Only Better
Read Deuteronomy 18:15-19
When I was six, my Dad took me on my first roller coaster – The Comet at Hershey Park. I was so excited as we buckled into the car and the lap bars dropped. I remember the shudder of the train and the clickety-click sound as we went up the first hill, breathlessly anticipating what was to come.
And then we crested the hill and everything was . . . awful. It was too much too soon and I was terrified. I hadn’t recovered from the first drop when we made a sharp turn and dropped again. All I remember from that first ride is a feeling of shear panic and an overwhelming desire to get as far away from that roller coaster as I could. I wanted nothing to do with roller coasters ever again.
Fast-forward five years. My friend Aaron invited me to go to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg with his older brother and another friend. I was both excited and nervous because the other three loved roller coasters and I hadn’t been on one since the The Comet. Naturally the first ride we went to was the Loch Ness Monster, a steel coaster with two interlocking loops that made The Comet look like a kiddie ride. I remember the panic setting in as we started up the first hill.
And then my love-affair with roller coasters began. As we went down the first hill, the panic was absolutely there as my stomach tried to catch up with my body from the top of the first hill; but as we started up the other side, I realized that the panic was kind of fun and the fear was also exhilarating. By the time we reached the station, I was hooked and we rode again immediately.
When Moses led God’s people out of Egypt, the children of Israel were at first eager to meet the God who had rescued them from slavery and fed them Manna in the desert. But as they approached Mt. Sinai and God appeared in fire and smoke, shaking the mountain in His power and majesty, they were terrified and begged Moses to take them away lest they die. It was too much too soon. So Moses spoke to God on their behalf and the people never experienced the deep joy of truly knowing the God who had saved them. But Moses promised that another like him would come – only better.
In the fullness of time, Jesus came to save His people. He came like Moses so that Israel might see God; only this time the power and the majesty were hidden in gentleness and humility. The people God loved and wanted to save couldn’t go up the mountain to God, so He came down to them. Like Moses, Jesus went up on a mountain of terror for His people. Like Moses, the people thought He died on the mountain. And like Moses, He returned from the mountain – only better.
Moses came down from the mountain with the Law which left a barrier between God and His people. Jesus came back from the grave with grace – destroying forever the barrier between God and His people.
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