“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Cor. 1:25)
The religious leaders in Jerusalem in the first-century were partly right in their expectation for the coming Messiah.
The Messiah would be all that Isaiah 9:6 prophesied…”For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Jesus Christ of Nazareth was and is all of those things, but not in the way these religious leaders expected. Their limited worldview was narrowly focused upon a coming Messiah who would be similar to how they viewed themselves in their passionate desire to be free from the current Roman political and military occupation of Israel.
Unbelief…like its sister atheism…is narrowly simplistic.
We have to dig deeper to discover real truth, and not just settle for worldly conventional thinking.
If we are worldly-minded like the religious leaders in Jerusalem in the first-century, then our vision cannot expand into the realm where the truth will set us free (Jn. 8:32).
The maliciously intentioned temptation put forward by Lucifer in Genesis 3:5…“your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” is purposely simplistic.
Simply eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not enough.
It takes a full-blown, mature, God-composed journey of faith containing well-orchestrated challenge, struggle, and yes…suffering…to unearth and expose the real issues underlying good and evil.
In their journey with Jesus towards Jerusalem on one occasion, the disciples argued amongst themselves who should be the greatest in the expected upcoming new kingdom of Jesus in the capital city.
They were each in their own minds measuring window curtains for their large corner offices in the Temple.
Jesus, knowing their thoughts, places a small child in their midst and says: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Yes, faith is childlike.
The gospel message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is simple enough for a child to understand and believe.
But what the disciples would face in the coming days ahead…leading to Calvary and beyond… was not simplistic.
Genuine Christian discipleship…a walk of faith with God…is not simplistic. The true Christian life is intellectually thoughtful and morally demanding…at a level of depth and challenge that will take the measure of our very souls.
Isn’t this what we see in the biblical narrative stories of faith?
Atheists come across something in the Bible they don’t like, and they stop there. They do not bother to dig any deeper. This approach is simplistically shallow. Unbelief is similarly simplistic.
A biblical-quality walk of faith is at the pinnacle…the peak…the height of character challenging lessons.
A God-composed journey of faith life-script is at the apex of the highest of human experience, because real truth about good and evil…is not simplistic.
The Cross in the Christian Life 