Kings and People

When I was a little girl I went to Sunday School.  I loved learning about all the stories of the Bible, the heroes, and the amazing narratives – like Moses leading all those Israelis around in the wilderness, Abraham obeying God and moving far from home, David fighting the enemy Goliath, Jonah and the big fish, Peter, as he was always speaking good things – the people in the Bible always seemingly larger than life.

As I got older, I read the entire stories of these people, often surprised about how much they screwed up during their lives.  The versions I had been taught were sanitized, making the characters almost super-human.  Then I read the Bible for myself and found out a lot more about all these Bible characters, and they weren’t quite as squeaky clean as I had been taught.

 I learned that Moses had been a murderer and not wanting to do the job God gave him; Abraham lied, got his Egyptian servant pregnant at his wife Sarah’s request; David had way too many wives – and still had an affair with his friend’s wife, killing her husband as a coverup.  Jonah was racist and didn’t want to tell his enemies about God’s love so he took off in the opposite direction. 

Not one of those stories had stellar characters – they were all flawed and regular human beings.  But I found the real stories to be much more comforting than the sanitized versions, learning how incredibly patient God has been throughout thousands of years. 

This morning I was at the keyboard, playing for communion, when I heard the word Bittersweet in the song.  We’re singing about the goodness of God, along with the horrifying death our Savoir suffered. Why would He die for us weak and vile humans? 

The short answer is because He loves us, His creation.  It is absurd for anyone to die for the human race, considering all the atrocities we have committed, and yet He did.  Not only that, but he humbled Himself and came as a baby, living handicapped inside a human body for over three decades.

When I read about the life of Jesus in the Bible, He was perfect – so unlike every other character in the Book.  He was a King, yet He lived as a servant.  He has vast power above every king in history, yet He used his power only to cure the sick, heal the emotional scars of many, multiply food for thousands to eat, and calm some storms.  There is no other man in history who accomplished what He did during His short life. 

Glenn Packiam writes an insightful contrast between King Herod, (the reigning king at the time Jesus was born) and King Jesus:

“Herod clawed his way to power;

 Jesus emptied Himself of power.

Herod killed to protect his power;

Jesus died to save the powerless.

Herod’s reign results in weeping;

Jesus’ reign results in worship.”

Now, over 2,000 years later Herod is mostly forgotten but Jesus is still a household name.

My heart sings for joy at the marvelous story of Christmas, where the upside-down Kingdom reigns – where humble acts are mighty and compassion means strength.

Jesus came as a baby, but don’t let His size fool you.