Joseph and Jesus

The first time I read through Matthew's account of Jesus's life, ministry, death, and resurrection, I audibly gasped at one point in Chapter 27.

Pontius Pilate had set before the crowd two choices: release either Barabbas (an insurrectionist), or Jesus.  But the chief priests and elders had convinced the crowd to demand Barabbas's release, and when Pilate asked what, then, they wanted him to do with Jesus, they yelled out, "Crucify him!"

He tried to dissuade them - but they screamed it even louder: "Crucify him!"

I can only assume Pilate was baffled, and even disgusted.  The crowd was getting so rowdy, it seemed a riot would soon start.  In full view of them all, he washed his hands, and said, "I am innocent of this man's blood.  It is your responsibility."

And here's where I gasped: 

They answered, "His blood is on us and on our children!"

I can try to reason it out - maybe they really believed that Jesus was a heretic who deserved death, as I'm sure the priests and elders told them.  Maybe they didn't believe the power of their words, and spoke as flippantly as we do today.  I don't know.  But regardless, that's a pretty strong statement.

Hold that thought.

Let's rewind history, back to the very first book of the Old Testament - the first book of the entire Bible.  In Genesis, Chapter 50 (yeah, there are a lot of chapters in Genesis - but it's a great read) -- we find Joseph in his early 30s / late 40s.  (This is the same Joseph whose brothers beat him up and sold him, after he paraded Daddy's gift of a technicolor coat in front of them.)

He'd lived a pretty rough life.  Getting beat up and sold into slavery by his own family, doing well in his work and kind of making it before having the boss's wife hit on him, then getting thrown into prison because she falsely accused him of coming on to her.  In prison, he interprets the dreams of two of Pharaoh's servants - and the one who regains the Pharaoh's favor and gets his position back forgets about Joseph for two whole years!  So Joseph's sitting in prison for years, for a crime of which he's innocent.

When the cupbearer finally remembers Joseph, and recommends him to Pharaoh as someone to interpret his dreams, Joseph catches a break.  But that's a good two or three decades of tragedy and mishap for a boy whose only documented sin had been showing off to his big brothers.  And when he has a chance to rake them over the coals (and he does, a little bit), his ultimate response to them is heartbreakingly loving; he weeps and throws his arms around them and embraces them.  They bring their father (Jacob) to Egypt to be with Joseph, and Jacob dies there, having the whole family together again.

When their father dies, Joseph's brothers worry that maybe his love was all a show; perhaps it was only a way to see their father again.  Would he now hold a grudge, and hurt them somehow?  But Joseph reassures them, saying (in Genesis 50:20), "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

Okay. Un-hold that prior thought.  Here's the big idea:

When those people screamed out for Christ's crucifixion, and said they'd take any consequence that their demands brought - that Christ's blood was on their heads - on both theirs and even their children's - God heard and honored that request.
  
Christ's death on that cross paid the death penalty that their sins deserved, and it paid the death penalty that their children's sins deserved, and that which their children's children's sins deserved, all the way down to us.  His crucifixion paid the death penalty that my sins deserved, and yours as well.

Jesus's blood is on their heads, and it covers every sin and curse we've brought upon ourselves.  Praise God that what they meant to be a curse has blessed us beyond what anyone could have ever imagined!

They intended to harm Him, but God intended it for good, to accomplish was is still today being done - the saving of many souls.

Explaining the Title (Part Three: "Etc.")

Discerning reader that you are, you've likely recognized that there's much more to the verse than the two words I've explored to date:

A wise servant takes charge of an unruly child
and is honored as one of the family.
(Proverbs 17:2, MSG)

I'd said previously that my immediate response was much like coming across an old photo and recognizing your own face.  I'm a childcare provider by trade, and have been so humbled and touched by the special favor I have with the families I serve.

But as I also said previously - the Bible has this surprising way of unfolding itself like petals of a flower, revealing progressively deeper and more precious meanings.

I am a servant of the Creator of me, you, and all that is around us.  He is the source of wisdom, and I have found that as I seek to learn more about Him, I become wiser (among a wealth of other things).

But I know He sees me as even more than a servant in His "household."

Paul, a man who wasn't with Jesus before His crucifixion, wrote the following to two different groups of believers in the first century:

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
(Galatians 3:26, NLT)

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
(Romans 8:14, NLT)

John was a man who followed Jesus during His three years teaching, before the crucifixion.  Though others wrote accounts of Jesus's life (Gospels), especially in John's account we see Him refer to God as the Father again and again.  But is the Father only a parent to Jesus, the Son of God?

Not according to the above two verses.  Faith in Jesus makes us a child of God, and one way to identify a child of God is if that person follows the leadership, direction, and instruction of God's very real presence that is still here today: the Spirit.

Paul actually continues, later on, in his letter to the believers in the region of Galatia:

You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as His own children because God sent the Spirit of His Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.
(Galatians 4:6-7, MSG)

I am not a slave, but a child.  The servant has been promoted to the status of heir - "honored as one of the family."

And what about that remaining bit?  The "takes charge of an unruly child" aspect?  It's not at all about wrangling a brat into forced submission - because that child is loved dearly by the parents - parents who recognize the importance of raising said child up right, to make good decisions for himself.

It's about discipleship.  I know that walking with God is not always a walk in the park - and anyone who promised you otherwise was lying through their teeth.  Jesus Himself talked more than once about the cost involved in building a life worth living - a life that could stand strong against the storms of this world.

