-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)
We begin our reading today with Job again arguing with his “friends”. His buddy Bildad leads (in chapter 8) with “2′How long will you say these things, And the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?‘”, which seems to be a less-than-gracious approach at best (and pretty rude at worst) from someone who’s supposed to be your friend when you’ve hit rock bottom. He then goes on to say that God rewards the righteous, and offers a number of helpful suggestions to Job on how to regain his righteousness, assuming that Job has become unrighteous in some way.
Job steadfastly insists on his innocence, but points out the futility of arguing with God. In Chapter 9 he says “5God is the One who removes the mountains, they know not how, When He overturns them in His anger; 6The One who shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble; 7The One who says for the sun not to shine, And sets a seal upon the stars; 8Who alone stretches out the heavens, And tramples down the waves of the sea;” to highlight the futility of arguing with such a powerful being, and then comes a key understanding later on in this same chapter. This is the heart of his argument, the point of pain in his disagreement with his treatment.
Job understands that he is just a man, a mortal human being, and that God is the creator and master of the universe. What argument can you offer? Job feels hard done by, and it boils down to this: “32For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him,That we may go to court for judgment together. 33There is no adjudicator between us, Who may lay his hand upon us both.“. He feels as if he has no recourse, there’s no one to stand between him and God and offer up a defense.
David also, even though his tone and approach are different at the time, acknowledges this simple fact in Psalms 95: “3For Yahweh is a great God And a great King above all gods, 4In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. 5 The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. 6Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before Yahweh our Maker 7For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand...”. All of this is true, God is the Creator of all, the ruler of all, a great King above all, who owns the very earth we live on because He created it. The very level of His power can be, to a tiny insignificant human, a little bit intimidating. Enraging the Most High God is generally just not considered to be a good career plan.
Throughout scriptural history though, there are a few very special men who pleaded with God on behalf of others, insanely brave men who placed themself in the gap and risked their own selves for the compassion of others. Abraham pleaded for Sodom and Gomorrah in Gen 18:23. If Moses had not interceded with God on behalf of the Israelites after the events of the golden calf in Exodus 32, we might have had a very different account in scriptures. Very rarely, historically, a man would stand in the breach and plead with God for the sake of others. Then Jesus came.
So here’s a quick age test: did you ever watch an older black and white episode of Perry Mason? What would have happened to any of his innocent clients if Perry had not taken their case? Our reading today in Hebrews 9 explains to us fully that now we have a mediator, that we now have a new covenant, and that our mediator is the Christ: “15And for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the trespasses that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”. Hebrews 9 goes on to list a number of the differences between the old and the new covenants, and explain how and why the new covenant is better. A very good portion of Hebrews is written for the express purpose of showing that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, whom God had chosen from among the people (see Heb 5) to become the high priest and mediator of the new covenant. He’s representing us as a mediator right now, in the Courts of Heaven (see Aug 5 devotion for a better understanding of the Courts).
Think about this for a moment. If Jesus had succumbed to temptation in the wilderness, would we be reading about Jesus today in scripture? Jesus became our mediator specifically because of his complete devotion and utter obedience to God. We know that sin and death entered the world through the actions and disobedience of one man (Adam), and we also know that through the actions and obedience of one man (Jesus) that God grants us grace and life (Romans 5). It specifically says that in Romans 5, “through one man”, go read it. I have some friends of a more “complex” interpretation of scripture that this is a hugely difficult text for, because they say “how could a mere man atone for the sins of the world?“, and they will usually offer the rationalization of “oh, well that was because when he died it was as a man…” as an argument (implying that after the resurrection and ascension, Jesus wasn’t a man any longer).
That argument doesn’t hold water though. Scripture is very clear, that there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim 2:5). This was written by Paul in @62-65 AD. That’s about 30 years after Jesus died and was raised again by God, well after the ascension of the Christ. What’s the holdup? What’s wrong with Paul, doesn’t he understand who Jesus was? The answer is clearly yes, Paul has a very clear understanding of who Jesus was but today’s modern orthodox understanding has become greatly confused except by a very lucky few: Jesus was born as a man, died as a man, and sits now even still at the right hand of the Ancient of days as a man (see Dan 7:13-14). A man glorified by God, but a man nonetheless.
That is the reason Jesus is qualified to act as our high priest (for every high priest is taken from among men, Heb 5:1), and being a man is the only reason he is qualified to act as a mediator between God and the other humans, because he went through the exact same trials and temptations that we go through every day. The difference is, our mediator, our high priest…he passed every test. He was obedient, even unto death (and beyond). He is the perfect role model of humanity, and teaches us the way of complete love and obedience to the Father, while acting on our behalf as a compassionate and understanding intercessor between us and God. God is an ultimately fair and righteous judge, but I am still very thankful to have Jesus to plead my case before the Father. I can only speak for myself, but I need all the help I can get.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
Have you ever had to go to court (or seen a court trial taking place on tv)? Do the defendants usually fare better or worse without representation?
We have a great big God, and God is loving and fair, but have you ever considered how blessed we are that we have a mediator who speaks to God on our behalf when we fall short?
PRAYER
Father God, you are just and fair. You have created us, and loved us, and we have been rebellious and proud. Please forgive us. Thank you for sending us Jesus, help us to follow his instructions, please grant us your spirit and teach us wisdom. In Jesus name, Amen.
Seek Grow Love 