“And it had been revealed to him (Simeon) by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” (Luke 2:26)
The coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, had been declared and revealed in Scripture throughout Biblical history. Numerous were the prophecies which spoke of one aspect or another of His coming, His appearing, His presence, and saving work. Though there had been a very significant interlude of time and circumstance between the writings of Malachi, when he would write concerning the coming of one who would announce the Messiah’s coming, God would, by the Holy Spirit begin to move in hearts and minds of those who were seeking Him, to prepare them for that coming. We see this in the preparation of the hearts of many who were thirsting after God when the unique, and powerful figure of John the Baptist came preaching in all the region around the Jordan River a message of repentance for the forgiveness or remission of sins. When John came, bringing such a message, he came preaching: “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luke 3:16) John was the precursor, or the preparer, for Christ’s coming. That preparation was in the hearts of men, awakening them to the fact of the Messiah’s coming, but also, to the need to be rightly oriented to God to recognize Him.
It is true that Elizabeth, the mother of John, and his father, Zacharias, were told by God that their son would “…go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways.” (Luke 1:76) Those ways of which John would speak would lead to the Jordan River the day when Jesus came to be baptized by John. Up to this point, though there was a working by the Spirit of God to create an awareness of Christ’s coming, the revealing of who the Lamb of God was had not yet been made clear to all concerned. But on that day, it was revealed to John the identity of the Messiah. And from that day forward, because of the Spirit of God coming quietly, yet powerfully upon Christ in a new and fresh way, the coming of the Messiah would be declared by Christ Himself, proven by Christ, and sealed for time and eternity. The King had come, howbeit in great lowliness and humility, evading the glances of the proud and arrogant.
In the days of John the Baptist, some of those who came to hear him, became his disciples, being directed by John to recognize Jesus as “…the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (1:29) After hearing Jesus speak, Andrew, Peter’s brother would seek him out, declaring: “We have found the Messiah.” (John 1:4) They had found Him because they were seeking. They were seeking because the Spirit of God was working in them to do so. And so it was in that list of those who first recognized Jesus as the Messiah. They discovered that He had come, and that He was walking, and ministering in their midst.
So, what of today? Are the principles the same? Yes. The Spirit of God is ever moving to create in the hearts and minds of believers, not only a sense of Christ’s second coming, but also concerning His appearance, that moment when He will be seen coming with the clouds. He will come first to seek His bride, the living church, or body of Christ. He will come having prepared their hearts, bringing them to the place of faithful readiness, and great expectation. Nothing stands in the way of Christ’s church living in the expectation of Christ’s appearance. He is as that bounding Beloved Bridegroom of the church, ever on the mountains and hills, caring for His flock, seeking the lost to win. He is here by His Spirit and coming in the clouds for His bride at any time. May we live in expectancy.
Dear Father, Fill us with awareness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.