So to honor my Father, I hope you will allow me the honor of pointing you toward Him.  This is what discipleship is - one believer encouraging someone else not to follow her, but to follow God.

Explaining the Title (Part Two: "Wise")

To reiterate, the title of this blog is taken from The Message version of Proverbs 17:2, which says,

A wise servant takes charge of an unruly child
and is honored as one of the family.

In my last entry, I expounded on why I view myself as a servant, without qualm or hesitation.  I'm sure the concept will unfold more over time, but want to first bring the adjective into the spotlight.

I pray daily for wisdom.  I'm not wise yet, though I must say I've grown noticeably wiser over the past half-year.  My mother would chalk it up to that point we reach in adulthood where things in our brain just seem to "sync up" and thoughts lose that hazy cloud they seem to reside in during the years of our youth.  And she's going to be right.  (Don't tell her I said that.)  But that increased wisdom can absolutely be attributed to other factors, as well.

One of the more well-known stories in the Old Testament is that of the events surrounding King Solomon's acquisition of wisdom, and how he went on to later write the book of Proverbs, which is arguably the most respected written collection of wisdom available to man.  Like his father, King David, Solomon wasn't perfect.  But God was obviously quite pleased with his request.  He could have asked for longevity or money or revenge - but it seems even just a smidgen of wisdom would tell you that wisdom is more valuable than any of those things.

And what did Solomon write later, in this famed book of Proverbs?

For wisdom is more profitable than silver,
and her wages are better than gold.
Wisdom is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
(Proverbs 3:14-15, NLT)

And yet wisdom brings with it all of the things that so many others seek.  The very next line reads:

She offers you long life in her right hand,
and riches and honor in her left.
(Proverbs 3:16, NLT)

Every morning, I read a chapter of Proverbs.  There are 31 in all, so it makes sense to just read the chapter that aligns with the date.  (For example, as today is the 22nd of the month, I read Chapter 22.)

Lying in bed the other morning, meditating on that concept of wisdom, I started also thinking about intelligence.  I realized that intelligence is a person's capacity for understanding facts and stringing them together.  Understanding facts and correlating them is what we call knowledge.  Wisdom is the application of knowledge to one's own life, and we're able to pass on that wisdom to others.

So I asked God that morning to increase my capacity for knowledge, and to help me apply that knowledge to my life.  I asked Him to teach me to weigh and discern between what knowledge is good and true and worth holding onto, and what should be passed by.  I wish to grow in wisdom, in order to live a life that honors Him and serves others.

This was the heart of King Solomon, a wise servant.

Explaining the Title (Part One: "Servant")

I've titled this blog "A Wise Servant" not out of any self-important delusion, but truly more of a desire to become that person.  I take it from Proverbs 17:2, which I read in The Message version the other day:

A wise servant takes charge of an unruly child
and is honored as one of the family.

My initial reaction was, "Hey! That's me!"

I serve as a nanny and babysitter for multiple families in Tallahassee, and have developed relationships with many of them through my efforts to support parents in guiding their children.  But tonight, I realized that - as is with many things in the Bible - it goes deeper than that.

I am a Christian, and not simply nominally.  I wasn't a Christian at birth, and it took more than a prayer to make me a Christian.  Actually, I thought of myself as a Christian for over eight years before I realized there really wasn't anything about my life that made me different from anyone else who didn't care an iota about God.  (The problem there being that God's presence in a person's life effects some pretty radical change. The lack thereof implies an absence of God.)

This is not to claim myself more valuable than any other person on this planet.  But it is to make very clear the foundation of my life, as it is today.  The God of Whom Jesus spoke is very much the same God who created me, and He calls the shots in my life.  Even when I want something otherwise.

That makes me His servant.  I am not a mindless slave - because I have free will - but I do choose to serve Him.  He's a good God - too good, really - and in subjecting my life to His lead, I have found peace like I just can't describe to someone who hasn't experienced it firsthand.  (And if you're someone who hasn't experienced it firsthand - I recommend seeking that out.)

Being obedient to God doesn't feel like some restrictive set of regulations.  And it's not about appearances, either.  Obeying Him has actually been quite the natural response to loving Him, believe it or not.  I know He's good - I know He loves me - I know He's asked me to live a certain way or do certain things because they're truly the best route - and obedience is that outward display of love and trust.  It's like buying roses for God.  (Except, He can make His own roses. He won't make me do what He wants me to do.  So obedience is about the best love offering I've got.)

I think it's hard for a lot of people to comfortably wrap their head around the idea of obedience or submission as being anything but distasteful, largely because we've all had so many scarring experiences with bad leadership - teachers, supervisors, and even parents have made the concept of "authority" something to be disdained.

But God is not those people.

Brief History, and a Mission Statement of Sorts

First, let me say this is my third attempt (at least) to maintain a blog.

The first was a publicly personal journal during my formative years, and filled with foolish and selfish revelations I was only too eager to wipe from the Internet when I first recognized with horror the gaping depravity of my young and self-engrossed soul.

The second, started many years later, is still in existence - but on a sort of indefinite hiatus, as my passion has been redirected.

I journal privately, but have some public thoughts that are better expounded in a blog rather than slingshot into the oft-trivial realms of Facebook and even Twitter. I recognize that friends and acquaintances, and even business associates, feel a social obligation to friend and follow me on the two - and here, if they don't like what they see, they're welcome to devote their attentions elsewhere without having to go about the ugly business of "unfriending" or "unfollowing" me.

Though, I do pray that what issues forth from these entries will, somehow, reveal at least glimpses of a world that is often hidden behind the veil of daily living.