We Love God!

God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)

[The] identification of the suffering Servant with the promised messianic King was never conceived as a possibility in Judaism. How can the glorious Messiah at one and the same time be one who judges the earth, slays the wicked with the breath of His lips, and also be one who passively suffers death by His enemies? Here we come face to face with the revolutionary new understanding of Jesus of Nazareth concerning the mission of the promised Messiah. He united three different concepts of Israel’s prophecy – the coming Davidic King; the Son of Man (in Daniel 7); the suffering Servant (in Isaiah 42-53) – all in one Person: Himself.
Hans LaRondelle

Jesus loved the enthusiast, the man who knew what side he was on and threw himself whole-heartedly into the struggle. He liked energetic action, as in the men who climbed the roof and broke a way through for their paralyzed friend, or in Zacchaeus who forgot his dignity and swarmed up a tree. He loved the generous giver. All four Gospels quote His saying, 'He who loves life loses it; he who spends keeps.' It sums up His attitude to life. He praised the man who banged on the door till he got an answer; He wanted men to show that kind of determination in the affairs of religion. He praised the widow who badgered the unjust judge into doing justice. He did not like playing for safety or burying one’s talent. It is the peace-makers rather than the peace-keepers whom He blesses. Goodness is a positive active loyalty (Hugh Martin).
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