He Will Rise And Come Looking For Us

STATION III - Weights and Measures
by Kevin Rolly

So soon…
(It wasn’t to be this soon)

He barely made the first hill
(I thought I could)

Messiah?
Messiah will overthrow the nations
Messiah will put our enemies to the sword
and give us our own kingdom
You cannot even walk

Messiah?
You are a liar…
and make a mockery of our hopes
Your followers will return to fishing
and your name forgotten by winter

Your kingdom will be in the beaks
of those that circle even now
on carrion wings

King, you tremble
(I am afraid)
King, you weep
(I am alone)

Why is this?

Or did God at last
create the rock
he could not lift?

Has God ever seemed to fall short of being the god you needed? The god you were expecting? You are not alone. The Christ of the Cross must have seemed anything but The Anointed, The Messiah, The One who would put Israel back on top and grind Rome to dust. Isaiah says, "We esteemed Him not."

Covered in open wounds it might have been easy to miss the power. Onlookers might be forgiven for thinking the nails were what was holding Him to the Cross. Sometimes I miss the point too. Sometimes I don't see Him for who He really is.

But this Jesus is not a god who stays where you put Him. He doesn't conform to our opinion of Him. This Jesus-God washes feet and feeds strangers. He touches lepers and menstrual women and dead sons and He is OK with them touching Him back.

This Jesus is the water-walker, the storm-silencer, the fish-finder, the wine-whisperer. Soldiers understand Him. Priests plot against Him. His heart belongs to Jerusalem. His lap belongs to children.

If you are confused or full of questions, if you come to Him in secret because, "What will people think?" you will not find a rebuke waiting. He might, rather, tell you a story or share a metaphor.

Sometimes we take His measure all wrong. Sometimes we miss the meaning. Sometimes we are the ones saying,"Well if you had just come sooner my brother wouldn't be dead."

No matter.

This crucified God is still God and on the third day He will rise just as He said. If we have minimized Christ, if we have measured Him all wrong, He will still rise. He will rise and come looking for us. He will deal with our sin and our difficulties in ways that are unexpected.

This is a God who made the enormous trip from unconfined divinity to God-in-the-flesh, human mortality to set thing right again, to show us the Father, to deliver us utterly and openly- so look long. Look closely. See Him for who He is. Ask the Spirit, who is our Teacher, to show you the real Jesus. The Jesus with a love that leashed Hell and opened Heaven. The Jesus that promised to be with us to the end of the age. The Jesus who holds tightly to those given to Him by the Father. To us.

This is the God who is present and accounted for every moment of our lives. The God who delights to be known. The God-mystery who is revealing Himself in the person of Christ whose Resurrection will eclipse our puny god thoughts. He has all the power He needs to keep us. Christ is always more than we think He is.

It is His delight to show us how much more.

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. Jude 1:24-25


Purple Berries and Sunflowers, colored pencil on dark paper for Jackie's birthday