THERE are many who ask, why our God in the form of Jesus, needed to live on earth, be born to a poor family, go through joys and sorrows, rejection, and acceptance, and all the other highs and lows of human existence. “God didn’t have to do that!” they exclaim.
“Maybe, it was the only way He could understand all the grey areas we humans live in,” I ponder as I write this piece. Because, in the God of the Old Testament, it was all absolutes. There’s the terrible incident where the Ark of the Covenant is being brought back to Israel by a joyous group of Israelites, headed by David. The roads are uneven and the cart lurches, two men lift their hands to see that the ark does not fall, and they touch the holy ark, and the next moment, they die.
Nobody, according to God’s previous instructions could touch the Ark of the Covenant because they were impure, and God was pure. There was no in-between, no grey area, which explained that the men had all the good intentions of trying to help.
To God it was black and white, impurity could not touch purity. Till, there came an in-between, to understand those areas that a pure God would not allow Himself to go into. And to explain that I bring another portion from the scriptures, and that is Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
Now here’s the thing: Jesus hears that his friend Lazarus is dead, but even after knowing he is dead, the God of miracles decides to visit the home of the deceased. Now, we need to understand that Jesus by this time is known to all the people around as one who does miracles.
He arrives, and everybody should have known that a great miracle is going to happen, but they don’t. They even ask him why he had come so late, after the death had already happened.
Jeus understood. He did not scorn their unbelief. He saw their grief, and the shortest verse in the Bible, turns out to be one of the most revealing, ‘Jesus wept’. Yes, he did. He wept because he understood grief, he understood unbelief, he understood frustration, he understood anger. He understood the grey areas, he had come down specifically to understand!
Today, that same Christ, who died, and rose again and is now back in heaven understands those times when we rock the ark, by distrusting God, when our lack of faith comes in the way of worship, when our anger at unanswered prayers leads us to rail and rant against Him.
He understood Martha, He understood Mary. He understands their grey areas and despite our unbelief, allows reawakened and resurrected Lazarus’s to happen in our lives. In those tears from a weeping God, comes our hope and certainty..!
Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com
