July 26, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?” (Zechariah 4.10)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

“The day of small things.” The reference here is the response to the criticism of those who believed the Temple being built by Zerubbabel was too small. When I look at the name of the governor of Judah in the years of restoration of Israel, I see two words: Zerub and Babel. While there is much debate about the first word and its meaning which we ourselves would not readily recognize nor understand, it should be of no surprise to recognize the second. The second word, Babel, represents Babylon. We hear of it first in the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. The premise of that story was to explain the many languages which existed at the time. Whether it was true or not, it would be difficult to imagine that only one language existed in all the world unless there was a common heritage among the people. This would lead us to consider the age of the story. It would also lead us to consider the danger of a “one world language” as it is presented in this story. Because of this similarity, the people were able to coordinate their efforts with the hope of building a “stairway to heaven.” The evidence of its construction is recorded in scripture by its collapse and the stones which were scattered when God brought it down. The archeological evidence was happened upon and then the story is recalled. The function of the story was not merely to explain why so many languages exist today but the danger of those who dared to believe they could attain the “height of heaven” and become equals with God. Does this argument sound familiar to you? Does it reflect the words of Satan to Eve and thus to Adam who listened from his nearby hiding place? It was there he said that God did not want them to eat of the fruit of that tree because in so doing it would make them equals with God knowing good and evil. Is that all that God is? Gnosticism is a heresy of the truth of God which presents that “knowledge alone” is the sole determination of our divine existence. Paul would remind those in the faith in Christ community of Corinth “a little knowledge puffs a person up but the love of God builds up.” Paul mentions this as he enters into the Judaizers argument concerning dietary laws. They hold to the old Law of the Covenant as the determination of who is a true believer and who is not. Paul promotes the essence of the Law which is seen perfectly in Christ and promotes the love of God for His people as the determination on such issues. We know of the debate which Peter himself had with Paul, the Jerusalem Council and the witness of God who appeared to him in Joppa. The result of that debate is obedience to the revealed word of God. While such revelations can come in dreams and visions, which all the above and more had including our own Zechariah, the ultimate revelation comes in the incarnation of God’s word. Jesus the Christ is the sole incarnation of God’s Word being in Him, of Him and through Him into all the world so that we might know of the truth of God’s word for each one of us. The summation of that revelation continues to come back to the universal language of authentic love as God Himself is love. In His love we have the hope of our salvation as, in the words recorded by John the Beloved, “For God so loved the world He purposed to give His only begotten Son to it so that any and all who would believe in Him as the Christ would not perish but have everlasting life.”

It is in Christ that we continue to see the theme of “small things” playing big parts. Jesus Himself took on the role of a servant. He declared that equality with God was not a thing to be grasped. He spoke of the kingdom of God as born out of the faith as tiny as a mustard seed. He took the offering of a boy’s meager family lunch and fed the crowd of over 20,000 people with leftovers remaining to fill 12 baskets. He humbled Himself in death, death on a cross in the humiliation and shame of crucifixion, in order to effect our salvation. His mission and purpose was to seek and save the lost who appeared to be small and insignificant in the eyes of the Temple leadership. They were like sheep without a shepherd because their “shepherds” saw them as inferior and unwanted except to support their great lifestyle of opulence in the eyes of Rome. Rome itself sought to exert its influence through bilingualism allowing all nations to maintain their traditions and practices including their languages but with the caveat that they serve Rome and embrace Latin as the one true language of the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome. Who was this “one” person whose faith called Him to stand against so many? Not only was it Jesus but it was Jesus of Nazareth. We hear the “smallness” of this identity when Nathanael responded comically to Philip’s “come and see the one is the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth” with “can anything good come from Nazareth?” Yes, small things collected together can amount to something great. That is how we ourselves are included in the whole body of Christ with no part being greater than the other and all parts in submission to the head of the body who is Christ alone. We are knitted together by the power of God’s love being perfectly fitted into one another in the full measure and stature of Christ. Even the disciples were being prepared for this ultimate reality as Jesus confronted their debate of “who shall be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” He did so once by taking a child who was presented to Him for blessing and healing and drawing their attention to that child. He said to them, “Unless you have the faith of a child you will not be able to reach the height of heaven.” In another place, Jesus would tell the disciples “Any who would desire to be great among you must first become the servant of all. The first will be last and the last shall be first in the Kingdom of God.” And in those realities, Jesus placed Himself as the incarnational examples of the truth. He was a child of God, Son of the Living God, who submitted Himself in faith to God’s will for His life: an atoning sacrifice like a little lamb. He showed Himself as a servant of the people, even of the disciples, as He knelt down to bring healing even in the act of washing the disciples’ feet on the night when He would be betrayed by one of them. Yes, it was Judas of Kerioth whose feet Jesus washed and then later who would share a piece of bread anointed in the wine of the Cup of Promise who would betray Jesus. Jesus served them all from the greatest to the least. It was “no small thing,” mighty ones of God which Jesus did for them and has done for us. The gospel is not some “babbling” word to confuse and scatter. It is a clear truth of God’s purpose in love to convince and draw near all those who will chose to believe in Him, receive Him as their own and be blessed with eternal life.

As to the rest of Zerubbabel’s “what’s in a name,” that will come in the next reflection which points to Jesus the Christ as well. Until then, shalom.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.