I love the passages (specifically the Bible Song and the Bible Reading) that Phil Reinders chooses each day, because they complement each other, but not in an obvious way, so that I end up noticing things in each passage that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. The passages speak to each other by making connections.
Today's Bible Song is from Psalm 53 and the Reading is from John 4 (the story of a royal official's son healed and that official's faith that Jesus' word was enough).
Psalm 53 is a bit depressing. The psalmist says, "God looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one" (v. 2-3). There are two separate ideas here that stand out to me. One comes back to what I was discussing yesterday - the idea that we often don't seek God and as a result fail to understand Him (although I believe we will never fully understand God, I think it's important to try). The second is the more obvious one - what does the speaker mean by saying "no one...does good, no even one"? Really? But there are a lot of "good" people in the world - Christians and non-Christians - who do really good things. People take care of others, help out in times of need, give money, time, and resources, say nice things, take care of the planet, and so on. So how is it possible that "no one...does good"? Firstly, I think the psalmist is disillusioned. He looks around and sees corruption. He's discouraged by the people's lack of faith and their lack of desire to seek and understand God. Secondly, and I know some people will disagree with me, I believe that as human beings we are incapable of doing good apart from God's grace. (This is an idea called common grace in Reformed thinking.)
In John 4, Jesus says, "Unless you people see signs and wonders...you will never believe" (v. 48). It seems odd that this is in response to a royal official begging Jesus to come and heal his son, who was nearly dead. It is especially confusing when you read the whole story and see the faith of this royal official. After asking Jesus to come see his son, Jesus says, "go...your son will live" (v. 50). The man's response? He "took Jesus at his word and departed" (v. 51). Now that's faith! So why does Jesus seem to berate him by telling him that unless he sees signs and wonders, he will never believe? It seems to me that he already believed. At least enough to have faith that Jesus could and would heal his son even without seeing him. Yet the story ends with the man and his whole household believing because his son was healed at the exact time Jesus said, "your son will live". So Jesus was right - the royal official did need a miracle - a sign or wonder - to believe. The man's faith in Jesus' ability to heal was not the same thing as believing that Jesus is God's son and his saviour. An interesting and important distinction.
The Connection: So the connection I made between these two passages is this. The psalmist says that when God looks down on the human race he is looking for "any who understand, any who seek God". Jesus says people need to see signs and wonders to believe. When I consider these two ideas together, I am filled with hope. It's as if God is saying to me - if you try to understand me by seeking me, I will show you signs and wonders. I think it's easy to dismiss miracles today. We don't see people getting healed the way Jesus healed people when He walked on earth. When was the last time you went to a wedding where water was turned into wine? We tend to think those days are over, past. But are they? I think miracles just take a different shape these days. We hide them behind medical advancements (or medical mysteries), behind an act of human kindness (God's grace at work!), behind scientific laws and patterns, behind the lie that if it happens every day, it's nothing special. But the whole world is a miracle. Just look around you. Babies are born every day, but each and every one is a miracle - think about the complexity of a human body and how each one grows from a tiny mass of cells in just 9 months! Spring is just around the corner and when those first shoots poke their heads out of the ground, when the grass turns from brown to green, when the sun warms the air and the ground, creation is practically screaming, "I'm a miracle!". People are still being healed from diseases or injuries that should kill them. Just because modern medicine aids in their recovery doesn't make it any less of a miracle. God works in and through the things around us to make today's signs and wonders happen. All we have to do is look for them and when we find them, use them to help us believe and understand Him better.
No comments:
Post a Comment