“We have not king but Caesar!”
It was an empty boast:
Thus heretics wrung empty justice
From their Roman host.
And empty-hearted followers
Grieved empty prophesy:
An empty throne. The empty king
Instead had filled a tree.
But empty exposition,
Assumed in empty pride,
Keep them from recognizing
The Peacemaker who died:
The Emptied God who overcame
The Self-willed’s empty doom.
And peace with God is now restored.
The proof? The Empty Tomb.
Sources:
John 19:15 ❦ Luke 24:17-27 ❦ Luke 7:19-23
Hebrews 1:1-2 ❦ Psalm 22 ❦ Philippians 2:5-11
John 3:16 ❦ Romans 5:1-2
One of the things that impresses me most about the story of Jesus is the prophetic aspect. According to Christian understanding, Jesus fulfilled all the prophesies associated with the snake-stamping deliverer first promised in Genesis 3, yet even his own disciples couldn’t see the connection until He explained it (Luke 24:17-27). The main reason they didn’t recognize the fulfillment was because, over the previous four hundred years of prophetic silence, the commentators had figured out exactly what their Messiah would be like and what He would do. They were certain of their interpretation’s correctness – after all, they had scripture on their side! But, when the Messiah actually did turn up, He was everything prophesy had predicted, and not at all what they had expected. The commentators had put more faith in their interpretation of scripture than they had in the scriptures themselves. (That’s one reason I don’t get too excited about eschatology: so many interpreters were positive that their exposition of Revelations was the right one, and lived to be disappointed. When the time does come, it’ll be exactly what was predicted, and, as with Jesus, not necessarily what we expect.) In the coming year, I hope we all can hear God speak through the Bible: that we can see what it says, and not be misled by what we think it says!
He is Risen Indeed!
