When I try to do math, I am often embarrassed that I can’t quite figure it out. I’m a words girl; numbers are a foreign language, and no matter how much I try, they just don’t compute. I often wish God would open my eyes and give me an automatic understanding of percentages, interest rates, and all of that real-world knowledge that requires a good grasp of numbers.
There are things we just might not be wired to understand easily, and then there are things that take a little divine direction to get us on track. The unlikely Messiah in today’s reading, unlike my still growing gift for mathematics, is something God Himself came to earth to help us grasp.
This carpenter from Nazareth carried Himself with an otherworldly confidence. There was something about Jesus, something different and unexplainable. But it didn’t make sense—He came from Mary and Joseph, and they had watched Him grow up. How was He fit to read the scrolls? And to teach from them?
Yet there was Jesus, speaking in a way that fueled, and fed hungry hearts. He was misunderstood and mistaken, and even His own brothers had a hard time believing in His divinity (John 7:2–5). Jesus had a mission and stuck with it, even when it seemed upside down.
At His words, the religious leaders were disgusted; the crowds were astonished. He was either stark crazy and a liar or actually the Son of God and Messiah. There was no in-between. But through all the differing opinions, Jesus remained secure in His identity and authority. He shared over and over that what He taught came from God, much to the Jews’ dismay. He spoke in words many could not fathom, though Jesus unfolded truth before them. He spoke of streams of living water, of being sent by the Father, and He challenged the Pharisees for contradicting their own laws and relying more on regulation than God. What couldn’t be explained about the wonder of Jesus could only come from God.
The people were looking for a Messiah who looked and acted a certain way. They believed He would come with power and political aim. But they didn’t know to look deeper and open their hearts to believe God may have been making a completely new way.
Does Jesus strike a chord deep within our souls? When we read about Him, does His teaching draw us to know Him more? Do we see Him as an interesting teacher or true Messiah?
While Jesus made it clear He is the Son of God and ushered in a new kingdom through His authority, life, death, and resurrection, He invites us to explore all He has said and done. Let’s look to Him as the answer to our hearts’ longing—even when it might look different than what we thought. The way of this unlikely Messiah is so much better than we might first think.
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88 thoughts on "The Unlikely Messiah"
How often do I try to fit Jesus into my little mold and agenda?
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Need to discuss: “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
John 7:37-39 ESV
Water is such a critical and important part of our survival. The fact that Jesus refers to the spirit as the water is so vital to understanding the importance. And also understanding the significance in the spirit only coming to remain in us after He was raised again… fulfilled!
Meed to
My limited thinking can hardly compare with Father’s best and different approach to life’s paths. Reminded for me who is leading and in charge of my life.
Jesus is the Bread of Life. The living water. All I need. And often different than I think I need. Really struggling with tiredness, mental fog, motivation at the moment, so what a timely encouragement. Jesus knows ❤️
Praying for energy and clarity that will boost your spirits. He is all we need ❤️
May you, Esthera, be strengthened, mentally refreshed and inspired knowing that Jesus is all you need.
He is near..❤
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May you, Esthera, be strengthened, mentally refreshed and inspired knowing that Jesus is all you need.
He is near.❤ ❤
Help me to always recognize You, Lord although the great deceiver wants me to doubt.
How would the people of His time known the difference between Jesus and just a prophet?
That’s a great question. I suppose it would be by His miracles and the fulfillment of the many promises of Old Testament Scripture they grew up hearing and learning. That is why a discussion broke out in this chapter about whether He was the Messiah because they thought He was born in Nazareth and not Bethlehem (as prophesied in Micah 5:2). But ultimately, it is the Spirit of God that reveals it to us. I think of this Scripture (Matthew 16):
16. Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17. Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”
Great explanation, Michelle, thank you ❤️
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27 Instead, God has chosen the world’s foolish things to shame the wise, and God has chosen the world’s weak things to shame the strong. I Corinthians 27.
One translation says: God uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.
The way God does things often does not make sense to our finite human minds. J
The Messiah born into a poor family and uneducated? I am amazed at how God chose to manifest himself as a carpenter.
Amen !!
