The Mask Of The Saviour

Prayer:

Pastor Glenn Pease told an old story called the magic mask. It is about a powerful king who ruled over a great domain. This powerful king became so hard and cruel that ugly lines deepened into his face. One day, as he travelled around his country he saw a beautiful girl, and he longed to marry her. But he was appalled as he looked into the mirror and saw the hard and cruel lines in his face.

He could never win her love with such a face, and so he called for a magician to make him a mask of thin wax that would make him look kind and loving. The artist agreed to do it if he promised to pray daily to the God of love to change his heart and make him loving toward his subjects. He agreed and so the mask was made. The lovely girl became his wife, and they enjoyed a remarkable period of peace and prosperity. He became a truly loving ruler, and the people were amazed at the change in him.

But as time went on, he finally became so bothered by his deception of the wife he loved so dearly that he begged the magician to remove the magic mask. It was with fear and trembling that he then went to the mirror. But to his delight he did not need the mask any longer because the ugly lines on his face were gone.

His changed heart and spirit had changed his face, and he had a loving face even without the mask. We all wear mask at times to hide the ugliness of things that disturb our spirit. If we let people close enough to see all that we are all of the time, it would not be a pretty sight, and so we mask ourselves and put on a good front that is pleasant and acceptable.

Only God can see us totally ugly lines in our soul and still love us. The proof of this is that Jesus himself, wore a mask. Jesus hid his identity as long as he could, and did so in a very conspicuous manner. The first hint we have of this mask is the encounter Jesus has with the demonized man in the synagogue. When the evil spirit in this man cried out at Jesus, "I know who you are-the Holy One of God," Jesus did not say, "Speak up, this is just the kind of publicity I need right now." Instead, He said, "Be quiet!"

He stopped this positive testimony to his identity. Now if this was just an isolated incident we could just ignore it and not try to read too much into it. But this was just the beginning of a pattern Jesus followed.

In verse 34: "And Jesus healed many diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was." They knew who was behind the mask. So He stopped them, for he was not ready to take off his mask and be known for who he was.

Even if two such incidents could be over looked as a possible idiosyncrasy of Mark. When we look at verses 43-45. Jesus had just cured a man of leprosy. It was a marvelous miracle, and one that could bring a lot of publicity. But "Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning." "See that you don't tell this to anyone."

But one of the paradoxes of the Gospel account is these very people that Jesus warned and begged to keep his secret were the biggest blabber mouths in his life. This man went out and spread the word and the result was Jesus could no longer enter a town openly.

But the mystery is, why did Jesus want to keep his identity a secret so bad that he worked at it overtime? I will try to share some light on this mystery as we go on. What if we can show that Jesus kept up this battle to hide his identity over and over again?

It is all right, but why in the world would the Messiah himself be the primary suppresser of the good news that the Messiah had arrived? He was the answer to millions of prayers, and now that all these prayers were finally answered, Jesus would not let the people know by taking off His mask and proclaiming, "Look here guya! It's me, the Messiah!" He never did that, and it was all part of a preconceived plan.

It was his intention that only a few would ever see behind his mask and know without a doubt that he was the Messiah. He took Peter, James, and John up to the Mt. of Transfiguration where they saw Jesus glow with the light of deity, and talk with Moses and Elijah, and hear the voice of God saying, "This is my Son whom I love. Listen to Him."

None but these three had such clear evidence of who Jesus was, but they were not allowed to share this unique experience with anyone. "As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead." Mark 9:9

The secret of Jesus was to be kept until after his resurrection. Obviously we are dealing with a major strategy in the whole purpose of Christ coming into this world. Keeping his identity a secret is a vital part of the plan of salvation, I think.

And it really does make sense when you think about it. If Jesus would have taken off the mask and let the whole world know the truth of who he was, there is no way he could have ever been sacrificed for our sins. No Jew or Gentile could ever dream of killing the Messiah.

If He had permitted this message to be broadcast over the land, he would have been followed with such enthusiasm that there would be no chance of him being despised and rejected of men, and offered as the Lamb of God for the sin of the world. Even the Pharisees and Sadducees would have been willing to die for Him.

So Jesus had to do what the Messiah was to do and fulfill the Old Testament prophecies. Yet, at the same time keep it hidden. What we have here is the mystery of concealed revelation. Jesus was ever revealing that he was the Messiah by doing what only the Messiah could do, yet ever keeping it a secret that he was the Messiah.

Like the Lone Ranger, people were always wondering, who is that masked stranger. Jesus never took off the mask, and so there was always the mystery in people's minds: Yes He seems like the Messiah, yet we do not know if He really is. He does not say I am the Messiah. He seems like he might be, yet maybe he isn't.

