Have you defined for yourself what you would consider to be so transcendently good and worthwhile that you would have no problem sacrificing anything that could get in the way of having it?
For the Jewish person at the time of Christ there was already a widespread longing and expectation that the coming of the Messiah was at hand. Perhaps that is why certain eccentric individuals could garner a following upon claiming to be the Messiah. And I think a major contributing factor that awakened this longing was that they were living under occupation. Roman soldiers were everywhere and the people were being severely oppressed.
When we are suffering difficulties and problems are mounting up, don’t we set our sights on what we see as being a way out?
And for the Jewish people, what could possibly be a better answer than the appearance of the Messiah?
Think about the two disciples of Jesus on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection. They were utterly devastated by his crucifixion because, “we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”
So in his preaching, Jesus didn’t first have to stir up in his listeners an ultimate aim, a supreme goal or longing or desire within them. They already had that. They knew what they most wanted to see happen in their lifetimes.
But the longer I live the more I am aware of how few people I know have made clear to themselves what they ultimately want in life. Have you?
Let’s do a check: how would you answer the following question:
Considering where things are at in your life right now what would be the best news that you could possibly hope to hear? Or in other words, what is the highest good you can conceive of that you consider so valuable, so worthwhile, that you yearn to continually experience it in your life?
You see, if I could’ve asked that question to a group of Jews at the time of Christ they would have been able to answer it without a moments hesitation — the Messiah! The kingdom of God on earth!
They were that well attuned to the deepest longings in their hearts. Are you?
So, when Jesus came along preaching that,
“The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near.” (Mark 1:15). He was speaking directly to the supreme hope in the hearts of each of his listeners. So Jesus could go on from there in the same breath to tell the crowds how to prepare, how to step in to that reality. He went on to say, “Repent and believe the good news!”
You see, in that context repentance made sense because it was an act of getting rid of anything, sacrificing everything that could stand in the way of their entry into the the redeeming work of the Messiah — the kingdom of God.
Using the scriptures as my guide, I think I can boldly tell you what the deepest yearning of your heart is. Referring to Jesus, Colossians 1:16 reads that “all things” were created “for him.”
In spelling that out, I have taken “for him” to mean that we were created for friendship with Jesus.
So I’m persuaded that if we were to probe the depths of your heart to discern your deepest longing, the greatest possible good for which your heart yearns day and night, it is simply this: you want to be Jesus’ true friend.
