“How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” (Luke 24:25–26, NIV 1984).
My Musings – This is Jesus talking to a couple of His followers on the road to Emmaus. Initially they were kept from recognizing Him. Why did He call them foolish? Because they “had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:21, NIV 1984).
Foolish, because the redemption of Israel was too small of a hope. “‘I swear by myself,’ declares the Lord, ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.'” (Genesis 22:16–18, NIV 1984). God had all nations in mind. Israel was merely the conduit.
But to do this, “the Christ [had] to suffer these things.” To become a mediator between God and the people of all nations. For “[God] is not a man like [us] that [we] might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God’s rod from [us].” (Job 9:32–34, NIV 1984). Like Abraham, God did not “withheld [His] Son, [His] only Son.” Only His suffering could remove God’s rod.
My Advice – How big is our hope? Let’s not be foolish and not put our hope in the only one who can “arbitrate between us.”
The Brew Is A Musing 