Jesus Can Unify A Divided World
“The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves…Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language…So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city…its name was called Babel” Genesis 11:1, 4, 6-9
It is hard to imagine a time when all people spoke the same language, and yet it is the original design of the garden and the future hope of heaven. Why did God confuse their language? What language were they speaking? Pride. The people were living to make their own name great, not to give God glory. This moment marked the division of the ancient people.
“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?…Yahweh is on his throne in heaven. His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men…For Yahweh is righteous. He loves righteousness. The upright shall see his face.” Psalms 11:3-4, 7
What is the foundation of your life? Are you building a life devoted to God and His ways? Or living for your own gain and glory? The righteous live for God and they see Him.
“When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom. He who is truly righteous gets life…He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf…The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wise wins souls.” Proverbs 11:2, 19, 23-24, 28, 30
What do you want? You can reverse engineer your legacy. Want wisdom? Then walk in humility. Do you want to flourish? Choose to trust God instead of gold. Want to produce righteous fruit? Look around to see whose soul needs winning for Christ.
“A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. Yahweh’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh. His delight will be in the fear of Yahweh. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears; but he will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth… Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his waist. It will happen in that day that the nations will seek the root of Jesse, who stands as a banner of the peoples…the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover his people…He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts”Isaiah 11:1-5, 10-12
The prophet foretells of a coming savior. A holy one who will be full of the spirit and bring people back to God through Him. Jesus came to return the people who had scattered and show all people the way home. He came for you and He came for me. God knew people needed a way back and the way is Jesus.
“When Jesus had finished directing his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and preach in their cities…the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them…All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him…Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”” Matthew 11:1, 5, 27-30
There are many beautiful truths in this passage. Jesus pursues the lost leaving where He has been to go into the cities. He seeks out the outcasts, finds the lost, heals the hurting, and displays the evidence that He is the promised Messiah. He is the one people should run to, but rather than wait, He pursues them.
How does He describe himself? As gentle and humble. Want to be more like Jesus and bring love to others? Lead with humility and gentleness rather than judgment or truth. No matter where you have been or what you have done, Jesus is calling the separated to take part in salvation. He has come to bring you home.