Have you ever seen even a stream-bed after it has recently dried
out? If so, you know you wouldn't walk
out in the midst of it, the problem would be mud, deep, thick mud. We are told, however, that when the Jordan
stopped flowing through Jericho the ground was stable enough that the nation of
Israel could walk across it and the priests' feet were firmly fixed on the
ground not in the mud. The people are
instructed to take a stone from the river bed for each of the twelve tribes of
Israel and set them up on the Jericho side of the river as a memorial to this
day. As with Moses, the people are
enjoined that these will be a sign to them and to generations to come and when
the children ask why they are there the answer is that this is where God rolled
back the waters. Everything teaches.
Jesus is perfectly aware of where things stand, and when it
will happen. He is more aware than even
those who plot against Him. Their counsel
is to wait until after Passover lest the people become further aroused against
them. Jesus, however, knows that this
will not be, they will move sooner even than they expect. It is presumed that the woman who anoints
Jesus is a prostitute who carried this flask around her neck to give off an
aroma attractive to men, hunters today often do similar things to attract males
of the species they are hunting. Her gift
would be repentance and confession of Him all at once, she would now lose her
allure to men as she comes to faith in Jesus by pouring the oil over Him. Judas has had enough of the talk of
crucifixion and of the people who are being attracted to Jesus and determines
to take matters into his own hands. Jesus
is in control of the situation even though several others here believe they
have control.
We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so
that we no longer be conformed to the world.
The world has taught us how to think and understand our lives and the
world around us in ways that are not God-like.
Our values and priorities are completely out of whack. We believe in materialism in all forms,
materialism that says that this is all there is, there is nothing "out
there" beyond the natural, and consumerist materialism that tells us what,
within that realm has value at any given time.
If a thing is valued it must be acquired at the expense of all
else. Paul knows that the reality is
something different, there is not only something out there, there is a someone
out there and He and His unseen yet eternal kingdom are the things of truly
value because they are imperishable. He also
knows that this someone is sovereign over all things and that He has revealed Himself
to mankind and promised eternality to those who believe. Faith is the first step, the cross and the
empty tomb are our standing stones and we have an obligation to instruct our
children just as the Israelites did. In that
knowledge we will no longer think too highly of ourselves, we will have a right
judgment on ourselves, our place in the world, and others around us.
No comments:
Post a Comment