Heaven is touching earth today
What’s the Weather Like?
Hot or cold?
At seven o’clock this morning, a beautiful sunrise can be seen through the trees and tall buildings of my city. My 16-week old pup, Gage, and I prepare for a walk. I check my iPhone for the weather temperature. 51°F. I decide on a jacket, hat and gloves. My head and hands get cold on a day like today.
A few short weeks earlier in the Dead Sea/Masada area of Israel, I witness another gorgeous sunrise; this one reflecting on the Sea and the mountains of Jordan to the east. It is already warm and sultry. I check my iPhone. The temperature is predicted to rise quickly to 110-112°F. I am wearing a simple shirt, shorts and a hat for shade today.
Jesus stepped out on a morning, perhaps a lot like this, with the Mediterranean Sea lying west from Judea, and the deserts of Arabia and Egypt to the south. He doesn’t need an iPhone for a weather report, nor do the people he will address today. Everyone knows. Clouds and showers come from the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Hot winds, with heat rising quickly in the air, from the southern desert regions.
It is sweltering, a day the “hot winds” are so oppressive they bring on fainting and difficulty of breathing for some who have gathered to see and hear him. Jesus is perspiring in the heat, even after moving to a shady place as he teaches. If his words to the crowd surrounding him are any reflection as to how he is feeling in this moment, they are heated as well and without any wasted political correctness.
A weather perspective
“When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? Luke 12:54-56 (ESV)
Jesus reminds them (and us) not to assume we know the times we are living in merely by reading nature’s telltale signals. God’s redemptive plan is unfolding around us while we talk about the weather. He wants us to grasp what is happening, but we (and they) are in danger of missing it altogether.
Heaven on earth
That In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That heaven is touching earth today. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus urges preparation for what is ahead. Kingdom of God values are never hidden in talk about the weather. Jesus intends for them to be wrapped with expectation and a sense of urgency, built around a readiness for his return. Wait. His return? Jesus is coming again? His followers (then and now) are squarely in the middle of history’s Greatest Drama, but often without comprehension. Their (and our) clarity may be focused on nature’s immediate elements, I.e., the torrid heat of the day, its resulting discomfort; and not on the Creator who stands in the midst of his creation, unrecognized. A divine purpose Jesus has come to save. He is God’s Ultimate Gift of redeeming grace. He is preparing to die for the sins of all. To be buried. To break out in a Redeemer’s triumph over death and the grave. Get ready. Heaven is touching earth today. Still, we’ve stood here a long time in the heat, wishing he would do for us what we hear he has done for others. It’s always someone else who gets the loaves and fish, isn’t it? Well, we’re hungry, too. Did anyone think to bring a lunch with them? Who knew so much time would pass? We deserve a miracle for just standing here in the sun all this time. Miracles are what we came looking for, but instead he calls us “hypocrites?” Sometimes Jesus has a way of making me uncomfortable. All I want to know is what the weather will be like. What he wants me to know is heaven is touching earth today; God is still speaking. What really matters Finally I get it. I put down my iPhone. I pick up my Bible. The weather doesn’t matter. Not really. What matters is for me (and you) to rise with each day’s dawn, looking and listening, anticipating what God wants to do in us, with us, and through us, living with a clear understanding that our decision to be followers of Jesus matters profoundly. It always has, and in life’s second half it still does. Maybe now more than ever. This is my beloved Son; listen to him.[3] Have a great day! [1] John 1:1,2,14 [2] Mark 9:7 [3] Mark 9:7
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