David Bahn – Reflections

What do you do when you know someone is out to get you? How do you act when you are threatened? Yesterday I had a brief FB conversation with a high school classmate regarding the signs of  the times and the end of the world. I quoted Martin Luther who was asked “What would you do if the world was going to end tomorrow?” He said, “I’d plant an apple tree.” He would do what he planned to do that day because he lived every day in the faith.

Matthew 12:14-21

¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and conspired against [Jesus], how to destroy him.

¹⁵Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all ¹⁶and ordered them not to make him known. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
¹⁸ “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
¹⁹He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
²⁰a bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
²¹ and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Jesus was facing real opposition. He was nearing the end of his mission and his very life. Aware of this, he withdrew from the immediate threat but continued in his ministry and mission. Healing diseases, fulfilling prophecies of Scripture, remaining faithful and true to the Father; doing all this because that was his calling. Nor does he seek notoriety or fame in the doing. He ordered the people not to make him known.

There may be many explanations for this enforced secrecy. I believe that Jesus sought to keep things a secret at this point because he wanted nothing to dissuade him from his mission: to save lost sinners by his death on the cross. He will be crucified. He will die for the sins of the whole world.  Then he will be raised from the dead and reign at the right hand of God. One day he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

For now, however, he continues on his mission. And we who await his coming, too, should continue on our mission, loving God, loving our neighbor, in faith, and in the hope of the resurrection and the promise of everlasting life. Time to plant a tree.