Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Catch

Wednesday, September 3, 2014
In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
So the Word became human and made his home among us.  He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.    John 1:1, 14 (NLT)
“Logos” is the Greek word we translate as “word”.  Logos is how God translates Himself for a world that doesn’t understand Him.  “God in Christ” is so we could know God; it is the Word of gracious condescension for people who can’t speak heaven’s language.  We are far from His level, so He came down to ours!

In the first few verses of John’s Gospel, there is symmetry of thought which expresses critical truth about the incarnation of Jesus.  An old saying is what’s in a name?  The answer:  Everything if it is your name, and it describes who you are, your nature, and your character. 
To the ancients, and even modern Easterners, a name is not simply a word, spoken aloud, so perhaps you won’t miss dinner.  The name/word is seen as an active event – inherently powerful; a word is the same as a deed. 

And when that word is your name, your entire character, actions, desires, hopes, dreams, plans and countenance are on display for everyone to know.

In that way, Jesus, the Christ, described as the Word of God, is expressing that He is indeed God.  Jesus describes – displays – the very character (logos) of God.  Men didn’t really know what to think of God – and so God explained himself.  As G. Campbell Morgan put it, In Christ, the long, long silence became speech.

On a human level my Uncle Marlen knew how to do that.  When he was explaining something, he frequently asked a one-word question; he would say, Catch?   He wanted to know if we were catching-on to his idea. 

At pick-up football games he always knew what to do.  In the huddle he’d describe some elaborate play.  The instructions included things like running to the oak tree, and cutting over to the old Chevy awaiting overhaul in the back yard.  Be sure you fake left, he’d warn – Don’t let Tommy get in front of you.  I’ll throw you the ball when you zig right – CATCH?  

Catch?  Catch what?  Sure I’ll catch the ball – just – what’s a fake left and a zig right? 

Uncle Marlen would look at those blank doe-in-the-headlight stares in our faces.  Then he would say, I’ll do it one time so you can see it.  Just throw me the ball when I holler ‘NOW!’  He would run some intricate pass pattern, gliding along with that Jamaica shuffle of his – first left, right, stop, go, turn, whirl, jump and suddenly yell, Now!  C’mon, hit me!  The plans seldom worked – but we saw with our own eyes the best left fakes and zigs…ever!

That is the way with logos; Jesus was God’s way of saying “catch?” 

Jesus showed us The Father.

For You, Today

Jesus is the very character of God.

And when He lives in you, others see God; they catch what God is like by watching your moves.  Not “fakes” and “zigs” but compassion and joy.

Let it be full in you today!


Catch?









Title Picture:  [1] By Keith Allison (Flickr: Brett Gardner):   Via Wikimedia

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