God’s story is, on the one hand, solid, unwavering, faithful, sure. On the other hand, there are man’s instabilities, disobediences, unfaithfulnesses, waywardnesses. Almost at the beginning, the terrible and far-reaching consequences of the Fall are outlined for us in Genesis chapter 3. We are painfully aware of the truth of God’s words to the man and the woman, are we not? But what interests me today is the wording of verse 15: to the serpent, ‘You shall strike the heel of the woman’s child’ (a reference to the [supposed] victory of Satan’s sending Jesus to the cross?). ‘And he (the woman’s child/Jesus) shall crush your head (a clear reference to Jesus’ conquering of the two domains of the Enemy – sin and death/the grave – defeating the Enemy, taking the upper hand as it were, and condemning Him to a violent, eternal end). All this, before God’s story has barely begun!
Centuries later, under the quill of the prophet Isaiah, there appear the shocking prophecies of the own who will come as God’s servant! Not a conquering war-hero, not a tyrant, condemning everyone around him, not a fire-and-brimstone, red-faced-with-fury preacher, but a suffering servant! The message communicated from God could not have been more surprising, and less acceptable to the Israelites!
Centuries later still, Jesus, the Galilean carpenter, emerges from obscurity and fast becomes an anti-hero. Preaching, yes, but about a Kingdom whose atmosphere was the antithesis of what was currently being experienced. Gathering the hungry, the needy, the sick, the underdog, he blessed and encouraged all who would listen, healing many, refusing to accept the limelight and bewildering his anxious listeners who, apparently mis-heard Isaiah’s prophecies, and still longed for a warrior-rescuer.
Some thirty years after Jesus’ glorious departure to his Father’s side, the author of the letter to the Hebrews (12:2, TPT) writes: “ . . . Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his . . .”Have you ever wondered when his heart became focused on the joy of knowing that we would be is? Was it then, back in Hebrews 12? Before, in Luke 2? Before, in Isaiah 52,53? Before, in Genesis 3? Before . . . ? I think I know. PD
