Epiphany 4 | Year B | Deuteronomy 18:15-20 | TJ Torgerson
This week’s Old Testament passage is Deuteronomy 18:15-20. Verse 16 of this passage summarizes Israel’s response when God gave the Israelites the Law (Deut. 5:24-28, Exodus 20:19).
"For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, 'Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.'"
God approached Israel, showing them His glory, and spoke to them. He was reaching out for a relationship, but the response was terror. They realized their finiteness and God’s infiniteness were incompatible. Their sin and God's righteousness created a fear of interaction with God, yet God pursued them.
Søren Kierkegaard once told a story about a king and a maiden:
Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden. The king was like no other king. Every statesman trembled before his power. No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents. And yet, this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden who lived in a poor village in his kingdom.
How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his kingliness tied his hands. If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist—no one dared resist him. But would she love him? She would say she loved him, of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she be happy at his side? How could he know for sure?
If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross the gulf between them. For it is only in love that the unequal can be made equal.
The king, convinced he could not elevate the maiden without crushing her freedom, resolved to descend to her. Clothed as a beggar, he approached her cottage with a worn cloak fluttering loose about him. This was not just a disguise—the king took on a totally new identity. He had renounced his throne to declare his love and to win hers.[1]
When the Israelites shrunk back in fear, God said, “I will send a prophet.” This promise is understood to be a prophecy for the coming of Jesus. Jesus is God the Son, who humbled Himself, taking on humanity, experiencing human birth, life, and a brutal death.
God, desires relationship. Just as the king chose to relinquish his throne for love, Jesus set aside His divine glory to bridge the gap between humanity and the divine. Jesus was a demonstration of God’s love for us. In Christ we can be free from the prison of fear and instead experience transformation that only comes from the love of God.
[1] https://readingtheology.com/the-king-and-the-maiden-by-søren-kierkegaard#:~:text=He%20wanted%20a%20lover%2C%20an,resolved%20to%20descend%20to%20her.
For the full version see: https://www.religion-online.org/book-chapter/chapter-2-the-god-as-teacher-and-saviour-an-essay-of-the-imagination/
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