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The one thing I don’t remember seeing in this year’s Super Bowl were trick plays. I love trick plays. I love it when an offense keeps a defense on its toes. I love a little fakery. Reverses, flea-flickers, the Philly Special (when will they ever run that play again?!). A little something to make things fun. Like fake punts or field goals.
I also like a little paradox, where things sort of make sense one level but sort of don’t on another. “The first will be last and the last will be first.” Jesus repeats that phrase a few times in the Gospels. “A picture is worth a thousand words”—sometimes an image works better than anything else to get a thought across. I like things that make me stretch my imagination.
Jesus did a lot of “unexpected” things in his ministry; he said a lot of counter-intuitive things as well. The biggest reversal of all was being killed and raised from the dead! One “image” the early church used was that Jesus tricked the devil when he was killed, a cosmic switcheroo. This Sunday, Paul develops that some more in a universal direction reminding us that resurrection isn’t just about this world. Jesus in dying defeats death!
I think Jesus knew that ahead of time when he proclaimed all kinds of “reversals.” “Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). I don’t know about that… How is that true? We have to use our imaginations! “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (6:24). That makes more sense to me, even though I might envy what my wealthier neighbors have. The rich can’t “take it with them”… so it comforts them now. I get that; does that mean they won’t have that comfort in the future? Jesus’ statements in Luke 6 only make complete sense if there’s more to this world, more going on than just this world.
So, how do they intersect? Clearly he is talking to real people—poor and wealthy—and yet there’s an “extra” element to his description of reality. Call it heaven… How do we live that out, how does it affect what we do and say? Maybe, call it resurrection.
Peace,
Pr. Christian