Friday, January 08, 2010

Incredulous

Matthew 12:22-23
(22)  Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw.
(23)  And all the people were amazed, and said, "Can this be the Son of David?"

(23) καὶ ἐξίσταντο πάντες οἱ ὄχλοι καὶ ἔλεγον, Μήτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς Δαυίδ;

This is one of those places where it helps to know Greek.  Whenever I've read this in English I've pictured the crowd as somewhat hopeful.  After all, they've been looking for Messiah for a long time.  They had an idea of what to look for and of course were watching intently for Him.  In English it sounds like they are hoping that Jesus was indeed Messiah.

The problem is that in Greek when a question starts with μητι it means that they are expecting a negative answer.  A very literal translation of their question would be, "This isn't the Son of David, is it?"  Maybe they were at least a little bit hopeful.  But the phrasing of their question indicates that they didn't really think that Jesus was indeed Messiah.

The good news is that we know that they were wrong.  Jesus is indeed Messiah.  He is the seed promised to Abraham.  He is the hope of Israel and of all nations.  You can't find that kind of genuine hope anywhere else.  I don't think I'm going to create the same waves that Britt Hume did, but I think he was spot-on.

1 comment:

JSA said...

I was always struck by the reaction of the people when Christ sent the demons into the pigs, and the pigs rushed over the cliff. For years, their reaction seemed strange to me -- why would they try to get rid of Christ simply for saving one of their neighbors at the expense of a few pigs? I think I understand now. When you're comfortable in your own life, you don't think you need any help, and you certainly don't want someone with power like that coming around and laying obligations on you.