The Public Life of Jesus Was Full of Tribulation and Ordeals

Sun Myung Moon
February 1, 1959

Matthew 8: 18-22

Jesus who came 2,000 years ago, Jesus who led a sorrowful life during the thirty years of preparation, there was no one who understood this Jesus from the depth of his heart. No one bowed before him and was able to attend him. There was not even one ugly and crippled person who did that. This is truly a tragic story. Had there been such a person, humanity today would not feel so ashamed. When we consider this, we can understand that we owe an infinitely great debt to Heaven.

As Jesus observed John the Baptist during his thirty-year preparation period, he had many expectations. Jesus, who had been looking forward to the day when he could begin his course of public ministry, finally took the first concrete step toward fulfillment. He thought the people of the time and John the Baptist would welcome him. Yet both treated him coldly and even opposed him. The sects of Judaism opposed him. Jesus, who had made such a brave and firm determination during the preparation period, was supposed to use the Israelite people as his foundation to step forward and fight with the world, but they opposed him. Consequently, he was faced with the miserable fate of having to fight with the Israelite people. You have to understand this. This is why the Israelites, who had prepared for the coming of the Messiah with great toil for 4,000 years, had to begin their mission again from the bottom.

When God’s foundation of 4,000 years crumbled, Jesus had to appear before the people a second time with the same absoluteness of God’s dispensation just after the fall of Adam and Eve. We must understand how sad Jesus must have been. He sought them out because they were supposed to be the chosen people, yet they drove him out.

Where could Jesus go then? The Israelites, whom God had raised through 4,000 arduous years, had betrayed Heaven and stood in the position of Satan. Who was able to understand the agonized heart Jesus felt as he looked upon the situation? This is the reason Jesus went out to the wilderness and fasted for forty days.

You have probably never thought that Jesus was such a miserable person. The people at that time did not know of such an infuriating tragedy, that Jesus, who came as the prince of Heaven, was ostracized by the people and had to starve in the wilderness and be subjected to the tests of Satan, the enemy of God. There are no words to describe the indignation of God as He watched the situation of Jesus!

Jesus, who felt such pangs of indignation in his heart, knew that God was deeply concerned about his situation. This is why he tried to suppress any expression of such feelings and demonstrated the utmost filial piety toward Heaven. When we reflect upon Jesus, we can understand that he felt the heart of God, who transcended the betrayal of Adam in the Garden of Eden and expressed deep concern for him. It was natural that Jesus would pray to alleviate his sorrow; yet he suppressed his anger and tried to comfort God. This is why he was able to open the door of hope through which he could remove the grief of the fall and guide fallen people toward God. Jesus made the determination during the thirty-year preparation period that he would live his life in service of this goal. He knew he might have to stand as an enemy before the people.

As we reflect upon this, we can see that the history of sorrow has been caused by the mistakes of our ancestors. God wanted the three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration to comfort Jesus with the same heart of concern that Jesus had toward the people. God wanted them to pray on his behalf. It was they who should have built the altar, yet they were caught up in other thoughts. Thus, Jesus made a new determination as he received the prediction of his death in Jerusalem, and he began to make preparations for that day.