When Bruce Springsteen first came from obscurity to fame in the late 1970's he was given the tag "The New Bob Dylan" this was the burden that every new singer had to carry round for a while till the cut there own groove. It took a few albums for Bruce to cut that tag loose and to find his own voice as a recording artist but it happened none the less in dramatic fashion in 1975, with the release of Born to Run this was followed three years later with another triumph - . The songs were edgier, moody, but still laced with a defiant optimism best illustrated by the albums lead track "Badlands"
This is defiantly one of Springsteen's Anthems. It has the power to raise twenty thousand fans to their feet, screaming - not only the chorus but the verses with a passion rarely heard in the halls of rock and roll. Why? At one time or another everyone of us has felt that we were engulfed by some kind of "Badlands" whether at work or in our personal lives. We can Identify with the struggle to get out. We are all challenged by Bruce's defiance "We'll keep pushing till it's understood that these badlands start treating us good" We can be inspired by his belief in the power of love, his faith, and his hope in great odds.
Trouble in the heartland
Got a head-on collision
Smashin' in my guts, man
I'm caught in a crossfire
I don't understand
But there's one thing I know for sure
I don't give a damn
For the same old played out scenes
I don't give a damn for just the in-betweens
Honey, I want the heart, I want the soul
I want control right now
Talk about a dream, try to make it real
You wake up in the night
With a fear so real
You spend your life waiting
For a moment that just don't come
Don't waste your time waiting
Badlands, you gotta live it everyday
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta pay
Keep pushin' till it's understood
These Badlands start treating us good
Workin' in the field
Till you get your back burned
Workin' 'neath the wheels
Till you get your facts learned
Baby, I got my facts
Learned real good right now
Get it straight
Poor man wanna be rich
Rich man wanna be king
And a king ain't satisfied
Till he rules everything
Wanna go out tonight
Wanna find out what I got
I believe in the love that you gave me
I believe in the faith that could save me
I believe in the hope
And I pray that some day
It may raise me above these
Badlands, gotta live it everyday
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta pay
Keep pushin' till it's understood
These Badlands start treating us good
Whoa, whoa
For the ones who had a notion
A notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin
To be glad you're alive
Wanna find one face
That ain't looking through me
Wanna find one place
I wanna spit in the face of these
Badlands, you gotta live it everyday
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta pay
Keep pushin' till it's understood
These Badlands start treating us good
Whoa, whoa, Badlands
Whoa, whoa, Badlands
Whoa, whoa, Badlands
Whoa, whoa, Badlands
Whoa, whoa
"Badlands" Could be a label that was attached to the nation of Israel in the time of Jesus. The people of God were once more in a captivity. this would be the third time in their existence that they were under foreign rule. First it was in Egypt, then it was in Babylon, now it was in their own land by the Romans. It's into these badlands that Jesus comes. A country and a people occupied by a foreign force and a foreign ruler - Caesar .
Briefly, this was a time also of great upheaval and uncertainty for the people of God a time when the rich were getting richer and the poor wear getting poorer, where the outcast was not welcome in the towns and villages. Where lepers had their own colonies. A time where the religious institution that should have been instilling hope and care exacted their own crippling laws at the hands of the religious rulers on God's people, laws that they could not attain to or fulfil. This really was a time in which people prayed for the messiah to come more than in any other time. Truly a time in the the "Badlands" It felt that they were under judgement in more ways than one.
The first moment that things were going to be different was when John the baptist in from the desert and was baptising people for the remission of their sins.
Matthew 3: 1-12 "In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptising, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Here was the announcement of the coming of the Messiah that was long awaited and long overdue. The story continues that John baptises Jesus. John's description of the ministry of Jesus being "Clearing" "Gathering" and "Burning" is an interesting description that needs more looking at but not in this devotion. John announces the coming of the one who will change the fate of the people of God and will transform everything with his power - turning the "Badlands" into "Goodlands" but not in the way people thought. What was expected was a powerful king would come and reverse the fortunes of Israel and restore the nation like it had been done in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. That was not going to happen, a different restoration was in store and not just for Israel but for the whole world.
Later Jesus emerges from the desert, from being tempted and enters Galilee with a mission that he is about to announce that will change the fortunes of the "Badlands" Jesus arrives at the synagogue and it so happens that the passage of the Old Testament that was due to be read that day talked about the healing of the "Badlands" Jesus stood up to read which was his right a s a jewish male in the synagogue.
Luke 4: 14 - 21 " Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
To begin with nothing was unusual in the reading of the scroll of Isaiah what happened next was unusual, indeed unheard of. Jesus says that this scripture is now fulfilled in their hearing. That was a revolutionary thought. "Fulfilment" was something that they were awaiting but they were not prepared for the announcement that now the promise of God for the combining of the messiah was going to be fulfilled.....it was now going to unfold before them and turn the "badlands" in people lives into an oasis of hope. Freedom is spoken of in the promise of God through the prophet Isaiah, healing, releasing, and a restoration that had not been seen before since the time of freedom from captivity in Babylon.
Jesus announces that he is the one who will rescue people from the "Badlands" If you read the gospel that is what he began to do. He also passed that role onto the disciples of the early church and that role is still being worked at in every new generation of God's people. the Good news of the Gospel is that the "Badlands" either of the heart or the "Badlands" that are geographical have the potential to become very different through the present work of Jesus Christ. Now that it good news indeed.! May Jesus help you today as you face the "Badlands" either of heart, mind or in your work, job, social or home life.
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