Why such a strange strategy? It was the only way Jesus could have it both ways I believe. He could be the Messiah, and yet be also the suffering servant who would die for the sin of the world. Jesus had to work hard for the chance to die for us. The demons sought to destroy the plan of God by trying to expose Jesus.

Disobedient people also tried to foul up his plan by their spreading the news that he must be the Messiah. This seems so crazy. The demons were preaching the deity of Christ, and the disciples were suppressing it, and it all makes sense. If Jesus would have become only the Messiah of Israel, he could not have become the Savior of the world.

So what we have here is Jesus sacrificing the good for the better. He had to wear his mask and keep his identity as Messiah a secret in order to achieve a far greater goal of being the redeemer of the whole lost race of man. If Jesus had had the limited goal of saving only Israel, then none of this mystery would have been necessary.

He would have proclaimed himself Messiah, and the story would not have ended in death and resurrection, but in an earthly kingdom for the people of Israel with Jesus as their king. The scope of his salvation was not limited to Israel, but his love went out to all the world. He had no intention of being a king of the Jews only. He intended to be kings of all kings, and be Lord of all peoples.                                     

That was his goal all through his life, and that is why he wore the mask and refused to settle for anything less than being the Savior of the world. The failure of the leaders of ancient Israel to receive Jesus as their Messiah was not a frustration of the purpose of Christ, but a fulfillment of his purpose.

The cross was the goal of Jesus in all that he did. When Jesus prayed on the cross, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do," He was expressing the success of his mask. Nobody but a few disciples knew that he was really the Messiah. Those who crucified him did not know even though Jesus clearly fulfilled all prophecy.

Paul confirms this in "...we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." I Cor. 2:7-8.

In other words, without the mask Jesus wore he never would have made it to the cross. Your salvation and mine, and that of the whole family of God depended upon this mysterious mask of the Saviour.

Don't ever waste your emotional energy feeling bad that Jesus was never excepted as the Messiah. The reason he wasn't was he kept it secret. He masked his Messiahship, and all the power of hell could not rip that mask off, try as they did. Satan's only hope of maintaining control of the earth and mankind was to prevent the cross.

Satan wanted Jesus to be the most popular man in Israel. Leap from the temple and let the people carry you to power. Bow down to me and receive power over the nations. Satan wanted Jesus to take off the mask and let it be known he was the Messiah. This was the point of all the temptations in the wilderness, and Jesus had to fight constantly to keep his mask on.

The parables were part of His mask. Listen to "He told them the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding..." Mark 4:11-12.

Jesus kept everyone confused and in the dark to fulfill his greater plan for the whole world. Whose fault was it that Jesus was not accepted as Israel's Messiah? It was his own fault, for this was his plan. Anybody who hates Jews for rejecting Christ and crucifying him is wrong, for this is the way Jesus planned it. If you want to blame anybody for the cross, blame Jesus, for he had a thousand chances to escape it by removing his mask. But he kept it on to be our Saviour.

Which would you rather have Jesus be: The Messiah of Israel or the Savior of the world? By means of his mysterious mask he became both, and the result is both Jews and Gentiles can forever say, Thank God for that masked man who outwitted the subtle serpent and the wisdom of people to be our Savior.

He avoided the limited destiny that others would have forced on Him to fulfill that greater destiny His Father had planned for Him, that He might be King of kings and Lord of lords with a name above all others. Jesus could have had the Pharisees and Sadducees bowing to him and swearing allegiance.

If Jesus had wanted no higher goal than to be the Messiah of Israel, He could have easily achieved that ambition. But Jesus chose to sacrifice that goal to be the Savior of the world. As he hung dying on the cross.

He could have called legions of angels to come to his rescue. He could have ripped his mask off and said, “Look you people I am the Son of God. Nobody does this to me and gets by with it." But Jesus refused to remove the mask. He died looking like a common criminal.

But one Roman Centurion got a peak under the mask and saw who he really was and said, "Truly this was the Son of God." But it changed nothing, for the rest saw only the mask and they crucified him. To the end he wore his mask because of his love for all humankind.

If saving humanity meant so much to Jesus, may be there is something missing in our love for Jesus if we are not motivated to share this good news of his love. Paul said he would become all things to all people that he might win some. Paul would wear any mask and be what he had to be to win people. Are we willing to play different roles in life to touch others for Christ?

Jesus paid the ultimate price to wear his mask for us: Are we willing to wear a mask for him? We need to learn how to relate well to anyone God brings into our lives that we might in some way touch them for Christ. This was a goal Jesus had in mind all along, and it will help us in fulfilling the ultimate purpose of the mysterious mask of the Saviour. Amen.