Handing Over the Messiah

One of the books that I'm having to read for one of my classes is The Wounded Healer by Henri J.M. Nouwen. In it, he talks about the ways in which a minister is to serve those around him while accepting his own frailties and woundedness. It is very good and I recommend it but what I especially liked was an illustrative story he told. It really made me think about how many times I have ignored actually interacting with people and getting to know them. I hope it impacts you as well.

One day a young fugitive, trying to hide himself from the enemy, entered a small village. The people were kind to him and offered him a place to stay. But when the soldiers who sought the fugitive asked where he was hiding, everyone became very fearful. The soldiers threatened to burn the village and kill everyone in it unless the young man was handed over to them before dawn. The people went to the minister and asked him what to do.

The minister, torn between handing over the man to the enemy and having his people killed, withdrew to his room and read his Bible, hoping to find an answer before dawn. After many hours, in the early morning his eyes fell on these words: "It is better that one man dies than that the whole people be lost."

Then the minister closed the Bible, called the soldiers and told them where the fugitive was hidden. And after the soldiers led the young man away to be killed, there was a feast in the village because the minister had saved the lives of the people.

But the minister did not celebrate. Overcome with deep sadness, he remained in his room. That night an angel came to him, and asked, "What have you done?" He said: "I handed over the fugitive to the enemy." Then the angel said: "But don't you know that you have handed over the Messiah?" "How could I know?" the minister replied anxiously. And the angel said: "If, instead of reading your Bible, you had visited this young man just once and looked into his eyes, you would have known."