A Repeat

September 26, 2017

It wasn’t exactly a David and Goliath match, but watching them face off did remind me of the Karate Kid. I was standing by the ropes watching my friend and his opponent as they circled, looking for the advantage. They were in a championship ju-jitsu match, and my friend Cameron looked like he was in for a hard time of it. His opponent swaggered, muscles rippling, while Cameron calmly sized him up. Cameron isn’t pretentious about his skills. Looking at him, he doesn’t appear buff and ripped, which may work to his advantage. He knows his stuff, and showed it that afternoon.

Suddenly, Cameron was on his back, his feet planted on his opponent’s chest while he had a firm grip on his gi. To the uninitiated, his opponent had him down, and we were just waiting for the final move that would put him out. In fact, Cameron had pulled guard on him and had his opponent right where he wanted him, in a grip that was wearing him down, making him use up his energy in a wasted effort to get through to him. Cameron was almost relaxing on his back while his opponent struggled to break free so he could maneuver. As the match wore on, his opponent wore out, and Cameron emerged the clear victor.

The devil swaggers through this world, muscles rippling as he makes an impressive display of might. To the uninitiated, he has Jesus and the church on our back, and is just awaiting the right moment to deal the death blow. To the casual onlooker, we are losing badly, but the saints and angels know better. Jesus knows exactly what he is doing, has a firm grip on old Slewfoot, and is calmly letting him wear himself out. Unlike ju-jitsu, we don’t know how long the match will last; we don’t know when the buzzer will sound, but when it does, God the Father will stand, raising high the hand of Jesus the Victor, to the triumphant cheer of all the faithful ones whose praise to God echoes throughout the universe for all eternity.