Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today’s word is “expectation.”
I’ve been reading this book called The End of the Magi by Patrick Carr. It is a fiction book about the magi traveling, following the star to find the Messiah, the King of Israel. The setting starts with the book of Daniel, which I think might have been about 500 years or so before the birth of Jesus. The premise of the story is the creation of the magi in Daniel’s time to ensure that the calendar of when the Messiah will arrive is kept, based on the prophecy.
I don’t know how much of the content is fiction and how much is fact. I haven’t studied that particular part of the Scriptures very much, but it has given me a lot to think about. The magi had a sincere expectation of the coming King. They were expecting him so much, they tracked it with a calendar.
I believe many others in Israel were the same. When you read the Gospels, it is sometimes evident that they were expecting him. It was not like he was just some random guy who showed up on the scene, and they were like, “Hey, he is doing some cool stuff, so let’s follow him.” I believe they were so anchored in what the Scriptures said about Him, that when He arrived, many were like, “He’s here!!”
One example is the woman with the issue of blood. In her story, she says to herself, “if I can just touch His garment, I will be healed.” That is a reference to a prophecy in Malachai, where the “sun of righteousness would arise with healing in his wings.” The wings of his garment were called the tzitzit, and I imagine that’s where she touched.
I was reading something yesterday about numbers in the Bible, and it said that in 1 Peter, Peter made references to Old Testament Scriptures something like 28 times. I do not remember the exact number, but it was such a high number that I was amazed. I don’t notice everything a Jewish person might notice in that letter that he mentioned from the Old Testament. Their lives were steeped in Scripture. They lived it, through geography, food, festivals, and the Torah and other writings. They just didn’t look at it and move on with their day. Their lives were absorbed in it. So, they had an expectation of Jesus’ arrival.
I think we are getting ready to come full circle. As we get ready to celebrate Christmas, I am also more aware of The Lord’s second coming. It might be tomorrow, and it might be next year. But my heart is set, and I am looking for Him, with ernest expectation waiting for Him to come again.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.-Acts 1:11 (Berean Study Bible)
Beth Reavis 