Day 6: Genesis 26-30; Job 31-36; Matthew 16-18
Jesus warns his disciples against the yeast of the Pharisees. They think He is upset because they didn't bring enough bread for the boat trip across the Sea of Galilee. He asks why are they still not understanding Him?
We might reasonably ask, "why not speak plainly instead of in riddles and parables?" That puts me on the same level as Job who calls God into court. Jesus speaks in parables to sift the earnest from those who really do not want to know. They are already "full of themselves," confident in their own righteousness.
Elihu, a young man, confronts Job and tells him, "who are you to question the Almighty?" Why you can't even look at the sun without averting your gaze. Do you think you can lay your eyes on God? And you complain that God will not answer? "God is speaking all the time, but a person may not notice it." (Job 33:14)
It is especially true that we may not notice God's still small voice when our hearts are filled with fear and anguish or bitterness and contempt or even arrogance and self-sufficiency. But even honest people trying to follow Christ can miss God's voice. The disciples are slow to understand, but they do eventually get it.
Today's readings have God speaking and appearing in amazing ways. In Genesis, God speaks to Isaac and confirms His covenant with him. But rather than trust in God's promise, he fears the Philistines' lust and lies, just as his father before him, that his wife is his sister. God spoke to Jacob after he fled for his life from Esau. Jacob had a vision of God in a dream. God renewed his covenant with Jacob.
God speaks at crucial moments in the story of the people of Israel. And then there are times of silence. Elihu says that God uses affliction to rescue and torment to give understanding (Job 36:15). The rescue through affliction is not freedom from suffering, but a deeper wisdom. God is well beyond our comprehension. We should humble ourselves and keep a healthy reverence. We should accept life on life's terms (as they teach in Alcoholics Anonymous). We should try to keep our sense of importance and self-entitlement at a minimum when facing the Almighty. For slave or king, we all come from the same place and return to dust.
Of course we still do not understand! We are mortal and slow in comparison to the greatness of God. Wasn't Paul eloquently correct when he wrote that God's foolishness is greater than man's wisdom (1 Cor. 1:25)?
But there are those moments when God break through our weak frames and makes a clear connection. Jesus took his closest frineds up on the mountain that there they got a foretaste of heaven. Jesus was transfigured before their eyes. Moses and Elijah, long since dead for centuries, appear with Jesus. God the Father speaks from a brilliant cloud that envelops them and says, "this is my beloved son. Listen to Him."
Listening to Jesus gives us wisdom and insight. Jesus taught that serious students of scripture bring out the old and add the new. They have new insights into the Old Testament because of the revelation about the Kingdom of Heaven through Jesus Christ. (Mat. 13:51-53)
If we spend enough time listening to Him in prayer, study, Christian conversation and meditation, we may arrive at the same ability to understand what his apostles came to understand, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,"
Lord, gives us ears to hear You, eyes to see and comprehend Your truth and hearts to love, trust and obey You. Enable us to bring glory to Your name by being guided by Your wisdom and loving mercies. Amen
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