Search Engine

Friday, September 10, 2010

Give Jesus a Car

The Christian knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the Son of God, and part of the trinity. This is a fact, and within this fact is the knowledge that Jesus, as God, was, is and will forever be omniscient.
Scripture proves this truth. Isaiah prophesizes about the coming of Jesus in 45:22-23, declaring that the coming Jesus will be God and be the one who is turned to for salvation. Mathew 1:22 speaks on how the birth of Jesus was prophesied, and how Jesus would be called Immanuel (which means God with us). 1 Timothy 6:13-15 speaks of Jesus as King of king and Lord of lords. Revelation 2:8 speaks of the words of the one who is First and Last, who died and came to life (Jesus). There are many other passages supporting these truths.
Jesus was fully God while he was fully physically existing on earth. But this is not the forum to attempt to parse and dissect this truth. What will be done is to point out something that a lot of people probably never look at. That is, since Jesus is omniscient, wasn't there a time when he just wanted or wished to have some of the creature comforts that we enjoy today?
I am not suggesting that Jesus would have desired a leather armchair that he could rest in after a long day of driving around in his Mazarati. I am suggesting some things that could have made his ministry easier, time-efficient and more streamlined.
For instance, Jesus did a lot of walking during his ministry, as was the custom of the day. It was a few thousand years too soon to consider investing in a van for the church. Yet couldn't you imagine that Jesus thought about whipping up a car or light truck so he could go to and fro? It certainly would have made the trip from Tyre to Jerusalem more bearable. Not that he would want anything fancy, but perhaps a nice little Toyota Corolla or VW Bug. Something small and simple to spread his message faster. Maybe he even thought about a conversion van or heavy duty truck, as he was usually joined by twelve other guys, and I’m sure they complained about the distances they had to walk once or twice. Maybe he would have even thought about having the A/C blasting while he drove around the arid middle east climate.
Perhaps Jesus was used to walking, and thought that a car would be overkill. Maybe Jesus thought about something simpler, like a bag full of legal size yellow pads and a bunch of Bic pens for those that he was teaching. That would have been something simple and useful so that those he taught could take notes and review them later when they got home. For that matter, a nice little briefcase to carry around those pads and pens would have been wonderful. Now that would have been some technology from the future that would not only be useful but also inconspicuous.
But bright yellow papyrus and a plastic pen might have only gotten in the way for Jesus. As many were used to oral learning, Jesus was more than equipped to teaching in this manner. Maybe he would have thought of something for his family. Maybe he thought about breaking out the Black and Decker power tools so that he could have gotten through his carpentry more effectively. The power nailer and circular saw could have made him not only a more efficient carpenter but also make his work more fine tuned. That way he could have gotten through his work faster and to his preaching sooner. But the power tools laying around the workshop in those days would have no doubt brought suspicion, and as I recall electricity came only through lightning. So not only would he have had to make the tools, but also a power plant to generate the needed electricity. Definitely too much work for the payout.
Jesus definitely liked to teach, and he worked with to all styles of learning when he taught. I am sure he would have loved to have the internet around so that not only could he use his words to teach, but also a bunch of videos that would help the visual learners in the group. He could have found funny, reflective, hopeful and even serious videos all around the internet that could have driven his point home. No doubt the people would have been too busy being fascinated by the keys of the keyboard to be interested in what came out of the screen.
Not wanting to forget about the disciples, Jesus might have wanted a nice, modern fishing boat. He might have thought to himself that even though these guys I am with know a lot about fishing, imagine what they could do with a nice Crowline or Sea Ray. They could have torn up those fish in the Sea of Galilee and set record with their catches. Of course, I guess Jesus took care of that later when after a fruitless day of fishing he had them cast their nets and haul in more fish than they could have imagined.
Of course, Jesus did not need anything from today, though he could have had it at his command. But he came at the perfect time, in the perfect way, and met the culture where they were. To conjure up fanciful delights from the future or from faraway places to prove that he was the Son of God would have done nothing. It would have only served to draw people in not by faith, but by only what they saw.
Yet if you doubt that the Bible has no use of today's technology as has been proposed here, I present to you the book of Revelation. The Lord gave John the book of Revelation to write down in the first century, and John faithfully followed. In Revelation 11, we meet the two witnesses. In the span of four days in the future, these two witnesses will preach the Gospel, be murdered, have their bodies lie in the streets of Jerusalem and be resurrected by the Lord. All of this will be seen by the entire world. How in the world was a first century person to understand that the entire world could see an event in Jerusalem?
Because the Lord was well aware of CNN, even before Ted Turner.


No comments:

Post a Comment