A reflection on the exodus from Egypt to the crossing of the
Red Sea by the Israelites, God's people.
Indeed, why in the midst of their mourning the loss of all the first
born of the land do the Egyptians decide to chase after the Hebrews? Why not simply let them go after all they
have seen and experienced in the plagues?
Pharaoh is seized by an obsession and compels the army to go out against
these slaves. Have they forgotten the
power of the God of these people? The writer
says that in this they met a strange death and indeed it was a strange death,
dying as the waters of the Sea swallowed them up. Surely they had seen God's protection for His
people and yet their anger caused them to do stupid things. One verse says something interesting, "For
the whole creation in its nature was fashioned anew, complying with your
commands, so that your children might be kept unharmed." Over the final plagues God's children were
spared His wrath. Why would the
Egyptians not bow the knee and accept Him?
It will always be thus, read the book of the Revelation.
When Jesus sent the disciples out to proclaim by word and
deed (healing) the kingdom of God, it was a fashioning anew of the creation
just as in our first lesson. The kingdom
of God, for which we pray in the Lord's prayer, is a kingdom in which there is
no illness or death, in which is found nothing unclean at all. They gave not only a proclamation of the kingdom
but also a demonstration of it. Herod
thought he had dealt with his religious problem in beheading John but Jesus was
a greater puzzler. He would wonder about
Him until the trial when he had Jesus brought before him but Jesus wouldn't do
the tricks Herod hoped for, all the signs had been given. The disciples' faith in Jesus didn't extend
to feeding miracles, they "knew" what was possible and implored Jesus
to send the crowds away. They needed to
see there was nothing He couldn't do.
Paul uses three descriptors for God in this passage. He is called the God of endurance, the God of
encouragement and the God of hope. We need
such a God in this life. We need a God
that is with us always, persevering in His presence with His people that we
might finish the race, running all the way to the finish line in spite of every
obstacle. We need a God who will cheer
us on, give us glimpses of Himself and His favor, that we are His
children. We need a God of hope, the
hope that carried Job to believe that ultimately he would be vindicated, that
he would see God. We need the hope of a
renewed creation where things are as we know they ought to be forever. Paul says this is your God, rejoice and be
glad in Him!
No comments:
Post a Comment