Look to the Horizon

~~~ Micah 2:1-5 ~~~ Psalm 10 ~~~ Matthew 12:14-21 ~~~

...he withdrew from that place.

Jesus had no one to look out for his safety.
When he enters the town it seems the Pharisees
 are busy plotting against him.
It is discouraging that they had nothing
 better to do with their time,
no better way to use their resources than for evil.

We often see this same mentality in times of war,
but here we have only one person, Jesus.
Why would they need to spend so much energy on this except out of fear.

Jesus does what he had to do in order to keep himself safe;
he in effect goes underground.
He goes into hiding, but he does not cease to heal
 those who followed him.

He does make one important request.
He asks them not to share his whereabouts.

Today we might become suspicious if someone acted the way Jesus did.
We wonder about keeping secrets. We would ask questions.
But for Jesus this was all part of the Divine plan;
his time had not yet come.

We see Jesus at the beginning of his ministry telling his mother
his time had not yet come at the wedding feast.
Now his actions of retreating and his warning of silence
tell us his time to die had not yet come.

Jesus had so much more to do...he was not finished.
He is shielded by the Spirit from harm.
The prophets had foretold....

...a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory.
And in his name the Gentiles will hope.

The very presence of Jesus brought hope to hundreds,
 even thousands of people.
Today we are still being blessed with hope.
Jesus is the reason we have hope.

The wicked can gather behind closed doors to plan their evil deeds.
But in the end, it is our hope in the Lord that saves us.

The very same hope that those who flocked to him
held firmly in their hearts.
They came in hope that he would cure them.

The Pharisees, however, had no hope in their hearts
as they plotted the death of Jesus.
They were blinded from seeing what could have been better.
Hope is about the future and the Pharisees were caught within themselves.

Sometimes we too may be tempted to be trapped within ourselves.
Our faith teaches us to look to the horizon,
where hope is strong and bright.
Hope is not shrouded in darkness.
Hope is in the dawn of a new day.

May you be blessed with hope when you are in most need.
Jesus withdrew, but he did not turn anyone away.
He kept their hope alive.
~~~Peace~~~