Day 219: Redemption

John 5:19-47; 1 Chronicles 20:1-22:1; Zechariah 8

Jesus talks about his and the Father's ability to raise the dead to life. He is referring to both the dead in spirit and the dead literally. Believing in Jesus Christ wakes the spiritually dead up and one day all the dead in body will be raised to life. The point of all this is that God gives life. He takes what is lifeless, hopeless, broken, immobile, and gives it life, hope, wholeness, and purpose.

Jesus continues by talking about believing him. I've always thought it was crazy that the Jewish nation has not (for the majority) believed in Jesus as the Messiah. They are still waiting for their Savior who will lead them into victory through a literal battle and be an earthly king. They may have even read parts of the New Testament, but what Jesus says is that if you can't read the Old Testament and see and believe the mentions of Jesus, then reading the New won't help either. I pray that eyes and hearts are opened; Jesus is the Messiah, the one who saves, and there are many people who will testify to his power to raise them from the spiritual dead.

So why is counting people such a big deal? Why does David get in such big trouble for ordering his men to do this? Because taking account of the nation demonstrates greed and pride, a lack of trust in The Lord to provide. If David knew how many people he had and how many men could be in his army, then he would feel like he, himself, had the power to be a great ruler and warrior. However, God reserves the right to be our warrior and David needed to simply rely and trust in God for power. That's why God gets so angry, because David's greed makes him prideful and for a moment, David does not trust in God and disobeys. As a result, sadly, many people die. But God is merciful and does not completely wipe them out and David learns his lesson. It is simply a powerful story of faith vs. pride in one's own abilities.

Zechariah 8 is such an amazing example of God's restorative power. He says that he will rebuild and repopulate Jerusalem by bringing the captives out of the hands of their captors so that children will run in the streets and old men will sit around and talk. He promises to give them abundant crops. Despite the fact that they have not always been perfect, God loves them so much and says that he will provide for them in so many ways. But, he encourages them to live in love, with justice and peace, not in evil ways, but in holy ways. If the people live with peace and love and truth, not only will they be restored to their blessed city, but foreigners will want to join them too. I think that is a powerful image: when God is doing his work of redemption, people can't help but notice and want some. But if we live our lives as if we haven't been saved and redeemed, how are people going to recognize The Lord? God is so merciful and so giving, it is amazing the patience he has for his people.