He is the icon of the God we cannot see,
The firstborn, the image-bearer, of all creation!
The true Adam, what we were supposed to be.
Yet not just man, the best part of creation,
For by him all of creation has come to be,
The things in the heavens and upon the earth,
The things we see and those we cannot,
Thrones and dominions! Rulers and authorities!
By him and for him it all came to be!
He is first of all! It all exists because of him!
And what is more—glory of glories—
He crowns the church, his body
He is her head, her leader, her fount.
He is beginning itself, before anyone else,
Before anyone else, he rose from death’s womb.
He is the heart; in beauty and strength,
In glory and love, he is the first.
To the Father, to the Spirit, to Jesus himself,
It was fitting, pleasing, beautiful—
That all things might find fullness in him.
To the Father, to the Spirit, to Jesus himself,
It was fitting, pleasing, beautiful—
That all might find a home of peace in him.
Even the ants and bees, the plants we were to have tended,
The mountains and rivers, yet still more you and me!
But this fullness, this home, the peace,
All this through him, through blood dripping down,
On a cross of shame
The things of heaven and earth, reconciled, made full.
This fullness, our home, the peace,
In his body, through blood dripping down,
On a cross of victory.
A translation of Paul’s hymn from Colossians 1:15-20
Scripture Reflections
There aren’t many things that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all felt compelled to include in their Gospels. They all include his death and resurrection, but only Matthew and Luke mention his birth! All four mention the feeding of the 5000, but the temptation of Jesus doesn’t make the cut in all four. The reality is that there were too many moments worth mentioning, and each of the four chose according to what he was trying to communicate about Jesus to a particular audience. Each Gospel presents Jesus from a different angle, and together, we receive a rich and multi-faceted portrayal. It is actually a good thing that the four Gospels are different!
That is why it is so surprising that all four Gospels mention the fact that the women who followed Jesus were the first witnesses to the resurrection. We rightly should ask, “Why did this fact matter so much to the four evangelists that they all decided to mention it?”
There are a variety of answers to this question. First, it confirms something that is already present in the Gospel accounts—Jesus receives women as disciples. We take this for granted, but other rabbis didn’t do this at the time. Second, it demonstrates something Jesus said a number of times using the example of children and servants, something that his male disciples struggled to grasp—Jesus is committed to working through the humble and meek. Women simply didn’t have the social status of men, and it is like Jesus is proving a point at the resurrection. Those with low social status (whether men or women, Jew or Gentile, slave or free, child or adult) are often used by Jesus to confound the expectations and pride of the world. (Paul develops this theologically in I Cor. 1:18-31.)
But there is another answer that is remarkable: This simple fact provides phenomenal evidence for the fact that the resurrection of Jesus truly happened. Women weren’t considered credible witnesses, and their testimony was rarely admissible in court. If the Gospel writers were manufacturing a story, the last people they would choose as “witnesses” to their fabrication would be women, because the average person would immediately dismiss the evidence. The only reason to include women as the first witnesses is because that is actually what occurred.
The modern world might still view this with skepticism, but the ancient world wouldn’t have missed it. Having women be the first to hear the news—in all four Gospels—is either the biggest blunder the co-conspirators could make, or it is actually the truth.
Steven+
Scripture Reflections
John 11:5-6 is remarkable, and yet totally perplexing: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”
Both Martha and Mary say to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus was capable of preventing Lazarus’ death—the sisters knew it!—but because of his love for them, Jesus stayed away. Out of love, he hid himself from them in their time of need.
If you have ever been at a point of need—physically, emotionally, relationally—and felt that God seemed absent in that moment, you can understand the grief and frustration of Martha and Mary. His absence is hard to understand, and the claim that it might be out of love seems non-sensical. Love (to us) means that he would show up and do something! And yet, out of love, he sometimes seems to hide himself.
Jesus makes it clear why he did this. He said to Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” His absence was on purpose, out of love, because he had a greater glory to reveal to them, the sort of glory that only comes on the other side of the valley of the shadow of death.
Paul was given this greater glory, as well. Throughout II Corinthians he testifies that the comfort, grace, and power of God can only be seen on the far side of suffering, weakness, and the silence of God. Very simply, our short-sighted vision has to be extinguished in order for us to see the greater glory that God desires to give us.
The rest of Paul’s testimony in II Corinthians is helpful, because it also guards us from slipping into the belief that we will necessarily be given a reason for a particular suffering or the belief that all suffering will be removed in this life. Our hope—the vision of glory—is in “God who raises the dead” (II Cor. 1:9), not a god who promises to keep us from death. God’s sufficient presence, comfort, grace, and power are promised, even if we don’t understand everything we are facing.
If you find yourself confronted with the seeming absence of God in a moment of darkness, do not assume that it means that God is not there or that he does not love you. Instead, wait with fervent expectation for the glorious God who raises the dead.
Steven+