CP 269 The wallaby series... Ranking those OT greats...

CP 269 The wallaby series... Ranking those OT greats…

This week we’ve been through Bermagui, Bega, Bemboka and Bombala. Right now we’re in Mallacoota which is in Victoria, so keep praying for us. During my inner cogitations I’ve found myself reflecting on lots of messages we have heard in recent times which have used Old Testament stories as their starting point.

Have you ever thought of ranking the great characters of the Old Testament on the basis of their holiness? I wonder if the candidates who come to mind for me are the same for you? So I think of names, in no particular order. Isaiah the temple priest and prophet, Abraham the believing patriarch, Jacob his sly and unsavoury grandson, Moses of exodus from Egypt fame, or maybe the kings David and Solomon. Others might be Joseph or Daniel, neither of whom ever seem to have put a foot wrong, (and for that very reason I struggle to connect with either of them.) I’m happily adding Joshua to the list, and maybe Ezekiel, the holiness prophet mostly based in Babylon. Not sure about Jeremiah though… he comes across as a bit of a grouchy grumbler. I suppose I shouldn’t include Samson. However I will include Elijah and Samuel.

No doubt you might put forward another one or two. Of those I have, who would you nominate? More than a few have ‘public’ black marks against them and that only underlines the need for grace. My personal ‘favourite’ would be Moses from the time the Lord called him. I understand both his unwillingness and his anger. He’s ‘real’, and astonishingly faithful to both the Lord his God and the ungodly, ungrateful and ungracious people he leads.

What might surprise you is that Jesus put forward a name not on my list and declared without reservation that his nominee was the greatest up to his time. Who is this mighty hero with a righteousness above others?

“Among those born of woman there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist…” (Matthew 11:11)

Get that? In Jesus’ judgement, John was greater than any of his OT predecessors, any previous patriarch, priest, prophet, wise man or king! Greater than any other human being who had ever lived. What is amazing is John’s own assessment of how his ‘greatness’ compares with that of Jesus the Christ:

“The one who comes after me is more powerful than I am, and I am not worthy to even carry his sandals!” (Matthew 3:11) Translation: I might be the greatest but I’m not even the Messiah’s bootlace!

What was John’s message? ‘Behold the Lamb of God!’ ‘He must increase, I must decrease.’ ‘Look to Him. Listen to Him. There is no one else. There is nowhere else. He and he alone is the answer to the consequences of Adam’s failure… He is the Lamb and in Him and Him alone will you find the kingdom of heaven! Trust Him. Trust in Him. Only his heart, life and Spirit within you will enable you to live in a way that pleases Father in heaven.’

Am I right? I know I am, and that’s why I get totally crapped off by sermons which start in the Old Testament, in which characters are held up as the best of the best examples, and never refer to Jesus the Christ whose life was so holy that his sacrifice could bring forgiveness for all our failures in trying to emulate those OT heroes whose ‘best efforts’ fell just as far short of the glory of God as ours!

Pray for Kingdom preachers.

Fred