Focus Scripture – Matthew 25:34-40.
This last scenario blows my mind. It is the most excellent story ever told! I think about this story every time I hear mention of Countee Cullen’s poem: “Yet Do I Marvel”.
Cullen starts out by describing some of the paradoxes of earthly existence. He mentions that little moles that burrow beneath the ground are blind. He indicates that, although humans are made in God’s image, they are nevertheless flesh and must die someday. Cullen mentions a few other things that seem to be contradictory but, which, on closer examination, convey a deeper meaning.
He ends his poem in this way:
“Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: to make a poet Black, and bid him sing!”
Yet do I marvel! This phrase applies to so many things about the Godhead; that is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Yet do I marvel that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16)
Yet do I marvel that Jesus is fully divine and fully human (Heb. 7:26). Jesus is “holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.”
But at the same time, he is fully human.
Desmond Pringle put it this way:
“Jesus cares about all of the pain you’re feeling. He’s aware of the amount of stress you’re dealing with. He’s concerned about how we hurt. But he is
touched by the pain
touched by the sorrow
touched by the things that hurt us the most.
He’s not a high priest who cannot feel our infirmities.
He is touched just as much.
He sees the significance in every experience
Nothing to him is trivial!
Yet do I marvel that
God sent Jesus as the redeeming sacrifice for my sin.
Jesus demonstrated his love over and over again for the least, the last, and the lost.
Yet do I marvel that
Jesus suffered, bled, and died for my sin
His disciples buried him in a borrowed tomb
But on the third day, Jesus rose again with all power in his hands!
Yet do I marvel that
Jesus loves me – wretch, that I am, for I am among the least, the last, and the lost.