“Who made you ruler and judge over us?”

— Exodus 2:14

Moses grew up comfortably while his own people were slaves (Exodus 2). One day he tried to break up a fight between two of those slaves. And one of them said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?” We might say, “That’s easy—God did. Moses was God’s appointed leader over Israel.” But Moses was actually jumping the gun. Because God would not appoint him till after another 40 years!

We tend to jump the gun when it comes to Jesus. We are often too impatient to let him be a human being as ordinary as any of us. For example, when he is young, we think of him as Israel’s Messiah. But Jesus will not be the Messiah for another 30 years.

Don’t worry. This doesn’t take anything away from Jesus’ ­divinity. Messiah (or Christ) is not a divine title. It’s a title for a human being with a special, God-appointed task. Messiah means “anointed one.” To be anointed is to be called and empowered to fulfill a God-given role.

When he was baptized, Jesus was anointed by the Spirit of God, “descending on him like a dove,” to be Messiah. At the same time, he was claimed by God, the voice from heaven, as Messiah. After living for 30 years as an ordinary human being, the time had come for Jesus to fulfill his destiny as Savior of the world.

Jesus, how your life changed when you were anointed that day! Yet you embraced your calling faithfully, and you never turned aside. You did what none of us could ever do. Thank you. Amen.