How did this happen?
Christ’s first advent was unexpected. The common understanding was that first Elijah would come. Then the Messiah would come, from an unknown place. He would come with a sword, sit on the throne of David, and rule with a sceptre of iron. He would fulfill the Law of the Prophets, and glorify God’s chosen people, the Jews. He would conquer the East and the West and establish a kingdom of peace and justice, so that even the animals would live in peace.
None of these things happened. There was no sign of Elijah, just John the Baptist. Jesus came from Nazareth, a place that everyone knew about. He carried no sword and sat on no earthly throne. The Jewish authorities who were responsible for law enforcement, accused Jesus of breaking the Law, not fulfilling it. They saw no conquering army, and no kingdom. Instead, they saw a wandering teacher who was filling the peoples heads with new ideas. They felt He had to be stopped.
Jesus commented on the people’s expectations:
“And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! But wisdom is justified of all her children.” (Luke 7:31-34)
Because He came in a way they didn’t expect, most of the people, especially the scholars of scripture, didn’t recognize Jesus as the Son of God. They accused Him of being an imposter, a pretender to the throne. Finally, they had Him crucified. Is it possible that we might make the same mistake again? To answer that question, it might help to look a little more closely at how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament in ways that people didn’t expect.