C, Lent 2 - Luke 13:32b-33 "Paradox"
Jesus says, I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside
Makeup, criminals, and fitness — these three things all have something in common. What might it be? Some may think a criminal might wear makeup and be fit enough to outrun the law. But no, there is something else common with these three, although they have not much to do with each other at all.
Makeup is worn by many women, models, and movie stars. Have you ever marvelled over the natural beauty of a woman, or a star on the screen or in the magazine pages? This beauty attracts both men and women to gaze in wonder at their perfect features.
But then we see a tabloid magazine, or the television news, or we see face to face one of these beauties, caught off guard, or unawares. We are shocked, how plain and normal these people appear. The natural beauty was not natural at all! Rather it was extremely good makeup.
Isn’t it funny how this works? Makeup artists work harder and harder, so the person looks natural — like they are not wearing any makeup in fact. The makeup is applied not to present the makeup; rather the less one notices it the more natural a person might look. This is a seeming contradiction or absurdity, but it is an explainable truth.
Most criminals are not the brightest characters around! They usually do something stupid after committing a crime and get themselves caught. There are not many who remain uncaught for a lifetime. Guilt is probably a factor in most criminals’ stupidity and capture.
Take for instance someone who is on the run from police. Instead of walking normally and not drawing attention to themselves, they act nervous. Instead of blending in with the rest of the crowd; they run or push through the crowds, drawing attention to them, and get themselves caught.
What about the high speed police chases we’ve all seen on the news? Most of the time the crooks are spotted because of irrational behaviour. One would think if you didn’t want to get caught you would drive normally not drawing attention to yourself. But usually the more normal these people try to appear, the more suspicious they look! This is a seeming contradiction or absurdity, but it usually is an explainable truth!
Fitness is also a hard one to pin down. How fit is fit enough? It’s relative to the person’s goals and expectations. How many fit people have we met who still seeking to be fit? Or how many unfit people have you met who have said their fitness has improved? Fitness is a slippery character! What measure do you use for fitness?
Usually the fitter the person gets, they more they want to become fitter. It’s like the more agile a sportsperson becomes it’s just not quite enough to win the point they’ve just lost. “There’s always room for improvement”, some of us may have heard a mentor say at one time or another. Or alternatively, the more unfit one becomes the less fit they want to become. The quest for fitness is lost in the unfitness. These too, are a seeming contradiction or absurdity, but it is an explainable truth!
Our lives are full of contradictions and absurdities outside the boundaries of rationality, but which are explainable truths. This is even more so in the Christian Church; especially as the church deals with “the truth” and not just “truths” or “a truth”. Our lives are full of paradoxes; seeming contradictions or absurdities, outside the boundaries of rationality, but nevertheless are truths. Even more so, the faith planted in each of us is full of paradoxes; and so too is he who plants faith, hope, and love in us.
Jesus Christ is a paradox. This is the reason; many people refuse to believe he is God their Saviour. Many turn from him to other more rational gods; many live as enemies of the cross of Christ (Philippians 3:18).
The ecumenical creeds of the church concisely capture these paradoxes, the things which are irrational to many.
So what are the paradoxes of Christ? Jesus Christ is word, made flesh! In the creed we confess that he is “eternally begotten”, that is, he is forever being born of the Father. If we run a rational mind over this, we would say you’re either born or you’re eternal! Not both! But Jesus Christ is both. He is God the Son eternally begotten, and yet he is Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary, born in
Jesus Christ is finite, locatable in one place, but he is also infinite, as God truly is. Some argue the infinite cannot be contained in the finite — especially in bread and wine! But by the power of God’s word, the infinite was conceived in Mary and walked amongst us as a finite man for thirty three years. Now he’s at the right hand of God the Father but he is still Immanuel, God with us. And these paradoxes flow through into Holy Communion where the infinite is physically and spiritually present in the bread and wine of communion as Christ’s body and blood.
But all these paradoxes are not just a display of how wonderful God is before us. These paradoxes have a function, and that is to benefit us. Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12) In fact, we carry Christ in us bearing greater paradoxes than him, but only because of what he did for us on the cross.
In the gospel we hear Jesus say, I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside
God’s word is full of paradoxes concerning Christ and us. The phrase “Christ crucified” is a paradox, for Christ means messiah or anointed one. So how is it, the one who was anointed by God to be our messiah, finds himself hanging on a cursed tree at
This is what makes the horrors of Good Friday, so good for us who believe! Jesus drives the devil out of us today and tomorrow. He perfects people, eternally healing them today and tomorrow. He does this because he reached his goal and was perfected through his innocent suffering and sinless death in his resurrection.
So, to many, it seems we live lives of contradiction and absurdity. At baptism we speak of death; where at death we speak of life. In the cross and suffering, we receive peace and joy. We have been saved, we are being saved, yet one day we will be saved! We are a work of God in motion!
We are sinners but saints, sinfully weak but given strengthen to live as Christians by the Holy Spirit. Where others receive their glory in life now, we live with faith and hope, in that we will be glorified for Jesus sake in eternity. We live eternal lives now, but we suffer today and tomorrow, and we are still going to die.
Thanks be to God he sent his Son to be our strength in weakness, to be crucified a sinner, yet being without sin — to beat the devil, the world, and our sinful selves, when all thought the cross was the end. God who seems so loveless because he let his one and only Son die, is God Almighty who loves us so much he sent his one and only Son to the cross, and raised him in glory after three days. So although we expect pain, suffering, and scorn, we live in faith and hope trusting we will be raised in love to live with him forever in glory!
…our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21)
Stand firm in the Lord, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer. Amen.
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