Jesus adds differently
As we were growing up, there was no R Grade. Even daycare was not that common. We ate, we played, we ate, we played and we slept. So it was no surprise that many of us cried a lot when we were pushed into a classroom. It seemed like a cage to us.
Everything was unfamiliar to him. The chairs were hard and our homeless people were definitely not used to sitting still for that long. We didn’t even know how to hold a crayon or what to use it for. And that smell almost suffocates us.
When I think about this now, I know that we were wild and that the teacher had only one purpose in mind and that was to tame us.
Fortunately, I like doing sums. Probably because the teacher used beautiful red apples to explain the concept to us. Holding a red apple, he took another from the bowl and asked, “If I have an apple and I take another from the bowl, how many apples do I have?” I was the first to shout out loud, “Two!” Master scolded me and said that I had to raise my hand before answering, but that did not diminish the great feeling of pride I had because I responded well.
Later he also explained the subtraction: “If I have two apples and I take one off, how many do I have left?” I let the other children answer this one; I didn’t want to get in trouble again …
As time went by, I realized that apples could be substituted for many other things. One sin plus one more equals two sins. And if you do one more, it adds up to three and so on, until you end up with a bunch of countless sins.
But the minus part doesn’t work like that, because when you have two sins, you can’t subtract one and end up with just one. The plus works very well and the group continues to grow. And there is nothing we can do about it.
Even a small sin less a great action cannot make sin go away. And we know that the consequence of sin is death. The consequence of sin is that people lose eternal life and end up in eternal fire.
God knew this. He realized the terrible situation people were in and that our sums would not work. Then the math teacher made new sums that don’t really make sense to people, because you see, our sums of a good deed to eliminate sin don’t work.
3… This Son perfectly reflects God and is marked with the nature of God. He keeps everything together with what he says: powerful words! After the sacrifice for sins was finished, the Son took his place of honor high in the heavens next to God …
Jesus’ death on the cross washes away our sin. The sum: a lot of sin minus Jesus’ death on the cross equals no sin. The result: we can run through the gates of heaven.
So simple, but in a way far beyond our understanding. So we simply believe …
Holy Scripture
Hebrews 1: 1-4
Reflection
What does your sum of sins look like?
What do the sums of Jesus do to you?
What do you do with the sums of Jesus?
Pray
Father, I don’t always know how your addition works. Has no sense. But I have to take them at face value. Without your sums, my sums definitely don’t make sense. Thanks for your sums! Amen.