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Recently I saw a video of a small woman with short hair and strong build. She had white hair and glasses. Basically, she’s your average middle age woman.
In the video she goes to a music store and is immediate directed to the piano section. Then she goes to a recreation center where some people are playing music. As she walks by they apologize and say they will try to play more softly. Finally, she walks into a cover band audition as is asked if she’s lost or looking for another activity room.
It turns out that this woman is there to audition for the band as a drummer. She may not look the part to our mind’s eye for what a drummer “should be”, yet she plays the drums quite well with great skill.
This woman may not be what we would expect from a dummer. That is certainly the case for all those around her. The same is true for Jesus when it comes to the role of Messiah.
The image we get of the Messiah in Daniel and Revelation is of this powerful figure coming from the clouds. This is a person of might. This is a person meant to be a leader. This may invoke a certain mental image in us based on our idea of leadership and power in this world.
What we see with Jesus in the Gospel is very different from what we might first expect with these images. Jesus is a man on trial, looking to be put to death. Jesus is a man unwilling to claim the title “king” so readily from Pilate. Jesus is a man at His weakest and in trouble.
Jesus does not fit the picture for what we might expect from the Messiah. He’s not a king or a great warrior. He’s not coming from the clouds, at least not yet. He is a man there to testify to the Truth. He is a man willing to die to save even those same people who would have Him put to death and who would deny Him.
If Jesus doesn’t fit out immediate expectations, that is because He doesn’t fit into our idea of power. Yet as Paul says in 2 Cor. 12:9, God’s “power is made perfect in weakness.” We see this power exemplified in its fullest through Christ Jesus and His death on the cross. We see God’s power in this weakness because it is in this moment that the rest of us are made strong. This is the moment when the rest of us are given life we did not have before and specifically life eternal.
The true power of Jesus, of the Messiah, comes from the unexpected. It comes from Jesus’ life-giving weakness on the cross in dying for us. On first glance we might think the Messiah would be something different: a great and powerful being, a king, a warrior. That’s not who Jesus is nor is it who He came into this world to be. Jesus’ power is in being the Messiah we didn’t expect. We are called to be the same. We are called not to be like the seemingly powerful of this world who put their own needs before those of others who horde their power over all they can. Instead we are called to follow that power that seems like weakness, that power of love, service, and care. If we can do that, we can show the real strength of God to all we meet as we continue to reveal God’s work in the world.