Reason #85
Saturday. Jesus laid in the tomb, and I'm reminded that God works in mysterious ways. Oh, of course we say that again and again, but His ways really are confounding. Confusing. Not logical. He knows that.
Take Mary for example. A simple girl chosen to give birth to the Messiah. A virgin birth... confounding.
Or think of Jonah. He tried to run from God but didn't get far before he was swallowed up by a fish for three days and then regurgitated upon dry land...confusing.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a firey furnace for refusing to bow to another god and they weren't burned up by the flames but walked out of that furnace unharmed...not logical.
And this isn't even a drop in the bucket of stories that are confusing, confounding and not logical.
So I have to believe that on Saturday, the people were confused. Jesus was sent to rescue them. To be their king. How was this possible if he's laying in a cold, dark tomb? How will he save them, now? It seemed if things were starting to go really well for him. People were noticing, people were following and the next thing they know, His body is being broken and the blood is being drained.
But look at Jesus' life. From the start, it didn't make sense. We see his lineage is full of broken, imperfect people. A deceiver, a widow, an adulterer, a murderer, a prostitute. Sinners, all of them. But God chose these people, and all their mess, to eventually give birth to redemption...confounding. I think he could have done this differently, logically. Pick the good ones, the perfect ones, the spotless ones and let them be the lineage. That would make sense. At least, to me it would. But to God, this made perfect sense.
Saturday. It doesn't make sense... yet. Logically, Jesus should not have died. He should have saved His people differently. He should have lived in a palace and sat on a throne like a king should. He should have be a victorious warrior and overthrown the opponent like a king should. He should have exercised his authority and power with force and demands like a king should. These things make logical sense. No confusion here. But what if he had done all of things that make logic sense. Where would that leave us?
So God confounded the people by allowing his Son live in a tomb for three days before letting him sit down on the throne at God's right hand and reign as king of all eternity. He let his son be beaten and killed so that he would have victory over death and overthrow the opponent for good. Rather than exercising his authority, Jesus submitted to authority so that God's power could raise him from the dead and we could be saved.
And when I stop to think about this, what's most confusing is not the way he did it, but why he did it. Why would he offer redemption to us by taking the life of his only son? It doesn't make sense to give sinful people a shot at a second chance. But it makes sense to Him.
And so often I get wrapped up in the confusing ways he works. I'm a logical thinker. I'm analytical. I want things to make sense... to me.
But sometimes, it's Saturday, and I'm a little confused, a little confounded. Things just don't seem to make sense...yet.
It's a good thing I'm not in charge of figuring it all out.
#85 - Because He knows how to make sense from the confusion.
"For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom... God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise...God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. "- 1 Corinthians 1:25&27-30
Take Mary for example. A simple girl chosen to give birth to the Messiah. A virgin birth... confounding.
Or think of Jonah. He tried to run from God but didn't get far before he was swallowed up by a fish for three days and then regurgitated upon dry land...confusing.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a firey furnace for refusing to bow to another god and they weren't burned up by the flames but walked out of that furnace unharmed...not logical.
And this isn't even a drop in the bucket of stories that are confusing, confounding and not logical.
So I have to believe that on Saturday, the people were confused. Jesus was sent to rescue them. To be their king. How was this possible if he's laying in a cold, dark tomb? How will he save them, now? It seemed if things were starting to go really well for him. People were noticing, people were following and the next thing they know, His body is being broken and the blood is being drained.
But look at Jesus' life. From the start, it didn't make sense. We see his lineage is full of broken, imperfect people. A deceiver, a widow, an adulterer, a murderer, a prostitute. Sinners, all of them. But God chose these people, and all their mess, to eventually give birth to redemption...confounding. I think he could have done this differently, logically. Pick the good ones, the perfect ones, the spotless ones and let them be the lineage. That would make sense. At least, to me it would. But to God, this made perfect sense.
Saturday. It doesn't make sense... yet. Logically, Jesus should not have died. He should have saved His people differently. He should have lived in a palace and sat on a throne like a king should. He should have be a victorious warrior and overthrown the opponent like a king should. He should have exercised his authority and power with force and demands like a king should. These things make logical sense. No confusion here. But what if he had done all of things that make logic sense. Where would that leave us?
So God confounded the people by allowing his Son live in a tomb for three days before letting him sit down on the throne at God's right hand and reign as king of all eternity. He let his son be beaten and killed so that he would have victory over death and overthrow the opponent for good. Rather than exercising his authority, Jesus submitted to authority so that God's power could raise him from the dead and we could be saved.
And when I stop to think about this, what's most confusing is not the way he did it, but why he did it. Why would he offer redemption to us by taking the life of his only son? It doesn't make sense to give sinful people a shot at a second chance. But it makes sense to Him.
And so often I get wrapped up in the confusing ways he works. I'm a logical thinker. I'm analytical. I want things to make sense... to me.
But sometimes, it's Saturday, and I'm a little confused, a little confounded. Things just don't seem to make sense...yet.
It's a good thing I'm not in charge of figuring it all out.
#85 - Because He knows how to make sense from the confusion.
"For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom... God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise...God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. "- 1 Corinthians 1:25&27-30
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