Beyond Politics, Poverty, and Disease: Christ's True Mission

Continuing his exposition of Matthew Chapter 1, Rev. Sang Ho Bae's next text is Matthew 1:21. He gave his exposition the title "The Purpose for Which Jesus Came.” Here's how he expounded the text:

Jesus came into the world to save His people from their sins. This is the core purpose of the Lord’s coming. The Lord came not to solve political, economic, social, or disease-related problems but to solve the problem of sin, which is the root of all those things.

She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21).

However, the Jews of that time misunderstood the Messiah whom God would send as a political deliverer. When Jesus performed various miracles, and especially when He showed His power by feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish, they tried to make Him king. To them, Jesus appeared only as a political Messiah who would free them from Roman oppression and solve their immediate poverty and difficulties. The people of Israel longed for salvation, but what they desired was not salvation from sin. They hoped that a political Messiah like David would appear and deliver them from foreign oppression. Even the disciples of Jesus understood the restoration of Israel as a realistic and political salvation. Their longing was freedom from political oppression, deliverance from poverty, and healing from disease. But the angel clearly declared the purpose for which Jesus came: “He will save His people from their sins.”

The reason the Lord came is that human beings have no ability to resolve the problem of sin on their own. Had humanity been able to deal with its sin by itself, the Lord would not have needed to come. Other problems can be overcome to some extent by human strength, but no one can escape the power of sin. In the human world there exist countless problems—poverty, oppression, disease, illiteracy, and so on. The reason the Lord set aside other problems and came to solve the problem of sin is that sin is the root of all problems. Poverty, violence, and oppression—when their roots are traced—ultimately have sin at their core. Conflicts in families and confusion in society and nations all arise from sin. The problems of humanity appear very diverse, but their root is one. When one catches a cold, various symptoms such as fever, coughing, and a runny nose appear, but the cause of all those symptoms is a single cold virus. Likewise, all the problems humanity experiences are fruits that grow from the root called sin.

There is no exception to the problem of sin. It has nothing to do with age, gender, wealth, social status, nationality, or race. Some people are poor, but not everyone is poor. It is the same with power. Some enjoy authority, but many do not. Some people are sick, but many are healthy. But sin is different. There is not a single person without sin. Therefore, the problem of sin is everyone’s problem, and this sin ultimately drives human beings to destruction. If there had been no sin, there would have been no sickness, no poverty, and no oppression. The reason humanity receives God’s judgment is also entirely because of sin.

The Lord is not a political Messiah, nor an economist who will revive the economy, nor a democratization activist who will end dictatorship. He is the Savior who saves us only from sin. People feel the oppression, poverty, and sickness before their eyes as real and urgent, but they regard salvation from sin as something abstract and therefore do not deeply sense its necessity. They are sensitive to their bank balance, their health check results, and the social anxiety shown in the news, but they do not easily feel the state of their soul or the weight of sin. Yet the most fundamental and most urgent salvation for humanity is salvation from sin.