Last week astronomers discovered a massive black hole with a
total mass greater than 800 million suns.
Scientists estimate the black hole is over 13 billion light years away
and formed just 690 million years after the origin of the universe. Such dimensions of time, space and mass
boggle the mind.
These dimensions give us a clue to the majesty of Jesus
Christ. The Apostle Paul tried to
capture that majesty with these words: “He is
the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by
Him all things were created, both
in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones
or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him
and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all
things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17).
Our understanding of God and Jesus are too small, too
limited. We think in simple terms of time and space, beginning and end. But, like the universe, He is more.
That is why, when Moses met God in the desert and asked His
name, God answered, “I Am That I Am.”
And that is the reason Jesus spoke of Himself in the same
terms. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I Am.” These are perhaps
the most profound words ever uttered.
They change everything. All our
concepts about existence and time. About who we are and who God is. About the
meaning of life.
The religious leaders of the first century failed to
recognize Jesus because they were conditioned to think in linear terms, past
and present, a coming King. Like them we miss Him as well when we think in such
terms. He is more than we imagine. He is
past, present and future.
John attempted to capture His mystery in more
symbolic language: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All
things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being
that has come into being. In Him was life, and the
life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not comprehend it. … The Word became flesh and dwelt among us
and we beheld His glory.” (John 1:1-5,14).
We have limited our understanding of Jesus Christ
to a mere mortal man who was born, who lived and died at a particular time in
history. While He was born in Bethlehem, lived in Galilee and was crucified
under Pontus Pilate outside Jerusalem 2000 years ago, He was far more than
anyone understood. We have to chip away
all the religious brick and mortar of 2,000 years, all the plaster and
paint. We must look beyond the musty
pages of theology and church history to discover the miracle and the mystery of
that moment in time when all that is eternal entered into our narrow frame of
understanding, calling to us from beyond, calling us to be more than we ever
imagined, to be better than we believed we could be, to link our lives with the
eternal, to enter, literally, eis aionos,
“into the age.”
Thank you for putting into words what I have been pondering.
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