Much more than a mere twinkling of an eye, a wink, or a satisfying acknowledgment ...a sudden encounter with a greater degree of surprise and delight. So much can be said, but first it may be a bit helpful to review what we feel we are all familiar with.

Whether you believe in Jesus, and believe in what is written about Him ...you've at least heard the story, or are about to hear it.

The Jewish people (and much of the world at that time) were under the cruel dictatorship of Roman rule.  

There had been many times in their past history where they'd looked to be rescued by their God, whether it was through Moses guiding them out of slavery or David facing Goliath.  

It had been a long time ...but those who knew their history, knew it had not been God abandoning them.  It had been them abandoning God.  They still believed in God, they had just so often followed the way of others, other than following the way that God provided them.

They still believed in their God, and they still had hope that God would provide again.  But, they had a different idea on how they thought God would provide.  Many of them didn't understand the concept of first things first.  

What do I mean by first things first?  It's like crawling through a tunnel that you can barely fit through, and then you get stuck. You can't just turn around.  And to continue on, you have to first go back the way you came.

This is not always the way it is.  Sometimes we can turn things around immediately ...but not often when you really get stuck. And sometimes getting stuck is the solution, not the problem. The problem is we are often crawling into something we should not be ...and we will continue doing so, unless perhaps we get stuck.

Like I said, at this time the Jewish people were stuck with a cruel Roman dictatorship.  And they wanted to be saved from it. They knew their history, and they believed ...and once again, they were looking for their God to send someone to save them.

But, many of them did not see the necessity of 'first things first'. God really was about to save them in a big way, but first He wanted to get our attention and lead us to undo the way of thinking that continues to get us stuck.  He was about to show us a new path, away from those difficult fits and fixes we get ourselves into.

Few saw the signs in the sky that the wise men saw.  Few believed that Mary had been chosen, and had not betrayed her betrothal to Joseph. They believed she was just covering her own sin, not carrying the One inside her who would cover all believers' sins. 

When Jesus became a man, He was baptized by John ...who many considered a prophet.  And they saw how John referred to Jesus.

Soon multitudes gathered to hear Jesus tell them how to put first things first.  Many of the people felt the pain of what their lives had become and just wanted to become unstuck. They didn't want to be told all this other stuff that they felt would not give them relief from the Roman rule.

But, there were also those who didn't respond out of fear.  They had adjusted to the new rules. They had become comfortable with the way things were.  They aligned themselves with the Roman rule ...and actually felt they benefited from it.  

They created their stronghold mostly in the cities where many people congregated for trade and commerce, or to visit their temple.  They did not often disperse to the hillsides or seashore ...though they had people everywhere to observe, listen, and report to them.

Those who listened to Jesus ...and actually heard what He said, began to believe.  They gave their own reports on how wonderful His words were.  Thousands and thousands began to gather on the hillsides and seashore to listen to Jesus.  And they began to understand the message, though they didn't yet understand what He was yet to do for them.

He was going to do more than just merely get them unstuck.