Things That Make You Say, "Huh?"

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. (I Peter 3:18-22)

            "OK, Lord, so what am I supposed to say about this?"  At some point in your life, you've read Scripture and said, "Huh?"  Often, study notes, commentaries or other reference works are helpful in making sense of these texts. The first thing my commentaries say about today's passage is "This is a difficult text." The better reference works say that some scholars say it means this, and some scholars say it means that, but here's what they think it means and why. The actual explanations aren't here because they are speculations.

            There are parts of what is said that are very clear: Jesus died for our sins. He only did so once. He was righteous, we are unrighteous. One of the results is that He brought us to God.  Peter considered the story of Noah to be historical. The rest... I don't know,  and that's OK. 

           Several years ago,  a friend and I wrote a study of the book of Hebrews. There are lots of things said in that book that generate a "Huh?" I have a love/hate relationship with things that make me say "Huh?"  I love it when "Huh?" turns into "OK" or even better, "Wow." When "Huh?" stays "Huh?" I'm not a happy person. At the time, God showed me that He gives one of three gifts when we study His Word.  The first is the gift of confirmation. That's when we read something and say, "Uh huh. Got that. Know that. Old news." Confirmation is punctuated with a period. The second is the gift of epiphany. That's when we say, "Wow! Got it! Yes!" It's all the exclamation point. The third is the gift of mystery. Mysteries are what lead us to ask questions like "Huh?"

            Mysteries can be frustrating. They remind us that we aren't omniscient. They hold the promise that someday, we'll understand. They are an invitation to continue seeking. In a way, they are far better than either confirmations or epiphanies because both of those end the conversation.  To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, mysteries show that God is "not a tame lion."  Aren't you glad?