PRES ID E NT'S P E RSP ECT I V E
Renewed Look at the Three Angels’ Message The crowd shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Jesus had been assailed for 33 years by many, if not most, for His sinless character. A life of toil and exaction, He and grief became lifelong friends.
E Maurice Valentine
4 MAY 2021
Likely, Roman soldiers repeatedly knocked Him to the ground by their fists, in fits of fury, simply because of His Jewishness. Can you see them standing over Him because — king or no king — in their sinful hearts, they were sure He was inferior to them? Could anything be worse? Yes, being hated by your own as even His own people shouted, “Crucify Him, Crucify Him!” Is it possible their hatred of Jesus, although manyfaceted, extended to the depth of their souls because all they wanted was a humanistic deliverer? Is it possible they felt spurned by Jesus’ seeming lack of interest in their being so long under Rome’s thumb, not recognizing it was their spiritual condition that invited this domination by another nation as they were clearly warned they would be by God in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy? If they had obeyed, they would have been the world’s superpower and a godly one as well. Can you hear them saying, “We tried to make Him king and He rejected us, so likewise, we reject Him”? Wrapped up in their nationalistic and ethnocentric desire for self-autonomy, they instead cried out, “We would rather have [the nationalistic, militant] Barabbas.” Unfortunately, Jesus was but a footnote on the page of their desire. So blinded by hatred, Barabbas goes free instead of Jesus. All this stuff about love thy neighbor, especially your enemy, was too much for them. Blinded by their pursuit of freedom, they misunderstood the mission of their and the world’s Messiah. That said, should today’s remnant church have a conversation on diversity and ethnicity lest it make the same mistake? After all, this distraction may have been the chief reason they cried for Jesus’ execution.
Moreover, can a contemporary conversation on this subject possibly serve as a distraction from the Three Angels' messages of Revelation 14? After all, the people in Jesus’ day were certainly distracted. Therefore, it is a fair question and worthy of examination. The First Angel's Message The first message echoes the Great Commission and is foundational to all three angels’ messages, asserting, And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. . . (Rev. 14:6). Diversity is not a bad word. God’s heart for all people groups is strategically placed in the opening statement of the First Angel’s message and, while reminding those in our faith of the Great Commission, also serves as a warning against humanism and ethnocentrism. As every planet in our solar system and beyond has its own unique characteristics, so does mankind. God loves diversity! However, whenever something we value becomes our singular focus, that is when it crosses the boundary of being healthy to destructive, from sinless to sinful. A seminary professor stated, “All ‘isms’ lead to schisms.” Schisms are Satan’s way of sowing division. Whatever it is, when we become frenzied and focused on it, it distorts our thinking, just like that which happened in Jesus’ day. Before long, we find our minds shouting, “crucify him” (or “them”). Ethnocentrism, nationalism, even feminism, is the result of taking something that God certainly wants us to value, such as our origins, to illogical extremes. The best DNA test is that of Scripture which attests we are all sons and Visit LakeUnionHerald.org
