RIDDLE ME THÍS

By


John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'"
John 1:15

¶John is speaking in a riddle, one that is good to contemplate. He says that Jesus his younger cousin was before him. First he says Jesus out-ranks him. Yes, that seems possible. But then he says Jesus came before him. How could he say that someone born 3 to 6 months after him was before him? Is John speaking truth, or gibberish? Does faith require us to veer off into saying absurd and irrational things? One thing is sure, we cannot just stake our lives on the immediately obvious, and ignore the riddles. We cannot just enjoy the superficial pleasures of this world and ignore the ghastly beauty of the cross. There's truth in these riddles.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE POWER TO FORGIVE

By
But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord . Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, "May the Lord see and avenge!" 2 Chronicles 24:21‭-‬22 ESV ¶Contrast Joash's response to that of Jesus, who, when He was reviled and crucified, asked God not to hold their sins against them. Which of the two of them had more of a right to seek vengeance? Which of the the two had more power to forgive? We can forgive when we know God is in control.
Read more

THE HORRIBLE PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE

By
Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart! Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. Psalm 36:10‭-‬11 ESV ¶The goal of the evil one is just to deprive us, not to have for himself the blessing of knowing God, just to take it away from us, just to drive us off the holy ground procured for us at the foot of the cross.
Read more

CORAM DEO? YES OR NO.

By
And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered to us. Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.” All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. 1 Chronicles 13:2‭-‬4 ESV ¶David gathers the people of Israel together in a great assembly and does something new. He asks their opinion. He asks them to inquire of the Lord for themselves, and decide. They have the opportunity to bring the ark of God close to them in their midst. Are they, unlike in the days of Saul, ready now to have the ark among them? Do they want to walk close to God, or keep Him at a distance? If His presence is right there, will it just become overly familiar to them? Will they begin to ignore Him and the ...
Read more