Jesus, the “unlikely Messiah”. I’m so thankful that He wasn’t what everyone expected – someone of pomp and circumstance; a high and mighty political leader. Had He come as such, He would have been unrelatable – and so far out of our reach.
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Instead, He chose to humble Himself, come as man and dwell among them.
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Collin from HRT said it well – “The Messiah of our own making would not be a sufficient savior…He would not be a reliable redeemer.”
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Praise God for His greater plan. Praise God for His perfect timing.
Praise God – for sending His Son.
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Jesus Messiah (Chris Tomlin)
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He became sin, who knew no sin
That we might become His righteousness
He humbled himself and carried the cross
Love so amazing, love so amazing
Jesus Messiah, name above all names
Blessed redeemer, Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners, the ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah, Lord of all
His body the bread, his blood the wine
Broken and poured out all for love
The whole earth trembled, and the veil was torn
Love so amazing, love so amazing, yeah
Jesus Messiah, name above all names
Blessed redeemer, Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners, the ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah, Lord of all
All our hope is in You, all our hope is in You
All the glory to You, God, the light of the world
Jesus Messiah, name above all names
Blessed redeemer, Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners, the ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah, Lord of all
Jesus Messiah, Lord of all
You’re the Lord of all
The Lord of all
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Have a blessed day sweet She’s!
I was going to mention that song in a reply to someone else! Git interrupted and just got back. Thanks for sharing it! ❤
Love this song, Sharon ❤️
Praise God for His greater plan. Praise God for His perfect timing.
Praise God – for sending His Son.
Amen.
Hugs, Sharon..❤❤
wow the song ❤️ Thank you!
HE is “our” ONE and ONLY true Messiah! So grateful my parents “made-me” go to that youth conference May 5, 1984, when I finally “heard” and “paid attention” to the gospel and walked down that aisle to say YES to Jesus! Love my JESUS with ALL my heart! I mess up daily, YET He continues to LOVE me! Tomorrow I will join you at a little bit later as I have the day off (as well as Monday). My kiddos and I are headed out of town for a wedding. Please pray for safe travels.
Prayers for safety as you travel to your wedding.
Praying for safety for all attending. ❤
Safe travels Mari.. Have a fantastic day ❤❤
Great reflection questions from HRT:
“What sort of expectations do we have about Jesus?
Where do we source our knowledge about Him — our own mind and feelings or God’s Word?
Do we listen to all of His teachings, or do we pick and choose the teachings that we like and most fit our particular interests?
These are difficult but important questions to ask ourselves regularly.”
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Two songs came to mind as I read the devo: There Was Jesus and He Keeps Me Singing (old hymn):
He Keeps Me Singing
1 There’s within my heart a melody,
Jesus whispers sweet and low:
“Fear not, I am with thee; peace, be still,”
in all of life’s ebb and flow.
Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus–
sweetest name I know,
fills my ev’ry longing,
keeps me singing as I go.
2 All my life was wrecked by sin and strife;
discord filled my heart with pain.
Jesus swept across the broken strings,
stirred the slumb’ring chords again. [Refrain]
3 Feasting on the riches of His grace,
resting ‘neath His shelt’ring wing,
always looking on His smiling face—
that is why I shout and sing. [Refrain]
4 Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,
trials fall across the way,
though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
see His footprints all the way. [Refrain]
5 Soon He’s coming back to welcome me
far beyond the starry sky.
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown,
I shall reign with Him on high. [Refrain]
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Love, hugs, and prayers! ❤
Yes, very good questions to ponder from HRT, ones we must ask regularly.
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Another incredible song ❤️ So good!
We can’t box Jesus in to conform to our idea of how He should be! He shows in these scriptures that He didn’t conform to what this world wants but He was who God intended Him to be.
May we follow His example! “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:2 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.12.2.NIV
I’m not sure why this lesson took me to this but it spoke to me.
Love all of your comments! Praying for all! Have a blessed day!
Right on point, Cheryl! Great encouragement! Thanks so much! ❤
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Reading today’s scriptures of all the attempts to kill Jesus brought to mind Ecclesiastes 3. There was divine protection, direction, and provision over Jesus for His time to come in God’s timing.
