This child is destined to cause the rising the falling and rising of many in Israel.
Luke 2:34
I think of God as very stable. His nature is unchanging, so somehow I think that he doesn’t like change. I think of him as slow to act. He certainly takes His time, from the limited point of view of my human lifespan. Centuries of prophecy and Old Testament history unfolded, while God was gradually getting the pieces in place, before the Christ finally came.
I guess in our secular environment it’s easy to get infected with the general vibe that God is absent from the world – if not non-existent, then non-interfering. At the very most we tend to ask for a bit of tinkering with the details of our lives. I don’t think of him as seismic, down at my level.
But God created the cosmos, which scientists tell us is still on the move. He created the laws of physics that allow for Formula 1 and crazy fairground rollercoasters. He created cycles of degeneration and regeneration. He created the wind and the weather. He must like gear-shifts, reversals and change.
The verse today is from Simeon’s prophetic advice to Jesus’ parents. It tells me that Jesus came to shake things up. He rattled the established order. He told an adult Pharisee he needed to be born again. Jesus said he was a stumbling block that the self-righteous would fall over. His death tore open the curtain to the temple’s inner sanctuary. He said the first would be last, and the last first. He likes to flip the script
I have underestimated Him. He is dynamic. And He isn’t finished yet. There’s more rising and falling to come!
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