Today’s Scripture Reading (October
21, 2014): John 18
Last week,
as the Western media continued to ponder what the absence of Kim Jong Un (North
Korea’s Supreme Leader) really meant. One observer noted that there has been almost
as much ink written about the dictator during his absence as there was while he
was actively threatening his neighbors and the Western coast of North America with
nuclear weapons. Media outlets outside of Korea seem absolutely bewildered by
the absence of Kim. The fact that we care and that North Korea commands so much
attention on the world stage is amazing considering that we are talking about
an extremely small and poor nation with an autocratic government which
jealously guards its internal workings.
But the fact
that we do not know the whereabouts of Kim Jong Un should not be much a
surprise. We know relatively little about the Korean Leader. We aren’t even
really sure how old he is (we suspect that for some reason North Korea is insisting
that its leader is a year older than he really is.) All that we know about Kim
Jong Un are the things that defectors have told us about him, and many of these
reports seem contradictory. But what we do understand is that Kim Jong Un rules through the force of
his personality, so the question that plagues those outside of Korea is this –
what would a power vacuum mean (if something grave were to happen to Kim Jong
Un) inside the North Korean political infrastructure.
As we read
the story of the events in and around Israel 2000 years ago, we begin to
understand the strength of the personalities that were involved in the story.
At the time, Caesar would have been the biggest of the personalities, but there
were several other honorable mentions. The force of Pilate’s personality was
what seemed to sometimes get him into trouble with his superiors. Pilate’s
attitude often seemed to be “I am in charge and there is nothing that you can
do to change that.” But Herod was the King of Israel and again presented a big
personality as well as a belief that he was above the law. In Herod’s world,
everyone was made to serve him – and would serve him as long as he could keep Caesar
– really the only person that Herod had to serve - happy. Kim Jong Un would
have found good company among alongside of Herod.
But there
were also the personalities that clashed with Herod. John the Baptist
repeatedly proved that he really did not care what Herod had to say. He served
God and not man – and he was in no way intimidated by the current occupant of
the throne of Israel. But what might have bothered Herod even more than the
prophet’s attitude was the fact that the people supported him – and really
believed that John was from God.
And then
there was Jesus. But with all the personalities who believed that they were in
control, only the rabbi from Galilee really was. Even as the soldiers come to
arrest him, Jesus power comes to the forefront. The question that the guards
asked was a simple one – which of you is Jesus. And Jesus steps forward and
actually in the Greek speaks only two words – I Am. The words just happen to be
the same words that God used when Moses asked who it was that he should say had
sent him into Egypt. God’s response - “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites:
‘I am has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).
Jesus spoke the words “I Am” with such force and authenticity that there
was no doubt to the soldiers that they were in the presence of God. And the
only thing that they could do was to kneel before the Holy One of Israel
standing in their midst. There were no personalities big enough to stand against
the Great I Am. And one day we will all kneel when we hear the words “I Am”
spoken in our presence – no matter how big our personalities might be.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 19
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