Wrestling with scripture

Hebrews 11:23-26New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward.

Confession.

Of all the books in the Bible that I love perhaps less than others, Hebrews falls near the top.  It's always been something of a mystery to me.  It's a book - a letter or sermon actually - that is important to the canon especially for its connection to the Jewish heritage of the Jewish Christians it was written for.

And yet I have often had a difficult time myself connecting to it's priestly language.  It is heavy in its connection to Old Testament imagery and in it's picture of the divine nature of Christ.  

In some ways it's struck me as being so focused on the divine Christ, that I miss the human Jesus.

It is jarring a bit also in passages like this one where the Christ of the New Testament is placed in a story from the Old Testament.

And yet then I remember that the Jesus I worship and follow IS the Christ who was part of God from the beginning.  The divine logos.  The Word made flesh.

Jesus.

Christ.

True God from true God.

Begotten not made.

If you are like me, there will be times when you read scripture and the metaphor or language or imagery doesn't quite make sense to you.  Where things seem upside down or backwards.

And that's OK.

The Epistle to the Hebrews was comforting and important for the people who initially heard it.  And while it's language might not be what we would use today to speak of Jesus as Christ, nevertheless, there are nuggets of gold in it that can prompt our faith journey onward.  It's OK to wrestle with something when it doesn't make sense.

Because often in the wrestling, truth will be set free.

Lord, thank you for all the voices of faith that have come before me.  May they continue to open my life of faith to Jesus as man and Jesus as Christ so that I may continue to grow ever closer to you.  Amen.