Thought for Today

Psalm 9:16 The LORD has made himself known, he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.   

Proverbs 23:33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things.

Luke 5:26 Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen strange things today."  

Acts 17:23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, 'To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.  

Quite frequently, as I sit at my computer working, or as I sit in our family room watching television, I look around me and am struck by the realization that Jesus would not recognize much of what meets my eyes. Certainly televisions and computers would seem strange and alien to him. Jesus probably would recognize some items like tables and chairs from their shape. I cannot imagine what Jesus might think of those small, black rectangles everyone seems to be holding, looking at or talking into.

Many (most?) items in our world and the materials of their construction would be unknown to anyone from the 1st or even 15th century Anno Domini or Christian Era (AD or CE). “The earliest evidence of steel production dates back to around 1800 BCE in Anatolia, where the Chalybes people created steel by inserting iron bars into white-hot charcoal, producing a stronger and more flexible material than pure iron.” (briandcolwell.com)

Look around your home. Look at your car. Our world is constructed by highly alloyed steels and plastics. “Plastics were first developed in the 19th century, with the first man-made plastic, Parkesine, patented in 1862, and the first fully synthetic plastic, Bakelite invented in 1907.” (Copilot search)

The world of the Bible knew about cotton, wool, animal hides, parchment, papyrus and wood. Early on the people of the Bible learned how to make bricks of clay and how to fire ceramics. We still use bricks and ceramics today. Were Jesus to walk the streets and byways of our world he would see bricks and ceramics in use. He would see homes and buildings covered by bricks. He would see ceramic pots and jugs. What do you suppose Jesus would make of houses covered by siding? And, by the way, homes today do not look like the typical home in Israel in biblical times. The buildings which populate (overcrowd?) our modern towns and large cities are many times larger and higher than anything Jesus saw.

It is easy to become overwhelmed with the differences between our world and the world of Jesus’ incarnation. We see and know things never imagined in biblical times. By biblical standards and comparisons, We too have seen strange things today.

The truth remains, however, that “The LORD has made himself known’” Interestingly, the Greek word we translate as known, ἐπιγινώσκω, has a much deeper meaning than our English word. Paul wrote, “1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” ἐπιγινώσκω, fully known.

That Greek word includes connotations of intensity and intimacy. God has made himself known. God has fully, intimately and intensely made Godself known to us in the person of Jesus, the Christ, ἐπιγινώσκω, fully known. As Paul assured those Corinthians and still assures us today, we will be fully known, ἐπιγινώσκω, by our Creator God.

Irrespective of whether or not Jesus would recognize my computer . . . or my Bible, bound in book form, irrespective of whether or not Jesus would recognize our alphabet or our printed words, Jesus would and will fully know us, ἐπιγινώσκω. Jesus does not need to recognize, understand or even care about highly alloyed steels or plastics. Jesus might prefer we put down our smartphones and actually look at him and at each other. But all of the trappings of modernity, all of the modern clutter of our world are irrelevant. If anything, they are what cause the mirrors in which we see life and each other to be dim and cloudy.

We have Jesus’ promise and should live in the confidence of, “John 14:2 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”

Stay safe, know God, trust God,

Pastor Ray