Holy Land Picture of the Day

Rainbow over Jerusalem Today's picture is of a rainbow over the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa, taken after the recent rains here. It reminds us of Ezekiel 1:28; "As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking."  “Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said. “Crucify Him!’  (Matthew 27:22). Every team in the State wanted to play my home town football team on Home Coming Day.  It don’t take a brain surgeon to figure out why – we were the patsies of Pennsylvania.  And then one day the miracle of miracles occurred, we beat a perennial power house.  And on that day, I gained a compulsion to root for the underdog.  I love it when the number one seed gets clobbered by Podunk College from the back country of Appalachia. We are in that time again when all the sports buff’s minds are being glued to the coming ranking of March Madness.  As I listened to a group of guru’s who were certainly the “in crowd” and knew all there was to know about round ball, I thought it might be worthy of my time to relate the excitement of playoffs to the Bible.  There is no question that March madness is that time when all things- work, pleasure, getting the yard ready for Spring, etc. are placed on hold.  Why? Because every game has the potential for a giant to fall.   So here’s the question for you to ponder was Jesus an underdog?  I could fill this epistle with names who qualify for the underdog club listed throughout the Bible.   David certainly qualified when he took on Goliath with a sling shot and a stone.  How about Jacob, Joseph and Daniel but they each had a common denominator, they were winners in the face of being underdogs and, I would suggest the odds makers of Las Vegas would not have given them much chance. But what about Jesus?  Did He not snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat when He came forth from the tomb?   That sounds pretty dramatic, maybe a little underdogish.  At the same time, defeat was never really an option.  All along, God knew that Jesus would win through the cross.  It was all part of the plan.  Now I don’t know if Satan really knew, that’s an interesting question of its own. The Devil is pretty big and intimidating sometimes.  We’re told “the path is narrow”, and humans are inclined toward sin, so I guess you could say he has numbers here on earth.  Does that make Jesus the underdog?  At the same time, Jesus is the Triune God, three in one, those are impressive numbers.  You could add to that the legions of angels at his hand and the Church universal.  Soooo troops, I believe we are nearing that day when most of the world would say Jesus is a  very difinent underdog.  John tells us Jerusalem will be surrounded by the armies of the world with one intent – to push God’s chosen people into the sea. But, as Paul Harvey would say, “we know the rest of the story.”   John gives us a vivid picture of the defeat of the Satan, his super powers and his minions.  Is Jesus the underdog – perhaps to the world--- but not to the sheep of His pasture.  Blessings, Gramps