October 18, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives; the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives; the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.” (Zechariah 12.11-14)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

We cannot escape the reality of why the people will mourn at the coming of the Messiah whether Jew, Samaritan or Gentile. What is proposed is in the future tense. What makes the proposal real is in the past. What brings it together is the gospel of Jesus the Christ. Regardless of the ethno-theological stance, the presence of Jesus who is the Son of the living God puts life in its true perspective. What is that perspective? It is three-fold: what it was as God intended; what it is as humanity demanded and what it will be for the rest of our days.

We know from the Genesis story that we have our being in the image of God. Since Jesus represents the incarnation of God, we are led to confidently believe Jesus is the image of who we were created to be. When we look into the mirror of faith, it is Jesus we are intended to see. Jesus said to the disciples, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father; that is enough.” (John 14.7) The brutal truth of that statement is the dual reflection which Jesus provides. On the one side, Jesus allows us to see the true nature, character and presence of God. On the other side, Jesus allows God to see our redeemed nature, character and soul’s sincere desire. Of course, that works both ways because it is our “faith” which reveals the image presented from one to the other.

Where do we see that image? We see it at the cross on Calvary’s hill. On Golgotha and the avenue which lead from the Praetorium before Pilate to the Skull, Jesus becomes the image of who we are and who we must be to become different than that. Jesus bears witness to the “sin” and the “saint” of our chosen identity. Yes, we made the choice of how we wanted and want to be seen by the world. God has revealed in His Word and in His Word become flesh the what, how, why, when and where we are intended to be. How many times have parents been accused of trying to make their kids in their own image. No where is this seen better than in the various arenas of competition from softball fields, basketball courts, lines of scrimmage, keyboards and boardrooms. The conflict arises as we essential are competing against ourselves for what was find still lacking. When Jesus uttered those words to the Rich Young Ruler, “In your desire to be perfect, there is one thing you are still lacking,” it was to this singular point of reference: be who God in Heaven has desired you to be. Jesus was scourged, beaten, slapped, spat upon, mocked, pierced by thorns, pressed down, stripped, shaken together and nailed to a criminal’s cross. He was there in our image bound before God and the whole world to see. It wasn’t a pretty picture. Sin makes a mess of life. It interferes with the transmission of truth and blocks the clear vision. From the human standpoint, if we were in that place, we see God as vindictive, unjust, unfair and cruel. Why would we want to believe in such a God. Yet, Jesus did. He was, in the words of Isaiah, “…wounded for our transgressions, pierced for our iniquities, and striped for our healing.” (Isaiah 53.5) But, He uttered not a word as a lamb led to slaughter… except forgiveness, mercy and the promise of a renewed spirit proven by that test of time. In the midst of all the horror, the nature and character and presence of God was revealed so that even a Roman centurion could see it and say, “Surely this man was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27.54)

In life, Jesus showed the world the image of who they were always intended to be. They were to be witnesses of the truth of God’s love in His mercy and forgiveness. Yes, their ancestors of Adam and Eve were made perfect. In that perfection came also the gift (a bane and a blessing) of freewill. They chose to see the reflection of God and themselves not in the image of Christ but of Satan. They saw a lie and believed it was the truth. Why didn’t God stop it? Because God was “the way, the truth and the life” already revealed before them. He couldn’t be less than that unless He stopped being God. So, God walked with them, talked with them and called them His own. He breathed His life into them, provided sustenance for them and gave them meaning, purpose and one another. They had the best of all worlds. He even provided for them the antithetical image of what life would be without all of that. He gave them the choice and then He made a choice. He forgave them. He didn’t excuse them. He held them accountable for their actions and was true to His word: there would be consequences. He didn’t execute them. He dealt with them justly according to His great love, mercy and grace. They deserved the penalty of death as surely did Lucifer and those angels who chose to follow him in rebellion and insurrection against God. But He did not execute them. Instead, He executed justice and gave them a “life” sentence to live on earth among humankind and bear witness to that very act of mercy and grace which spared their lives.

In death, as one pierced for our transgressions, sins, iniquities and grave errors in judgment, Jesus also becomes the image of who we are in the present sense. He is the image of the consequences of sin so that people will know that God suffers with us because of His great love and He suffers for us because He so loves us He can’t leave us as we are. God wants us to be who were are meant to be. Sadly, but honestly, the only “way, truth and life” which leads to such restoration is “humility, servanthood and obedience.” This was the one thing which the Rich Young Man lacked: humility, servanthood and obedience. He was the poster child of the leadership of Israel and the Temple. In all they had as models of legalism and capitalism, they lacked the faith enough to be truly humble, the servant of all and obedient only to God in His word verbally and non-verbally. In order for Jesus to help us see the God who loves and cares, He had to take on the one thing He lacked: ultimate humility, complete servanthood and total obedience. In other words: the Cross. He showed us our consequence if we lived out fully the path of sinful living. He demonstrated “the other way” and “the other truth.”

He also showed us “the other life.” Yes, there is life after death. To those in the place of shadows, Jesus appeared as one who was “dead” that they might believe in the sovereignty of God and seek salvation. The life of repentance was real and available. To those who lived on earth after the fact, Jesus appeared as one who was “alive” that they, too, might believe in the sovereignty of God and seek salvation. The very words of Peter preaching at Pentecost declared to those who were given the testimony of the gospel “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, and live with the blessing of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2.38) What appeared to them was the image of “one pierced” by those who refused to believe in the sovereignty of God to rule over sin and not be ruled by sin. In the vision given to Zechariah, it is the “Resurrected Messiah” which appears before all the world. To the Jews it was an image of accountability for their lack of faith which allowed and encouraged the crucifixion of Jesus. Yes, He was crucified by Roman authority but it was the hand of the Jewish leadership which made it happen. (Even Rome was under command then by God’s people.) For the Gentiles, it was an image of accountability because their sins now we put into perspective and their freedom now revealed: repent and be baptized. There is indeed “life after death.” The death caused by sin as well as death in sin. In sin, we are as the walking dead. In Christ, though we may die yet shall we live. The mourning which we hear in Zechariah 12 is but for a time as we see the image of One who shows us the real us in light of the crucifixion and resurrection. Our mourning will be turned into joy when our wandering becomes a journey of faith.

Let us image this truth, mighty ones of God, so that the world can see and believe that Jesus is Lord!

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 in order that others 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 so we would know we are Your people and 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.