Jesus, the King of Opposites

Isn’t life full of funny opposites?

In a cute email, you might see a baby kitten curled up on the tummy of a 150-pound German Shepherd. You can go to any good seafood restaurant and buy “jumbo shrimp.” Or how about those diets that claim you can weigh less by eating more. The fact is our lives are filled with all kinds of opposites. My grandmother was an opposite. Even when I was a small boy, she was frail and aged. Florence Merriweather Higgins had lived quite a tough life as a poor dirt farmer. Years of raising and children and working the land had left her hobbled and shriveled. She had debilitating rheumatoid arthritis – ever since her fifties. Just walking down the hallway was an all-day affair. Her hands, wracked with arthritis, were curled and mangled beyond usefulness – it was as though she had fingerless mittens rather than usable hands. There wasn’t a lot she could do in her later years. She couldn’t cook, couldn’t clean, and couldn’t bathe. By all standards, she was failure as a physical human being, unassuming and unnoticeable. Even though that dear woman could never hoist me into her lap, she had power – not the kind of power you and I think of, but power that was born out of faith and adherence to the written Word. She loved to read the Bible. Bible reading, for her, was an escape to a place where physical limitation was rendered impotent in the presence of the Almighty. My grandmother instilled that discipline in me from a very early age. She taught me the Psalms and the Beatitudes. When she read, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,” you’d better believe she understood exactly what it meant! Yes, my grandmother was the perfect embodiment of opposites.

Jesus, too, exhibited some of these traits. Infinitely-finite. Though, in very nature God, he was born humbly as a man. He had the power of the Almighty at his fingertips, yet he used those fingers to carve and fashion and build and to touch. The prophets had also envisioned such an opposite Deliverer, though many misinterpreted it. Certainly as Isaiah spoke to the nation of Israel, he envisioned a great Messiah of opposites - one who would come to make the no bodies, some bodies. Those who were blind would be sighted in Jesus’ reign as the king of opposites. The poor would mount the ladder of spiritual fortune. The brokenhearted would find a new reason for living. The spiritually imprisoned would be liberated. Those that mourn with ashen faces would rise, cleanse, and worship once again. Yes, the King of opposites had indeed come into the world – and his first ministry stop would be to those who needed him most.

Our assembly this week will focus on Emmanuel coming into the world, as foretold by Isaiah and fulfilled by Jesus. The Messiah brings healing in his wings and rescue from the Fall for those who would have eyes to see and ears to hear. Also, we will worship a God who trades opposites – sorrow for joy, mourning for dancing.

Resounding Themes:
Emmanuel/Messiah
Freedom from bondage, mourning to dancing
Fulfillment of Prophecy in Christ
Jesus as the Rescue for man from sin