Before and After

“He humbled Himself”. What constantly amazes me is the “before” and “after” of the story of Jesus. We know the story of Jesus on earth from the four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each in his own way, the writers piece together a life story. Two of them recount the birth of Jesus, its humble circumstances and the mighty portents which surrounded it. Then they tell of His spotless life and matchless ministry. All four then describe the wretched and painful death on the cross, followed by the resurrection and the reactions of awed puzzlement that greeted it.

Yet in some ways what speaks most for Jesus was the height He came down to this earth from and the glory to which He returned – the real “before” and “after”. To me it is breathtaking that anyone with such exalted origins and such a glittering future should bother with us on earth at all. And yet this side of the story is easily overlooked.

For various reasons, the first three gospel writers felt the need to stress the Messiah’s earthly career rather than emphasise the “before” and “after”. Matthew wished to appeal to his fellow-Jews. Mark wanted a practical, action-packed gospel to fit the needs of his Roman audience. Luke wanted to portray the human warmth of his Master. Only John, writing in more reflective vein, gives us an assessment of Jesus Christ the eternal, pre-existing, creating Word of God.

“In the beginning was the Word,” is John’s opening salvo, “and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. … He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” (From John chapter 1, ESV.)

If John is the great singer of the “before”, the apostle Paul is the master portrayer of the “after”.

“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’ But when it says, ‘all things are put in subjection,’ it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:22-28 ESV).

To me, this eternal exaltation makes the way people treated Jesus on earth all the more outrageous.

- Still more remarkable is the fact that He was prepared to come into such a scenario, let alone put up with the arrogant and abusive behaviours that went with it.

- And more remarkable still that He should embrace the most wretched of all capital punishments as an unjustly condemned criminal, all to bring forgiveness of sins to those who hated Him.

- And yet more remarkable that He should be interceding for us with His Father in the realms of glory.

I know that if I were in His shoes, returned to my rightful place after having endured such spite, I would be more likely to exclaim, “Goodbye and good riddance”.

But then, I’m not the Saviour.

The onus is now on me to decide, “How shall I respond to One who went through it all for me, returned to such glory, and still cares?”

By the way, please view my Christmas broadcast – a new venture for this year. You can watch it by clicking on this link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5hu43eamq9x68ak/bcast.m4v?dl=0

It’s quite safe and you don’t need to install any software.