Wouldn’t we all want to meet God? Face to Face. Some atheists would love this encounter I believe. Logically, we cannot however, plan a trip to go and meet God. The difference is too big. Not just the different type of being we are, but mostly the difference in holiness. He is holy, we are not.
Tim Keller told us the story about an astronaut going into space. He came back and said: ‘There is no God, I went up there and I didn’t see anyone.’ Keller says that C.S. Lewis responded by saying something in the likes of: ‘You cannot expect to see your Creator by just going up a floor, that’s like thinking Hamlet knew who Shakespeare was. The only way Hamlet could get to know Shakespeare is if Shakespeare wrote himself into the story.’
So now to the Bible:
When Jesus asks Peter the apostle who he thinks Jesus is, Peter replies with: ‘You are the Messiah [Christ] , the Son of the Living God.’ On a different moment in their journey, Jesus asks Peter if he won’t join the crowds as they are leaving since they find it all hard to understand. Peter replies with: ‘Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.’
Can you imagine how Peter looks at Jesus? What are his thoughts about Him? Israel was expecting a King like David, but there were also prophecies about a Servant that was coming to help, on top of that, some prophets talked about an incredible, heavenly ruler, too complicated to explain. Peter sees Jesus walk on water, change water into wine, bring a deadman to life, have a conversation with a storm and he hears Him talk about God like no one ever did before. When people try to kill Jesus, He basically just turns around and walks away.
I know the comparison to super heroes is cliché and insufficient , but here goes. If Superman wants to stop a bus from causing an accident, he does so, but either he has to lift it up, or stop it with brute force, after which the bus is wrecked. I can imagine that in Peters eyes, Jesus could stop the bus by nodding at it. No one would be hurt, not the bus, not the passengers, not the pedestrians and least of all Jesus Himself. The world and all in it will just bend to the command of Jesus.
So is Jesus a wizard? Is He a superhero avant la lettre? How come He is so powerful? Peter reveals his thoughts in his answers: ‘You are the Messiah [anointed One, Christ] , the Son of the Living God. You have the words that give eternal life.’ Not just figments of imagination like Hercules or Percy Jackson, not Thor or Starlord. No, He is the Son of the Living God. All power is His. Atoms listen to Him. Right… He created them.
Tim Keller tells us another story about a writer that wrote a very lonely main-character in her novels. In the end, he needed to be saved from his sadness and loneliness , and the only way she knew how was to write herself into the story, fall in love together and ‘save’ him. In a not so very different way, but then completely different, that is what Jesus did.
Unlike Shakespeare, the all powerful Son of the Living God wanted us to know Him. So He wrote Himself into our world. He decided on Love. Remember: all the power in the world…
And then He switched it off.
He decided to let us beat Him up, to let us mock Him, to let us spit at Him, to not lift a finger to stop it. Armies of angels would be ready to annihilate us all, not that this was needed, it was the Creator on the cross.
He died.
The humbleness that accompanies His actions tells us everything we need to know. The David-like-King, the impossible-to-explain-Ruler, chose the role of Servant. To live with us and in doing so, die for us.
I started this story by mentioning those of us that would like to meet God, despite the impossibility. Well. God wants to meet us too. Jesus crossed the gap between Holy and unholy. He designed the bridge, built the bridge, showed the bridge, became the bridge. He wrote Himself into our lives, into our world. He has all power, but switched it off to be able to die.
He did not remain dead.
God raised Him back to life.
And He is right here. Next to you, around you. Ready to hold you. Me.
I stink at trust, I panic all the time about silly things that become giants in my mind. I need to be remembered about this Jesus. This Jesus that has all power and chose to switch it off for a while so He could do the unthinkable.
Oh, right, His power is on again. Ready to hold you where nothing can reach you. Ever. Pray for me to become better in realising all this. Also, let me know how I can pray for you.
Love.
Photo by Chris F at Pexels
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