It’s always perplexed me how the Jews of Christ time could not recognize his divinity. Now, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized more that I’ve always gotten the information from the believer. It’s easy to see something the way someone once you to see it. Yet even Matthew uses the fulfillment of prophecy to help boister his account of the Saviors’ works. Clearly their was a divide on what those ancient scriptures meant, but something else likely changed the view of the ancient Jews.
300 years before Christ, another young man entered the world. Not only did he spend some time in Egypt, but he also claimed to be the son of a god. Alexander the Great was a young Macedonian king who was bent on conjuring the known world. To the perisians, he was a pest, but to the conquered world, he was miracle. With some luck and a lot of military strategy, Alexander conquered the kingdom of Persia.
It did not last. Despite all his strength in battle, Alex took ill and would die in his early thirties. At his death, his kingdom became divided, and because of this divide, as well as other factors, the Romans were able to come in and make their own mark on the ancient world. He was a great leader whose kingdom fell apart immediately after his death.
Strangely enough, the life of Alexander is in contrast to the life of Jesus, yet they hold so many similarities. Christ was born into a people surrounded by a conquering nation. He claimed to be the Son of God on earth. He said he was there to free his people from the many things that bound them. His kingdom was being built on the earth and would not fall.
The Jewish nation had seen true conquers. They knew of Alexander the Great and his defeat of the Persian kingdom. If a man who claimed to be the son of god could do such things, how much greater would their Savior be. After the fall of Alexander’s kingdom, they watched the Maccabbes fight for the Jewish people with a might that would not be matched by their people again their time. If men who were not their Savior could do such works, how much greater would be their Savior.
Yet Jesus was not great in the world. He was gentle, humble, a quiet soul doing wonderous works. He taught gentleness and meekness of heart. He was a servant to his followers and taught that humility would be their way. His teachings did not raise him up to a leader who would conquer the Romans as these great leaders before him. They would raise him onto a cross where he would die.
Here’s the interesting part. Alexander made a great impact on the world of his day, but his Kingdom fell apart the moment he died. Christ made little impact on the world of his day, yet His kingdom has continued well beyond his day. Today, Christians fill the earth announcing the joy of the Saviors’ redemption. People are being made free from the bonds of sin right now, this very second, because of the Savior.
It was the gentle teachings of the Savior that ripple into our time. He still has active soldiers in his army fighting to spread his gentle message, while the soldiers of the Great ones have long sense passed to the grave. Great works will always be recorded in history, and we will always marvel over them. Gentle works are felt generations beyond, and we don’t have to marvel because we benefit from them.
People will always remember your great works, but it’s the gentle works that will impact their souls for generations to come.
Jacob Gittins 