Perfect Submission

The Christmas music on the radio got me thinking, appropriately enough, about the Incarnation.  I suppose I usually take it for granted that Jesus knew what his purpose in life was from a young age– he certainly had a special knowledge of his father early on (cf. Luke 2: 49)– and was always resolved to complete his mission with only that slight and momentary lapse of courage in Gethsemane.  But there’s no reason to think that was the case according to the Bible.  Jesus may well have been apprehensive (though obviously determined) about the Cross many years before the event.  His prayer in Gethsemane to let that cup pass may be just one recorded instance of an ongoing conversation with his Father.

As I dwelt on that possibility, and on the reality that the divine Jesus was also fully human, with a free will just like ours, not some automaton who did God’s will out of habit, I felt an interesting Christmas emotion.  I got angry.  Angry that God would send Jesus to earth, utterly alone, and force him to take on the sins of all the hateful, obnoxious people of the world and die for us, especially when Jesus wasn’t even 100% gung-ho about the whole crucifixion thing.  Angry that the Father would reject and abandon his own flesh and blood.  Why would he pick us over his own Son?

It would be so much more palatable if Jesus didn’t mind being executed.  Or if he’d been given an epidural first.

But Jesus had to give us new birth the old-fashioned way.  He had to feel the full weight of our burden on his shoulders to know how hard to throw it away.  And I believe he had to feel real human emotion about doing it in order for it to be effectual.  All the more praise be to God that Jesus was perfectly obedient to his Father’s will even when it wasn’t his preferred course of action.  “Not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

I have a feeling I’ll be working on that kind of submission to God’s will for a while.

What wondrous love is this? O my soul, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this, O my soul?

What wondrous love is this

Which caused the Lord of bliss

To bear the dreadful curse.

For my soul?

What wondrous love is this?
Which caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse,
For my soul.

Least in the Kingdom

Luke 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

John the Baptist was the greatest prophet ever.  Greater than Elijah or Moses.  More passionate than David.  More eccentric than Ezekiel.  Why was his prophecy so important? Because, like other prophets, he prophesied about Jesus’ life and death, but unlike his predecessors, he directly prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry in Jesus’ own time. Other prophets even prophesied about John’s ministry.

But Jesus says that even John has little compared to one who enters the kingdom of God.  Who enters the kingdom of God?  Those born again of water and the Spirit, that is, Christians.  So the least Christian is greater than John the Baptist, who was in turn the greatest “Old Testament” prophet.

What makes a Christian so much better than the prophets and godly men of old?  Certainly not the quality of our deeds!  It’s obviously not our character!

I think part of the reason Jesus says Christians, partakers in the New Covenant, are greater– more blessed– than the prophets of Israel is that, despite their memorable encounters with God, the godly men and women of the Old Testament didn’t live to see their hopes of a savior realized.  The Holy Spirit didn’t live in their hearts to teach them and guide them in the way he does in those of Christians.

Every Christian, great or small, has a gift that any one of our biblical heroes would kill to have!  David longed to know more about his redeemer.  Isaiah knew details of Jesus’ death, but he never knew about his life and teachings.  Every Christian gets to talk to Jesus every day as intimately, if not quite so dramatically, as Moses, unique among all Israel, did from time to time.

How precious a gift we carry in our hearts, to know our Savior by name.

(The song that got me thinking about this.  As Christians we can ask God to show us his glory in a way few Israelites would have dared– because we are made right with him through Christ.)

Wood Work

I just got finished doing some beginner carpentry on my workbench- I was attempting to make a wood joint called a mortise and tenon.  I’ve never made one before and wanted to practice on scrap wood before I try to make anything with it.  I did the whole thing by hand, using a Japanese carpenter’s saw.  The project isn’t quite finished because I need a rasp or a chisel to finish out the bottom of the mortise.

I derive a lot of pleasure out of woodworking.  One of the things I always think about when I’m working, especially when using hand tools, is whether Jesus ever found himself doing a similar project 2000 years ago, before he started his preaching ministry.  I’m sure he was good at what he did, and I find it interesting to think that carpentry may be one of the things he actually has preferential opinions about.  What I mean is while he certainly likes our best work rather than slacking off, because of his earthly experience, Jesus might prefer a lap joint to a mortise and tenon on purely subjective grounds.  Maybe we’ll talk shop when I get to see him face to face, and he can show me some tricks of the trade.

Keeping it real

My wife related a conversation she’d had with someone about religion.  This person was complaining that Christians don’t even think about what they’re saying- that everything doctrinal and sacred to us is really just rote, and we don’t consider the real meaning of what we believe.  His case in point was about Jesus’ occupation as a carpenter.  Sure, we all say that he was a carpenter for most of his life.  So why do so many depictions of him show a frail, meek little guy with spindly fingers?

Skinny Jesus

The real Jesus– anybody who’d swung a hammer and hauled logs for twenty years–must have been BUILT.

Ripped Jesus

I have to be careful what kind of preconceptions I’m forcing on the Bible- and on God himself- and learn instead to let myself be formed and reformed by the Gospel.

And maybe there’s something to that guy’s argument- what else is perfectly obvious to someone who sees the Bible with fresh eyes that I ignore because of my familiarity with it?

Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.  I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. Psalm 119:18-19