Unintended Outcome
“Stop hitting yourself.” I exclaimed to my little brother after putting him in a headlock and using his own fist to not-so playfully hit himself on the top of the head. I will not extol the actions of a mean older brother in this blog but the idea of “stop hitting yourself” makes me think of several outcomes in the Bible that were unintended consequences of someone’s course of action. The most obvious one to me involves a group of older brothers punishing the youngest at the time. As the story goes, Joseph’s older brothers sold him into slavery after relenting from actually killing him. Joseph, through the providence of God, climbs to second in command over all Egypt and then has his older brothers’ lives under his authority during a famine. God had saved not only the brothers but much of the known world at the time through their treachery. Joseph didn’t have them killed but might have unintentionally added a little salt in the wound when he exclaimed “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Genesis 50:20
Another set of brothers comes to mind, Jesus’ brothers in John 7. The Savior’s brothers seem to be challenging him to go to Judea and prove what he and others have been saying about him. He would eventually do as they suggested but not to lead an military coup or prove them wrong. It was to save them from their sins. An idea they would benefit from along with us.
The disciples had their ideas about what Jesus should and shouldn’t do. Peter was rebuked for his man made perspective in regards to the plan to bring about the salvation of mankind through his crucifixion, burial and resurrection (Mark 8). James and John were corrected when they wanted to punish the Samaritans with fire for disrespecting Jesus. The High Priest had no idea how right he was when stating “…it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish (John 11:50).” but his motivation in saying it was not in line with God’s perspective.
When crucifixion was created and adopted by the Romans it wasn’t the symbol of hope it is today. Instead it was the opposite. It’s motivation was to motivate anyone who witnessed it’s cruelty to think twice about breaking the law or causing others to. It was a terrible and an embarrassing way to have your life cut short. Anyone who died this way was assumed to be the worst of the worst and an enemy of the state. There was no doubt that a person that died this way was guilty. Now we wear it as a symbol of forgiveness and the complete removal of guilt.
It cannot be lost on Satan that God used his most powerful tool to inflict pain upon human kind to bring about it’s ultimate salvation. Satan does not have the final say and that point was emphatically proven when Jesus took his death blow and used it to destroy the wall of separation between God and his people. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11 ESV).” He has given us the power to overcome death and even in the midst of it we can have a hope that is the anchor to our souls. Not only an anchor that keeps us from drifting but reels us into salvation’s shores. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16 ESV).”
Travis