Skip to main content

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?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more