The flesh of the child became warm.

 

Friday, October 20, 2023


Psalms 114; 115

2 Kings 4:18-37

Matthew 14:1-21


The flesh of the child became warm.


God’s gift of eternal life to those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ is far more intimate than we are comfortable with. Anyone can accept a gift if it is given with respect to one’s personal space; make sure you take the price tag off, wrap it up in paper so that it is separate from everything else, hand it over so that there need not be any unwanted physical contact: a very dignified and formal routine.


But to gain life in Christ is far more profound than receiving a nice tea cup in a cardboard box for your birthday. The incarnation, that great and mysterious action whereby God is joined to humanity in the person of Jesus, isn’t a miracle we can just put off to the side and admire. Jesus gets close; we can smell Him, hear Him breathe, see Him blink. He gets in under our skin.


To be in love with a high school sweetheart is one thing. Falling in love with the Lord Jesus is like nothing else. He gets right up into our personal space: He has joined His matter to our matter, His likes and dislikes are now our likes and dislikes. He is the Lord God Almighty, and is over all creation, and all creation is held in Him: there is no getting away.


The miracle that Elisha performs on the Shunammite woman’s child is weird. There is something unsettling about how close Elisha gets to this corpse. But this is Jesus giving us His life. We are the corpse, lying on the table, giving off an awful stink of sin. Jesus has laid Himself down onto that corpse and breathed in the breath of life.


Resurrection isn’t normal. Resurrection isn’t pretty. Resurrection is glorious; and all glory to God for the life He has given to us in Jesus Christ.

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