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Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
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Jesus, Messiah, Savior! So grateful He rescues us out of darkness and brings us into His marvelous light! ❤️
We sang the song “Glorious Day” by Passion (Christian Stanfield) yesterday! It is such a fun song with the line…”out of the darkness…into your glorious day!”
You called my name
Then I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day
You called my name
And I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day
We sin that often at church!
**SING!!!** ☺☺☺
I wanted the laughing emoji… I’ll send a heart instead..:)❤❤
Same here, Tina! Had to settle for 3 smilies! ❤☺❤
Amen! ❤️
Reminded me of a song we often sing at church,
Jesus Messiah –
Name above all names. Blessed Redeemer, Emmanuel…
I’m always fascinated by the fact that even his brothers didn’t believe in Jesus’ power & calling! I wonder if their hearts were opened to the truth after his death & resurrection.
Yes, His brother James is who wrote James and a prominent teacher in Jerusulem. And his other brother wrote Jude.
I imagine parents of unbelievers find this comforting in a way; even Jesus himself had ones He loved in him not believe; it isn’t a failure on the part of the parents. Also, those of us who have loved unbelievers who die know Jesus understood that.
Your comment got we wondering-then googling- how many people pass away each day, and how many are unsaved. According to to Siri, 150,000-200,000 people pass each day. Approximately 32% of the population are Christian. If my math is correct, that means 102,000-136,000 unbelievers perish each day. Sobering.
Dear Father,
Please work mightily in the hearts of unbelievers and use us to reach them. Amen.
Yes, B, praying for the lost. Those are heartbreaking statistics.
Amen!❤❤
Amen
In v.27 and v.52, people are stuck on where Jesus is from, not who He is.
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They assume the Messiah can’t come from Galilee — missing the bigger picture.
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Irony: Prophets like Jonah, Nahum, and maybe Hosea were from that area.
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Shows how religious pride can block spiritual insight.
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They’re thinking on a surface level — earthly facts vs. heavenly truth.
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The result? Faith divides people — some believe, some don’t, and many are confused.
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“Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown” Luke 4:24
Good insight
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Thanks, Kimberly! ❤
Great insight. Thank you, Kimberly.❤
Faith divides people – amen!
“The people were looking for a Messiah who looked and acted a certain way. They believed He would come with power and political aim. But they didn’t know to look deeper and open their hearts to believe God may have been making a completely new way.”
How often do we look at appearance and make a judgment without looking “deeper”? I know unfortunately for me it is likely more than I care to admit. May we lay aside our judgments and preconceived ideas and look through the eyes of God and Jesus.
Amen!
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Amen!
Well said, Danielle! ❤
Amen ❤
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What struck me today was that no one asked Jesus where He was born. All assumed Nazareth because that is where He was raised. Regardless, the “Jews” should have known a “light” would come from Galilee because of Isaiah’s prophecy (Isa. 9:1).
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MARIA B – praying for you and your family to live out these last several weeks in peace and may the Lord show the way to full forgiveness and reconciliation from past hurts.
Yes! Praying for peace, Maria B for you and your family!
We’ve been studying together for a while so I am not surprised that I had the same thought about the public knowledge of Jesus’ ‘beginning’. ☺❤☺ I guess I need to pursue that angle. Likely it was part of the ‘blindness’ designed by God. Thanks, Kelly, for voicing that.
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From Collin Ross, HRT:
“A human-designed Messiah cannot save us because our rescue cannot come from within us. We won’t find salvation in our own intellect, morality, or inner strength. Someone else has to reach in and pull us out of the pit. We need a Messiah who is from God. And thanks be to God that is exactly who Jesus is. “I have not come on my own, but the one who sent me is true. You don’t know him; I know him because I am from him, and he sent me” (vv.28–29).”
Thank you
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A Messiah who is from God… Amen.
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Not a man made or imagined..
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Sarah said… “Jesus remained secure in His identity and authority.”
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May we always be secure in knowing that He is the promised Messiah! Amen? Amen! ❤️
Amen! ❤️
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Amen!
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Amen ❤❤