(1) "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, (2) but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe."
In two verses, the author of Hebrews calls upon all of biblical history to establish God's Son, Jesus, as God's incarnated speech. John's Gospel begins the same way: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus is the Word of God, the embodiment of God's speech. Whatever God says, Jesus is.
What is unique to Hebrews, though, is that Christ's identity as God's spoken word is set within the context of the Israelite prophetic tradition. "God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets... but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son." Jesus is the prophetic Word of God. Thus, following the Old Testament prophetic tradition,
- Jesus is the Word that God speaks against unrighteousness and injustice.
- Jesus is the Word that God speaks to his people to call them to repentance.
- Jesus is the Word that God speaks to his people to exhort them to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with him.
- Jesus is the Word that God speaks to remind his people that he is their God and they are his people.
These two verses that begin Hebrews ask us, in a way, to lay aside our zeal to do things. They ask us to put "doing" in its proper place - after listening. Because Jesus is the prophetic Word that God speaks to us, the question "What would Jesus do?" should actually be rephrased into something far less catchy: "What does God say?" When Jesus is doing, God is speaking.
Example: Jesus enters the temple, where God's people gathered, and he angrily drives out those who have turned a place of worship into a marketplace. If we ask, "What would Jesus do?" then we have missed the entire idea that Jesus is a prophetic Word from God. The appropriate response on our part would be to go into the nearest mega-church that has a Starbucks within its walls and toss the tables. But if we ask, "What does God say?" then we invite God to speak to us through Jesus' life. In this story, perhaps God is saying, This is how I feel about those within my church who distract worshipers with consumerism.
This is one example among hundreds.
The point is that God speaks prophetically to us through Christ, just like he spoke prophetically to Israel through Isaiah, Micah, Amos, and Daniel. When we encounter Christ in the Gospels, let's adopt a zeal to listen first, and do after. Let's put the question, "What would Jesus do?" in its proper place - after the question, "What does God say?" God speaks to us every day through his Son. Will we listen?
2 comments:
I think people ask, "What would Jesus do?" because it's easier to act than it is to listen. It's easier to imitate than it is to change. Jesus' actions, God's Words, require something of me. Like the instance of the woman caught in adultery, I'm not just supposed to forgive sin, turn a blind eye to it, say don't do it again. I'm supposed to have compassion. I'm supposed to realize that I'm sinful, too, and that God has mercy on me, and that should change not just my reactions but my heart. It should give me a deeper and fuller love for God and for people. When we simplify the Christian life to cheap imitation, we remove love from the equation entirely. It becomes all about what I can and should be doing rather than what God has done and is doing, what God has said and is saying.
"When Jesus is doing, God is speaking."
I love that picture. Sometimes as Evangelicals, we can get so caught up in doing that we forget to listen to what God is saying and transform our being to what He has called us to be. Who we are is just as important as what we do, and we can learn both of those by listening to God through Christ.
Great thoughts.
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