Unsurprisingly, given its origins, the family is a
mess. Everyone involved in the family
was a deceiver. Jacob deceived his
father and his brother. Leah participated in deceiving Jacob along with her
father Laban. Rachel deceived her father
in the affair of the household gods. Jacob
never really loved Leah, and on and on it goes.
Also not surprisingly, Jacob played favorites among his children, just
as his own parents had done. Jacob was
his favorite and he treated him better than the rest. Joseph, for his part, was a tale-bearer and seems
to have been an arrogant young man. His brothers
hated him. Dysfunction ruled the
day. Joseph not only had dreams of being
ruler over his brothers, he shared those dreams with them. Why? The
reason is simple, he believed them and so, apparently did his father who we are
told, "kept the saying in mind" even though those who would bow down
to Joseph included his parents. The stage
is clearly set for a bit of internecine warfare.
John is a man who knew his own place. He appreciated the ministry the Lord had
given him and he knew that he wasn't the be-all, end-all. He had an important role, preparing the way
in the wilderness for the Lord to come, to be the herald of the Messiah. He expected Messiah to come soon and his work
was to prepare a people to greet him with joy rather than fear of
judgment. He was perfectly willing to
accept his place in God's kingdom, "After me comes he who is mightier than
I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie." Generally speaking the forerunner was the
greater and the one who came after lesser but John was willing to diminish when
he saw Jesus and the signs given at His baptism. He wasn't like the brothers of Joseph who
resented the very idea of his ascendancy.
Of course Jesus wasn't exactly as arrogant as Joseph either, was he?
Paul, too, was a man who knew his place in God's kingdom and
was thankful for it. He knew that he
didn't deserve any place in the kingdom, he had persecuted the church and
ultimately that meant, as he heard the voice say, that he was persecuting Jesus
Himself. When he heard there were
divisions in the church at Corinth over who was greater, himself or Apollos, he
was appalled. Their unity was guaranteed
in Christ and it is not right to be divided over any man because all boasting
is to be in Christ alone and the cross. Jesus,
in sinless perfection and the perfect love of His willing sacrifice at the
cross, stands alone and we are not to lionize any man. Our elder brother, who has made a way for us
to be adopted into the family, has shown us the way of humility.
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