March 7, 2025
A Weekly Meditation
In reading the Gospels, I am struck by the fact that Jesus in many cases seemed certain that the Kingdom was going to come to fruition in his lifetime. For example, in Luke 21 he says boldly to the disciples, “Amen, I tell you that this generation most certainly will not pass away until all things (which he describes in detail) occur.” Pretty clear stuff.
Well, at least to this layperson, I don’t recall those things happening. It strikes me – and Lord knows I could be wrong here – that Jesus was occasionally bold in predictions that didn’t come true, at least to our human way of thinking. Likewise, the early church believed the Kingdom was “at hand”: Homes were sold, goods were shared, anticipation was high.
What are we to make of all this? Were the disciples – more important, was Jesus – wrong?
I thought long and hard about being wrong. And I realized that I am wrong more times than I am right. That’s because I am human. So were the disciples. And so was Jesus. He was wrong; he got angry; he was tempted; he was sad; he made mistakes. He thought all the human thoughts and experienced all the human feelings we feel.
And yet, He was God. And as God, Jesus could expound and articulate the holiest of thoughts and feelings. But as a human he could also…be wrong.
How to hold these two opposing thoughts together? That is, I suppose, where faith comes in. Can I hold human frailty and the divine together, in harmony? Rationally, I can’t. In faith and prayer, I can. And I think in the end, that’s the challenge for those of us who believe.
Pete Taft