He is Not Armed, But Very Dangerous

Following church the other day, I went to the beach to digest the message. I read more from my bible, following rabbit trail references to yet other passages, attempting to discern what God wanted me to hear today. The pastor's message had been excellent, yes, but I was left feeling there was more to the story, feeling that what I needed to hear was opposite a thin veil, slightly obscured. As often happens I drifted off to sleep while meditating on my reading.

"He is not armed, but very dangerous." The man outside my truck was speaking excitedly into a device I couldn't see. I wondered if I were dreaming, the event taking on an immediate surreal air. While I slumbered, law enforcement had descended on the area. Sitting now, inside the protective enclave of my truck canopy/home I watched seven or eight men descend rapidly to the beach and out of sight behind dunes of sand and grasses. Minute later a defiant young man in wetsuit and handcuffs was led to a waiting van and whisked away.

In The Chronicles of Narnia, a C.S.Lewis character asks of Aslan, "Is he safe?" The reply, "No. But he's good", helps to gel my thoughts. Well before His ministry began, even before His birth, Jesus was not a safe person to hang out with. But He was good, very good; not armed but very dangerous.

An encounter with Jesus is going to change your life, eternally, and the lives of those around you. John the Baptist learned this, his first encounter with the Christ taking place while still in the womb. "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in the womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." (Luke 1:41)

Many today envision John as a wildman, dressing in camelhair clothing and leathers, eating wild honey and locusts. Yet in the context of his time, John was a successful prophet and minister, building a sizable following - his livelihood. John spent his life as a signpost pointing the way to the coming of One he felt unworthy to serve.

When the time came for Jesus to begin His ministry on earth, John stepped aside, instructing his followers, his meal-ticket as it were, to follow after Jesus. Were Jesus to appear today I wonder how many pastors and ministers would graciously preach that their flocks, and incomes, should hurry after Him? I wish I felt that most would.

Near the end of John's life, a brutal beheading, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John; "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in king's palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet." (Matt 11:7-9)

John never forgot Who was to come and his service was praised by the Master. That sounds like a beautiful eulogy for someone who was similarly not armed, yet very dangerous.