As Sacred Space book suggests, I imagined Jesus sitting beside me and I confessed to Him, "I don't really get this one."
No great revelation followed, but it was helpful to imagine Jesus really saying these words to people, rather than reading them on a page. Why would Jesus have said this? What was Jesus trying to communicate? It's obvious He knew it was hard to understand because He ends by saying, "Let anyone with ears listen!"
I do want to have the kind of ears that hear what Jesus says and that listen carefully and thoughtfully.
What I have gleaned so far this morning from pondering Jesus' words is that s
omething tremendous and cosmic had been inaugurated in the birth of John the Baptist-- the one who came before Jesus-- who was Himself the long-awaited One. It's like Jesus was telling people "You see John the Baptist and me with your own eyes, but there is so much more happening than you can simply see! What you see are the outward signs of the culmination of God's plan for humanity since the beginning of time!"
How much do I not see of God's work in and around me? I do want to have the kind of ears to hear and the kind of eyes to see what God is doing right now--
[image © foto.fritz/dreamstime.com]
1 comment:
I got stuck on people laying hold of the Kingdom by force. In my picture of the Kingdom (fuzzy at best), that's not possible. What could He mean?
Maybe an attack? But that implies an established "castle" and the hordes attacking it, and I think of the Kingdom as _being_ established during Jesus' ministry.
I like what you say about something tremendous and cosmic happening with John. A time of crisis and upheaval.
In the ESV, there's a footnote to Malachi on the Elijah verse. The Malachi verse is:
Mal. 4:5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes."
The Day of the Lord is great and awesome, when things are set right. Is that what the Kingdom is about?
That would mean upheaval, wouldn't it?
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