Absurd
This story is
absolutely preposterous, isn’t it? To
think that you can gather 12 staffs, put it with Aaron’s staff, and get one of
them to produce buds and even almonds is simply ridiculous. These are dead pieces of wood that have been
long ago cut away from their roots. They
have been moved far from their roots.
They have been up in the world exposed to the harsh dry air of the
wilderness. Simply preposterous, isn’t
it?
Of course it is
preposterous! Preposterous means “to go
greatly against that which is thought to be possible or probable.” Of course this story is preposterous. You can’t take a dead staff, move it away
from its roots, expose it to drying air, and expect it to not only bud but to
fruit with almonds! You can neither do
it nor expect it. For that matter, I
can’t either.
But God is the God of
the preposterous. God can absolutely do
it if God wants to! Just because
something is preposterous does not mean that I don’t think it happened. It just means that it goes against what
natural human and reason should dictate would happen. But God is the God of being able to do
precisely what goes against human reason or expectation.
This is precisely my
point. When stories like this come
along, I think it is good for us to sit back and remember just how preposterous
these stories are. We need to confess that
they go against every single human piece of reasoning that we can muster. But that is precisely what makes them
special. That is what makes them
unique. Only God can be the source of
power for this story to occur. Let me
repeat that. The preposterous nature of
this story necessarily implies that God is the source of the power for this
story to be true.
Pointing Us to God
When we take the time
to acknowledge and confess that this story is preposterous – and yet still
believe that it happened! – then it must necessarily point us to God! If something is physically impossible yet we
still believe it happened then there must be someone out there that is capable
of doing the physically impossible. To
assert the impossibility of this story and yet still believe it happened necessarily
asserts that there must be a God who is not confined to the rules of this
world. That is why I boldly declare that
it is preposterous, yet I still believe it true!
What’s the Big Deal?
Now, why have I spent
so long talking about something that at first glance seems bad theology:
confessing the preposterous nature of this story? Because we know this staff is dead, yet God
brought it to life to illustrate His chosen priest. God does the physically impossible regarding
death to make it clear who the Hebrew people should follow. So?
Well, I know this guy
named Jesus. He died. We know that dead people don’t come back to life
under the physical laws of the universe.
But Jesus did come back to life.
I assert that from the perspective of the physical laws of the universe
what I just said is absolutely preposterous.
Yet I still believe it. Just like
I believe God can bring a dead staff to life in order to bear fruit, I believe
God brought Jesus back to life to bear fruit as well!
Add to this that the
Holy Spirit brings spiritually dead people back to life in order to bear more fruit
through the same Holy Spirit...
The fact that I
believe something physically impossible happened necessarily means that I
believe there is a God. There is nothing
wrong with confessing something preposterous – so long as if it happens we
necessarily declare that it is evidence of God!
Such belief often only leads to even more great expressions of God’s
dominance over the physical laws of the universe.
Another Relationship between this Story and Jesus
Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention one other cool thing
about comparing this story to Jesus. Not
only does God raise Jesus to new life in a similar way as the dead staff was
made to bud and bear fruit, but God made this staff comes alive so the Hebrew
people could all know who God’s chosen priest happens to be. Similarly, God has chosen Jesus as the high
priest.
In bringing Jesus
back to life, God makes it clear who our high priest should be. Nobody can make atonement of our sins except
Jesus Christ. Not me. Not you.
Nobody. There is none but Jesus
Christ who has been chosen as God’s high priest.
Furthermore, notice
that God chose Aaron but did not deny the Levites their place of service in the
holiness of the people. What this means
for us is that while Jesus is our great high priest and nobody can supplant Him,
we still have a role to play as servants underneath Jesus. We do not ourselves provide atonement, but we
point to the one who does. We do not ourselves
provide forgiveness of sins, but we point to the one who does. We do not ourselves provide righteousness or
holiness, but we point to the one who does.
We are a chosen priesthood of believers underneath the great high priest
of Jesus Christ. Embrace that
designation, for if you believe in Jesus’ preposterous – yet very real –
resurrection, then that is who you are!
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