“A great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.” I Kings 19:11-12

The Jewish assumption was that the Messiah was going to come and work in the world very physically and overtly. The Messiah was supposed to come and strike the nations and establish his kingdom over the earth. In the first century Jewish believers were awaiting the day when the Messiah would come and defeat Rome, end the exile, establish the kingdom of God, and bring the new covenant. Jesus fulfilled all of those roles of Messiah, but not in the manner in which it was expected.

Jesus did not come in a mighty wind, a great earthquake, or in a ferocious fire, but in a whisper. Jesus came as infant born of a virgin in Bethlehem, he spent his life traveling only a hundred miles or so from his home town, and he focused much of his time on a meager group of twelve. However, most of the world knows his name and his followers continue to leave an undeniable mark on the world. How is it that a man who lived 2,000 years ago, who did not write a book, travel far, or was not a military or political leader influence the world so much?

Jesus was subversive. Jesus did not come bearing a sword, but turned the other cheek. Jesus did not come with political programs, but with the Gospel. Jesus came to change the earth subversively. His kingdom was not established by the blood of his enemies, but by his own blood. He did not establish his kingdom like Caesar, but like a farmer. He came and planted a mustard seed. Jesus said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”