The Israelites needed a king. Actually, they had a perfectly good king. No, they had a perfectly perfect king. Israel was once a theocracy; meaning their king was the Lord God Himself. But Israel wanted a different king. They wanted a king like everybody else. So that is what the Lord gave them. He gave them a king like everybody else. A King named Saul. Saul looked every bit the part of a king. He was an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites – a head taller than any of the others. Saul’s reign had a promising beginning, but in the end, Saul turned out to be a bit of a hot mess. Repeatedly he disobeyed the Lord’s commands. The Lord was grieved he made Saul king over Israel. Israel needed a new king.
The prophet Samuel was sent to the sons of Jesse. In His providence the Lord had chosen one of them to be Israel’s new king. The eldest son of Jesse looked like the obvious choice. The prophet Samuel said, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD. 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.”[1] Jesse presented seven of his sons to the prophet Samuel, no doubt all fine and capable young men, but the Lord rejected them all. “Are these all the son’s you have?”, asked Samuel. “no”, Jesse answered, “there is still the youngest” [2]. Jesse had not thought to present the youngest child to the prophet. The youngest son was not the one upon whom you bestowed honor, he was the one you sent out into the field to tend the sheep.
Eventually the youngest son was sent for. The boy was handsome; the ladies would say he was easy on the eyes, but he was “ruddy”. “Ruddy” means red. Today we might call this kid a ginger. Not that there is anything wrong with being a ginger, it’s just that, well let’s just say the Israelites had not seen a lot of ruddy kings. And yet, the Lord told Samuel, “he is the one.”[3] So the prophet “Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed”[4] the young boy named David to be King over Israel.
Arguably, David turned out to be Israel’s greatest and the Lord’s favorite king. In Acts 13:22 the Lord says, “I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart.” David did not look like what most people thought a king should look like, but as it was explained to the Prophet Samuel, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”[5]
1,000 years after David is anointed king over Israel, the world needed a Messiah. As a result of a promise He made to Adam and Eve, “When the fulness of time had come, God sent His Son born of a woman born under the law”[6] to be the world’s Messiah. But when that Son arrived at the Jordan river, He looked no different than the hundreds, if not thousands of other who had come to the river to be baptized by John. He was just this ordinary guy. The prophet Isaiah described Him as One who " had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him."[7] He could have easily been lost in the crowd. He looked like every other sinner who had come to the river to be cleansed. He did not look like much of a Messiah.
John did. The people “were all wondering in their hearts if John might be the Messiah.”[8] You see, John was one of those larger than life kind of guys. Where he lived, the way he dressed, the things he ate all made him stand out from the crowd. But it was the way he spoke that really set John apart from the rest. John was the original Baptist (not in theology but in theatrics). He was a fire and brimstone preacher. He said what needed to be said and he didn’t care who he said it to either. John wasn’t afraid of anybody. King Herod married Herodias, his brother’s wife. John called him out on it; he told him, ‘man that aint right.’ (I wouldn’t be at all surprised if John tried to baptize the pervert.) The crowds gathered on the banks of the Jordan river took one look at ole John and wondered if he might be the Messiah.
John sure looked more like a Messiah than that ordinary looking Guy I mentioned earlier. It must have seemed odd to the crowds to see John acting so strangely. Typically, John was ready, willing, and eager to baptize the people who came down to the river to pray. But before this seemingly random Guy, he hesitates. They hear John say to Him, ““I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”[9] John was acting like he was unworthy to untie this Guy’s sandals. But honestly, the Guy’s sandals did not look like anything special, they actually looked like the kind of sandals a day laborer might wear. The people could not figure out why John was making such a fuss over this Guy.
As they were trying to figure it out, suddenly “heaven was opened”.[10] The people gathered at the Jordan could not have known it, but the shepherds outside of Bethlehem could have told them, ‘heaven has a way of opening up around this Guy’. Opening heaven, the way He did, was the Lord’s way of telling the world that was waiting for the Messiah, ‘He is the one’. To ensure there would be no confusion about which one the Lord was talking about The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended like an anointing oil upon the ordinary Guy known as Jesus “and a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’”[11]
Three years later, a blood stained cross and an empty tomb proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is who saint Peter confessed Him to be. He is “the Christ, the son of the Living God.”[12] Jesus did not look like what most people thought the Messiah should look like, but as it was explained to the Prophet Samuel, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”[13]
2,000 years after Jesus was anointed the world’s Messiah, the church needed some saints. Now, everyone knows what a saint should look like, right? A saint is a person who is recognizably holy. Their clothing is modest, dignified, and understated. The very expression of the face exudes righteousness; a gentle smile and bright eyes are permanent features on the face of a saint. The saint is also recognized by the way they act. They always turn the other check, always love their neighbor as themselves, and always fear, love, and trust in God above all things. But mostly a saint is recognized by the way they speak. Curses and vulgarities never pass their lips. Instead they pray, praise, and give thanks.
Everyone knows this is what a saint looks like. Is this what you look like? Don’t your neighbors, coworkers, and classmates recognize you as a saint? How about your families and friends, surely, they who know you the best would say you are the very embodiment of sainthood, wouldn’t they? Or would they say something else? Would they call you hypocrite? Would they say you are a person who pretends to be something you are not? Do they hear curses and praise coming out of the same mouth, do they see you one moment turning the other cheek but in the next moment striking out. Have your words and action confused people and caused them to call you a hypocrite? Or, is hypocrisy too good for you? A hypocrite at least acts like a saint, at least some of the time. When you are not here at church surrounded by your brothers and sisters in faith, what do you act like? Have you done such a good job of going with the flow and blending in with the crowd that no one would even think to call you a hypocrite? Would they call you something else: Drunk? Liar? Gossip? Adulterer? Cheat? Is there anyone who would say you look like a saint?
There is One; One who would say you look like a saint. You see, as it was explained to the Prophet Samuel, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”[14] When the Lord looks at your heart, He does not see sin. Even though out of our hearts “come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander”[15] and all the other sins that are so often on display in our lives. When the Lord looks at our hearts, He does not see sin. Instead He sees our Savior. He sees Jesus who saved us “not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.”[16] He sees Jesus who “justified us by His grace”[17] when He offered His perfect life as the substitute for sinners and shed His blood to cleans us of all the sins that are so often on display in our lives. When the Lord looks at you, He sees someone who has been anointed by the blood of His one and only Son; He sees someone who has “become an heir having the hope of eternal life”[18]; With the eyes that so loved the world the Lord looks at you and He sees saints.
David did not look like a king. Jesus did not look like the Messiah. You do not look like a saint. But “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”[19] Because of the Lord’s providence, David was anointed with oil to be Israel’s king. Because of the Lord’s promise Jesus was anointed with the Spirit to be the world’s Messiah. Because of the Lord’s love you have been anointed with the blood of the lamb to become one of His saints. Because of the Lord’s providence, promise, and love the Lord’s anointed now stand before the Lord. Amen
[1] 1 Samuel 16:6-7
[2] 1 Samuel 16:11
[3] 1 Samuel 16:12
[4] 1 Samuel 16:13
[5] 1 Samuel 16:7
[6] Galatians 4:4
[7] Isaiah 53:2
[8] Luke 3:15
[9] Matthew 3:14
[10] Luke 3:21
[11] Luke 3:22
[12] Matthew 16:16
[13] 1 Samuel 16:7
[14] 1 Samuel 16:7
[15] Matthew 15:19
[16] Titus 3:5
[17] Titus 3:7
[18] Titus 3:7
[19] 1 Samuel 16:7