger next to him asked what he did, to make conversation he returned the question. The passenger said ‘acting.’ After the flight Joe went home and asked his children if they had ever heard of an actor named Tom Cruise.
On other occasions, the inability to recognize someone can be due to neurological problems. For example, the condition known as agnosia is when a patient can see a person but is unable to process what they are seeing in a meaningful way.
For example, one patient was shown pictures of people he knew and asked to describe what he saw. His description would be of random objects he had seen before, which didn’t resemble people at all. That case became famous when it was chronicled by psychologist, Oliver Sacks, in his book on strange cases he encountered in his career. The book was entitled “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat”.
God wanted to make sure his people recognized the Messiah when he arrived. So he provided enough information about him to recognize him with ease.
Last week we looked at the provenance of the Messiah so that we can recognize him. But Micah also gives a description of the unique work he would do—the Messiah’s prerogative.
3 ASPECTS OF THE MESSIAH’S WORK SO HIS PEOPLE COULD RECOGNIZE HIM
1. SHEPHERD HIS PEOPLE
Micah 5:3- 4 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, …
When the Messiah came, his people would recognize him, not only by his origin, but also by his work. And his first job description is that shall stand and shepherd his people.
Notice there is a transition verse that talks about the timing of his coming. The timing is simply promised to be after the judgment. They had no idea it would be 1,300 years after the judgment. Yes the judgment will hurt, but it is not a permanent discarding of God’s chosen people. They will be restored eventually. This is the first aspect of his job description: he will be a shepherd.
John 10:14-20 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep… There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?”
They knew what Jesus was claiming. And we see him doing this. He actually laid down his life for his sheep. When you see someone doing the work of the Messiah, that’s a good indication that he is the Messiah.
2. GLORIFY GOD
Micah 5: 4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
The Messiah’s work is never about his fame and glory; that was a gift from the Father after he had been exalted. His coming was in humility, poverty, and weakness. Jesus’ work was always only to obey the Father, glorify the Father, do the Father’s will. He was the shepherd, but only by the strength of the Father and for the majesty and the glory of the Father.
John 8:50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.
Self-styled messiah’s always do it for their own glory, not the Father’s. Beware of a ministry where the main focus is on the fame and power and giftedness of the leader, and not on God.
To recognize the true Messiah, the Jews were looking for a politically prominent savior who would deliver them from Rome, but they should have been looking for a humble servant who was glorifying God.
3. PROTECT HIS PEOPLE
Micah 5: 4-5 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men…
This was a confusing credential.
There are many prophecies that say the Messiah will protect his people. But when Jesus came, he made no physical defense of himself, let alone his followers. He even promised the disciples that they would face persecution and be executed for his name. He said “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.”
And, in fact, the Assyrians did defeat Israel. So how is this protecting? How is it possible for the Messiah to come and suffer, die, and allow persecution for his followers AND come and rule and conquer and reign?
Well, either there are two Messiah’s OR there is one Messiah who comes twice!
This was the mystery of the Old Testament which makes perfect sense to us who live this side of Easter Sunday.
We know that in Christ’s first coming he came to suffer and die, not to defend or be defended.
But in his second coming he will come to conquer and rule, and then he will guard his people from all physical harm.
Micah 4:1-4 1It shall come to pass in the latter days … 3He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; 4but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
There will be a time when Jesus takes away all threat of war and attack, globally and individually.
Don’t think that lack of physical deliverance from harm in this life, means God doesn’t care about you. He said this life will bring trials and tribulations and we will be victims of violence and persecution but wait until Jesus comes back to set things right.
CONCLUSION
Have you recognized Jesus as the Messiah? The One prophesied in the Old Testament and sent by God into the world to suffer and die for his people for the glory of God? Turn from your sin, put your trust in Jesus’ death on the cross for you and be sure of your future protection.
O Little Town, Pt 2: The Messiah’s Prerogative — The Cripplegate
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