Unchained Melodye

“They, however, were filled with rage
and started discussing with one another what they might do to Jesus …

The whole crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming out from Him and healing them all.”
Luke 6

Two groups.

The religious leaders sought to expose and bring down a fraud. The marginalized sought a personal miracle. Most missed the significance of Who was standing with them. God in flesh was among the people. (And He had not come merely to heal them.)

Before we judge too quickly, we should probably consider what many of them knew. God had made it quite clear to the prophet Isaiah:

“I AM the LORD. That is My Name, and I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols … I will act for My own sake, indeed, My own, for how can I be defiled? I will not give My glory to another. I AM He; I AM the first, I AM also the last.”

The religious leaders and the crowds wanted much the same thing we want today: a God who makes all things right. But they simply refused to believe Jesus was that God. Blindness filled their hearts and minds. The enemy of the soul fought to convince the crowds of what he said in the garden way back then. I believe he was whispering in their ears: “God doesn’t work this way. So this must not be God.” His tactics have never changed, and many have become convinced that God’s glory is in His ability to “prove Himself.” Satan tempted Jesus with that strategy. The murdering Romans mocked Him with accusations that sounded eerily similar.
If. You. Are. God.

But God didn’t come to us to prove Himself to us.
He came to us to provide Himself for us!

We must not miss the rest of the message to Isaiah: “For I AM the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your SAVIOR. I alone declared, saved, and proclaimed — and not some foreign god among you. So you are my witnesses — this is the Lord’s declaration — and I AM GOD.
I AM the One, I sweep away your transgressions for My own sake and remember your sins no more.”

Jesus came to provide a way for all the humans, that is all the sinners, to be rescued from ourselves. The God of all glory came to us not to prove Himself as all-powerful, but to empty Himself as all-providing. That is astonishing!

I approach the throne of glory.
Nothing in my hands I bring, but the promise of acceptance
from a good and gracious King.
I will give to You my burden as You give to me Your strength.
Come and fill me with Your Spirit as I sing to You this praise:
You deserve the greater glory.
Overcome, I lift my voice to the King in need of nothing,
empty handed I rejoice.
You deserve the greater glory.
Overcome with joy I sing!
By Your love I am accepted.
You’re a good and gracious King!
Oh what grace that You would see me as Your child and as Your friend.
Safe, secure in You forever, I pour out my praise again.

Holy, holy, Lord Almighty,
Good and gracious King!!

The suffering in this life can sometimes hide the glory of God. Fears assail us and cause doubt to arise within us. The enemy rushes to whisper to our soul: “This must not be God.”
While having authority is not evil nor is wanting a miracle wrong, the Lord Jesus came to give us so much more than that. He came to give us Himself. If we miss the truth of Who Jesus is, we run the risk of losing our souls just to gain the world. But if we recognize Who we have in Christ Jesus, we gain abundant life in spite of what our current situation may demonstrate.

He gave Himself for us
to set us free from every kind of lawlessness
and to purify for Himself a people
who are truly His,
who are eager to do good.
Titus 2