Deciphering the Mysteries of God
Faith in a Triune God may bring us closer to solving the mystery.
As I write this devotional, I ask you to read my article, The Magical Mystery Tour. Taking time to see the magnitude of Jesus will help to understand how He views this world's poor, unfortunate souls.
Ursula, the villain of the Disney Movie titled Little Mermaid, sang a seductive song about Poor Unfortunate Souls. Arial, the mermaid, gave in to the bewitching lure of Ursula. In exchange for walking with human feet, she would have to give Ursula her soul, which was in her voice. Without her voice, she could only do so much. Only love’s kiss could break the spell to redeem her.
The Little Mermaid is only an animated story, but it’s funny how sometimes these stories hit upon some truth. Let’s look at the Pharisees during the time of Jesus’ ministry.
The Pharisees gave up their voices of mercy to walk in the confines of the Law, literally exchanging compassion and love for stone-table hearts. Rules and regulations, a checklist, were easier to follow than spiritual matters of the heart. They became the poor, unfortunate, blind souls following the dead god of laws. Only a kiss of love’s grace could melt their frozen souls and bring them spiritual life.
Jesus said two things that are monumental in Matthew 12:1–8.
Let’s begin with the setup found in (Matthew 12:1, NIV)
At that time, Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.
The Pharisees began a critique of Jesus’ ministry by using their law-control voices. The sin against the Sabbath was their concern, not the compassion of hungry men.
The plot thickens as Jesus makes a response. (Matthew 12:3–5, NIV)
He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread — which was not lawful for them to do but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
Oops! The Pharisees forgot those scriptures, which is odd because the law had become their god.
Jesus brings it all home in this profound statement. (Matthew 12: 6–8, NIV)
I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus was more than a mere mortal man with miraculous abilities. He was more significant than the temple and was Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus was indeed the embodiment of the Father. It was easier for the Pharisees to follow a checklist of rules than to be ruled by a heart of empathy, mercy, and human kindness.
Do you see and understand this concept? How could the disciples sin by the standards of the law when Jesus, more significant than the temple and Lord of the Sabbath, was there in their midst?
Life, death, and resurrection were agreements between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It was a love pact that served its marvelous purpose of bringing God to humanity. It was this greatest kiss of love ever given to this world that would miraculously forgive, heal, and redeem us for eternity.
If Jesus embodied God in the flesh, how could He die and still be God? I had a man ask me this question once. Here is the beauty of the entire thing. Yes, He died, but He was still God risen and on the throne who came to redeem His children. The timeline does not confine the God who is, was, and is to come. Timelines confine us! Personal ideologies limit us! And preconceived prejudices restrict us!
Can you comprehend a kind of love that strips away all the confines, a love that would even ask for forgiveness of the poor unfortunate souls crucifying Him?
When you fully grasp the limitless concept of Christ, you will suddenly perceive with God’s eyes and interpret with God’s ears, not through a set of 613 laws but through the fulfillment of the Law through a spirit of compassion and grace.
We may even glimpse how God views this world’s poor, unfortunate souls. Jesus told us
If people hear my words and don’t keep them, I don’t judge them. I didn’t come to judge the world but to save it. (John 12:47, CEB)
Wow! God in the flesh, portrayed as a vindictive judge throughout the Old Testament, now says this? What do we make of this?
We may not fully grasp the Triune God, but God’s purpose will finally make sense when by faith, we believe it. Though there are three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, He is all one God, bound by nothing but His pure, holy love.
So, what does God want from us?
What God wants from us is no mystery. He doesn’t want our offerings, our obedience, our analytical minds. He wants our childlike hearts in a love relationship with Him. All the other mysterious ways of God will be fully revealed in time.
