Daily Journal: 27 December

Rise. Redemption

Comes With Thorns

Christmas often brings thorns. Somehow, even when you think things will work out without any drama this time, before you know it, something takes aim and stabs the peace.

Rise. Redemption comes with thorns. We sanitise it and expect our life of boulders and rocky passes to be smoothed away by the poof of God’s celestial magic wand. We desire that a river will wash the boulders away. We hope for a sudden ray of sunlight to illuminate a previously unseen meadow where the rocky pass is.

If only redemption weren't so raw and messy. If only redemption weren't so painful and costly. It takes tenacious endurance, a gritty determination to dig down through muck until you find the bedrock. Many people fail to keep digging. They walk away still with the muck clinging to them and complain redemption is a hoax.

Our redemption didn’t come from a man whose family line was pristine and pretty. Our spiritual redemption came from commotion. No doubt, that’s why our personal redemption often looks the same way.

Jesus was born of a virgin. That’s a human impossibility. His mother’s impurity was presumed. His earthly father’s integrity was questioned. Jesus wore a tag that doubted his honour. But He was, however incongruous, conceived by God’s Holy Spirit. His mother was pure. His earthly father was full of integrity. Jesus was worthy of honour. Yet it never seemed so to the people observing.

Thorns were part of Jesus’ journey. They were placed on His head before His death as a cruel joke. But they were, in fact, a righteous reminder of who they belonged to. Jesus was mocked with thorns even as He redeemed the mockers.

We may have people in our life who seem to remain there just to ensure our road of redemption is complete with thorns. They use words to demean. They twist situations to justify themselves. They place blame on our shoulders where they should be taking it. They try and mess up the work we’ve done to clean our life up. They mock, they mortify, they manipulate.

And what do we do? Do we wear their thorns?

Our story of redemption insists that those thorns were already dealt with. The bible calls them fiery darts (Ephesians 6:16). We are not to receive them. No, not one. Jesus wore a crown of thorns so we did not have to identify with them. We identify in His justice, in His mercy, in His honour. In that, we are set free.

Psalm 9:4 (NIV)

For you have upheld my right and my cause, sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.

Like the imperfect men and women in Jesus’ genealogy (Matthew 1), the tenacity, intelligence, courage and trust of Tamar (Genesis 38), Rahab (Joshua 2 and 6), Ruth (the book of Ruth), Mary, mother of Jesus (the gospels) – we will have to persevere through the mess of our living circumstances, complete with manipulators and blame-shifters, violence and arrogance, unfairness and fear.

That doesn’t mean our redemption hasn’t come. It makes it more evident that it has. That doesn’t mean we are not overcoming. It makes it more explicit as it unfolds along the way. Our eternal redemption navigates our way with its divine plan but it is, nevertheless, raw and mitigated through human error and circumstance. If we keep digging toward bedrock, we are made stronger and more tenacious, bolder and more fearless. That’s the power of redemption’s work.

Psalm 9:10 (NIV)

Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Thorns are part of the territory. So don’t take fright, take action. Be bolder, don’t become more timid. Be tenacious, don’t slink away. Be empowered, not diminished. Lies may be told about you, accusations may be thrown in your face, but God upholds your cause and will not fail you. He looks after His own. It’s when you know you are His own that the enemy rises against you. But God sees you and will vindicate you, sustain you, and provide for you. Every step of the way.

Job 19:25 (NIV)

I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.