Unfathomable – unable to fully understand the extent of.….As we approach the celebration of Easter, I can’t help but think about all that took place leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. Today is the observance by many of something called Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday. This is the time during Passion Week where Jesus set the example prior to the Lord’s Supper, for what a true servant is supposed to be like. He was on the verge of giving Himself to be crucified and taking on the sins of man, and His example of being a servant was about to ramp up considerably. His last words to His disciples were filled with more than they could totally grasp, so I’m sure we would have trouble grasping them as well. We see just the surface, but it’s the depth of what we may not realize that can be looked at again and again, as God reveals more of Himself to us through His Word. There is not a bottom to this pool, and the depth is more than we can handle, except we be fitted with a special breathing apparatus supplied by the Holy Spirit. When we try to visualize what happened it is more than we can fully understand or appreciate, but just a glimpse causes us to fall on our knees in thanks and appreciation to the one and only Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Last summer I went diving in the lake at my sister-in-law’s lake house with a snorkel and fins. Of course, I was limited with the amount of oxygen I had at my disposal and my ears were limited because of the pressure in the deep water. At one point I had to make a decision as to if I really wanted to see the deeper part of the lake or just kind of hang around in the middle and not have to feel the pressure of the depth. I made a decision to go a bit deeper and even though it hurt, it was very much worth it. I saw where the lake bottom changed and formed little valleys and crevices. These were things I didn’t even know existed when looking at the lake from the surface. I just never knew because I never went any deeper. I also saw ahead of me the depth that continued on down in the lake and realized I would never be able to go that deep and survive. It was inspiring and intimidating, much like studying deeper into the ways of God. I think I sometimes pass on going deeper because it causes me to really have to think deeply about things that are far beyond me, so I stay on the surface and swim with everyone else. There’s nothing wrong with that, but my curiosity compels me to look for more. Every year we attach a date on a calendar with something that impacted mankind for eternity, and we call it Easter. This great act of a loving God to reach out to us has become to so many, a tradition, which is base level acknowledgement, so we don’t forget it ever year. But to those of us who know Christ, it is anything but “base level.” The death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is our “life.” It is the moment that gave us our identity as human beings, or our existence. For us to keep that one thing in mind is to dive a little deeper in the lake of forgiveness, where we will see just how the whole thing is put together. It may cause some pressure on us that we have to work through as we live in this fallen world, but diving to the depth in understanding will show us things no one can see on the surface. Of course, when we look closely at all that was accomplished through this act of love, we realize that it is totally unfathomable…..it’s too deep to comprehend, but we know it is GOOD and we know it is GOD!! When we come to that realization it causes the Easter “holiday” to become much more than a yearly thing, but a moment by moment thing. The realization of what happened on the cross, the grave, and until right now at this moment takes on a whole new form that is lived every day in our lives. The result of living that out causes us to be known as Christians or Christ-Like. The effect of that jubilant, freedom living has it’s effect in local churches as well. When we worship our Lord in a service, it becomes an exhaling of all that below the surface relationship that is growing deeper and deeper as we learn more and more of the unfathomable love of God and our praise explodes out of that wisdom. Our gratitude for life becomes a refreshing, daily walk that draws others to us to find out what is going on in our lives. Dead end philosophies are replaced with open ended hope that is offered to all who come to Him. Worldly, temporal allegiances become concrete foundational commitments that stand the test of time. Church attendance becomes a mere shadow of a person’s commitment to the Lord, as it is paled by Life Attendance at it’s fullest expression. We begin to look more and more like the one who defeated death, hell, and the grave and our world will never be the same. Keep in mind, that even though we swim deeper and deeper in God’s Grace, the depth is still more than we can ever reach or imagine and that is good. Why? Because it reaffirms our belief that God’s resources are endless and beyond compare. In John 13, Jesus was speaking to the disciples about His betrayal and His crucifixion and they couldn’t understand the depth of what He was doing and why He was doing it. They didn’t understand before, but they definitely understood after and Jesus spoke to this in verse 36 where he said to Peter, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” That was literal for Peter as he was also crucified for following Jesus himself. But the depth of that commitment was generated by the teachings about being a servant from Jesus prior to the Last Supper.
So today I must ask myself, “what does the coming time of celebrating Easter mean to me right now?” I believe it means He will show me once again just a glimpse of all that took place to fuel me for living out this faith today. Passion Week, as we call it, becomes a time for each of us to realize His great love for us and compels us to dive deeper into our relationship with Jesus and learn the deep things that can only be learned by those who know Him. We should never take this capability to see the deep things of God for granted and should you choose to dive deeper you will see things that people in surface faith never get to experience. The lake is there waiting. Take time to jump in and allow the Gospel to come alive in your life. The Holy Spirit is waiting to show you the way. Trust Him…His truths are unfathomable…..
The Pilgrimage continues…..
David Warren