Jesus as the liberator from oppression and injustice

Genesis 12:1-7

Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’^[a]] (NRSVA)

Galatians 3:6-14

⁶ Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, ⁷ so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. ⁸ And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.’ ⁹ For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed. (NRSVA)

‘If God exists, how does He make Himself known to us?’ For the disciple of Jesus of the Nazareth discourse (Luke 4:14-41), God is revealed in Jesus as the liberator from oppression and the injustice of Sin in all its expressions. The Jesus we follow is revealed in His teachings and His practices (Luke 4:14-41, John 14: 9, Acts 1:1). Over the centuries there have been many portrayals of Jesus, characterisations and indeed the creation of many stereotypes. A brief look at some Hollywood productions will soon let us see how Jesus is variously represented ranging from a blond blue eyed European to that of a dark skinned dusky eyed Palestinian.  Walk into a church building and Jesus may be represented as a cross or crucifix on a wall or in stained glass or standing on an altar. Perhaps His name will be engraved on a communion table or drawn in the shape of a fish. In some church buildings there is no representation of Him at all as ‘images of God are forbidden’. Some see Him in bread and wine as a symbol while others have a revelation of Him as really present through Transubstantiation others through Consubstantiation. The range of representations of Jesus reveals the complementary understandings and revelations of who Jesus is within diverse contexts and communities.

In the unfolding story of the bible, complementary images reveal God in the story of creation, fall, Israel, Jesus, the present time and the time to come. God is progressively revealed through a range of images and symbols. The revelation of God is of the creator God, maker of all that is and the rejected God who provides clothing, food and shelter for His very good creation that have rejected Him. God is revealed as the God of Israel who is working actively in history to reconcile all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:1-7, Galatians 3:6-14). God is revealed in Jesus, as the Son of Man and as the God who has come at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9: 26). God is revealed as the One making all things new in Christ as the mediator God (Hebrews 9: 24) and the ever present and participating presence among us as God the Saviour of all creation (Hebrews 9:28). So how does God reveal Himself? He is revealed in and through a compassionate liberation story using the diverse language, diverse imagery and diverse genres of scripture to reveal the diverse beauty of creation and the insatiable love of the Creator Redeemer for His very good creation. God is revealed and that is the most profound wonderful truth. We can know Him and we are known by Him. His purpose is to bless all the families of the earth and that deep and beautiful truth includes you and me.  

Father God, by your tender mercy, be our dawn from on high, break upon us,  give light to those of us who sit in darkness and the shadow of death and in your compassion guide our feet into the way of peace; through Jesus Christ your Son, Amen