The question is what is the meaning of these commandments
and statutes. The answer they are to
give is the story of their deliverance from Egypt and being given the
Land. The meaning in the sense that we
think of meaning was bound up in the story.
He is their Lord by virtue of what He had done for them in the past and
what was promised for the future, and the commandments are their part of the
bargain. When we chafe against the
Lord's ways, we are to remember always that He has saved us from something, in
our case, death. Our posture before Him
is always at least partially that we were nothing until He did something for us
that we could not do for ourselves. Adam
was told to remember that he was but dust prior to the Lord's activity in
forming him and breathing life into him.
The people were always to come to the Lord with their own story of being
nothing and then becoming great due to the work of God. We, likewise, have a story. How long has it been since you went back to
that story and were grateful? It is an
antidote for complaining.
Why did the Pharisees send people rather than going to see
John themselves and ask these questions?
They knew he was likely to rip them to shreds. Remember that John looked on some of them who
came to be baptized and called them a brood of vipers. John's responses are both enigmatic and
incredibly humble. He made no pretense
to be anything or anyone, simply a voice crying in the wilderness to make
straight the path of the Lord. There was
already one who was far greater than he, one for whom he was not fit even to
serve at the lowest level. John was
waiting on a savior, he had a high Christology and great expectations. His only job was to warn people to prepare
for God's judgment on them. We have the
same work to do but we have the cross and the resurrection as the centerpiece
of the message. Fear should be part of
the equation but love is the other side.
In what way was Jesus made perfect by suffering? He was already perfect in His being, He is
one with the Father, we agreed at Nicea that He was one substance with the
Father, whatever the Father is, Jesus is.
Perfect here refers to His being a perfect savior, He was not aloof, one
who could not relate to us or we to Him.
We know that He knows our plight, how difficult this life is and how
painful it can be to seek after righteousness in this world. He knows rejection, He experienced betrayal
by friends, He knows physical agony. Our
savior is with us in our own pain and gently and lovingly so, not like a drill
sergeant pushing us beyond what we believe to be our pain threshold. Not only has He rescued us, He continues with
us as companion and guide. We not only
use past tense to tell our story, we use present and future tenses. Christ has
died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
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