The Mystery of Following
Psalm 110:1-4; Job 19:23-27; 1 Timothy 3:14-16
I hope to visit you soon, but just in case I’m delayed, I’m writing this >letter so you’ll know how things ought to go in God’s household, this >God-alive church, bastion of truth. This Christian life is a great >mystery, far exceeding our understanding, but some things are clear >enough: *He appeared in a human body, *was proved right by the invisible Spirit, *was seen by angels. *He was proclaimed among all kinds of peoples, *believed in all over the world, taken up into heavenly glory.
I am always and consistently struck by the both-and of Jesus. Both a human and taken up to glory.
As I consider again this great reality of the dual nature of Christ, fully man and fully God, I am left in awe.
What leaves in even greater awe is what the author of 1 Timothy says right before the creedal statement, “some things are clear enough.”
The nature of Christ is clear enough. I think it's because it is grounded in the humanity of Jesus. We don't consider the humanity of Jesus well enough. The reality of him being alive and living in this world is something that we just don't let our minds and hearts consider. We are so deeply caught up in the cosmic Christ, this divine being that does all the miracles and conquered death.
But, the humanity of Jesus is what grounds him in reality. He gets hungry, tired, annoyed, angry, has conflict with family, is accused of being a drunk and a glutton. He has friends who he teases. He gets betrayed.
This Jesus of history and time is the Jesus that I can look at and say to myself, “Yep, I know what he's going through.”
Isn't it interesting that the mystery is the life of following Jesus. The mystery is not Jesus himself.
This makes so much sense if we take the Christian life seriously. If we actually try to live the things of the Sermon on the Mount, we are left wondering if this even possible.
This way of Jesus is a great mystery. There is grace upon grace. The rules are left under the auspices of love. This often leaves us wondering, “what do I do now?” The way of Jesus responds, “what is the way of love? of grace? of mercy?”
So, we are left to ponder afresh the Jesus of time and history and to wade into the mystery of how to follow him.
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