What was the cause of Messianic expectation at the time of Jesus’ birth? Read Luke 2:25-38; 23:50-51

(Please note. We are still working our way through the Minor Prophets. The issue of Messianic expectation is tied to Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. This Advent season is a great time to be in the Minor Prophets.)

It is clear from Luke’s gospel that there was among many Jews a strong expectation of the Messiah.  Certainly Simeon is to be noted because the Holy Spirit had told him he would not die without seeing the Lord’s Christ.  Anna is also significant because she apparently made her comments to an assembly of those who were looking for the One God had promised that Simeon would see.  Further, Joseph of Arimathea was waiting for the kingdom of God, a phrase that seems to indicate that he too was expecting or hoping for the coming of Messiah.  And he was a recognized leader in Israel.  In all this we see that Messianic expectation in the time of Christ was not a minimal matter; it was widespread.

If we ask why this was the case it should lead us to the Old Testament prophets, especially three men of God: Haggai, Zachariah and Malachi.  We are led to them because they were the three post-exile prophets, the ones who carried God’s message after the return from Babylon.  

·        Malachi raised the issue of the coming of Elijah, something to look for in anticipation of the Messiah’s coming.  His had been the last words from God. 

The miniature of the 2nd temple at the Israeli's Museum, Jerusalem

·        Zechariah and Haggai had been used of God to encourage the rebuilding of the Second Temple with Zechariah giving many detailed prophecies relating to the coming of the Messiah.

·        Haggai might be the one of the three we might tend to overlook.  But we would suggest that his messages concerning the future glory of the temple would have been a powerful motivation to Messianic expectation.

Take a moment to consider what was happening with the temple at the time of Jesus’ birth.  Herod the Great was ruling  at the time, from 37BC to 4BC.  Jesus’ birth is reckoned to be in 6BC meaning the killing of the infants of Bethlehem happened in the last two years of Herod’s despotic rule.  And with respect to the temple, Herod, in an attempt to mollify the Jews and to claim identification with them (even though he was Idumean, a remnant of Edomites who had aligned themselves with Judaism), had completed a major renovation and beautification of the Second Temple.  This renovation had been completed around 10BC.  

So just for starters you might think that this newly refurbished temple might give rise to some strong feelings among the Jews.  But that in itself it not a sufficient answer for the likes of Simeon, Anna and Joseph.  What might have been used of the Lord in their thinking was a combining of the work on the temple with the prophecy of Haggai, as we will see.  The words, particularly of Simeon, reveal a depth of understanding of God’s prophets, not simply the appreciation of a beautiful building.  It might cause us to ask today about our own expectation of Christ’s return.  Is it based merely in current events, or in current events seen from the perspective of the inspired text, the Bible.