Abbott and Costello are credited with the
baseball comedy routine, “Who’s on first?” (What is on second base, Where
plays third, and I think Why is short stop.) If I’m confused about the players
and their positions, well, this report in John shows a somewhat similar
confusion existed in the first-century Jerusalem as Jesus approached that city
for the last time. John tells us He was met by cheering crowds, who greeted him
as “King of Israel.” The raising of Lazarus had convinced the crowds: Jesus
must be the expected Messiah after all. And so they shouted out praises and
cried, “Hosanna,” which means “Save Now!” At last, what they thought, Jesus
would get on with the Messiah’s real business, throw out the Romans, and make
Israel a world power.
A
little later some Greeks approach one of Jesus’ disciples, and politely
expressed their interest in seeing him. So Philip and Andrew passed on the
message. “Some nice Greek folk would like to see you, Lord.” Perhaps they
were thinking it would be good politics for Jesus to establish relationships
with foreigners. Maybe Philip and Andrew would do for a diplomatic posting to a
major city, like Corinth or Philippi!
I
can understand the crowds, the Greeks, and the disciples. They all had agendas
that were important to them. And each had a big role for Jesus in his plans! There
was only one problem. Not one had stopped to ask the truly crucial question: “Who’s
on first?”
Jesus cleared up the confusion, though,
just as He clears up ours. After speaking
of his death, Jesus said, “Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, my
servant will also be” (verse 26)
You see, the mistake made by the cheering
crowds, the Greeks, and even the disciples–the mistake is still made by us,
that causes so much confusion–is that all forgot who’s on first. God’s blunt and
simple answer is, Jesus is on first.
We
don’t lead, and expect Jesus to follow.
We let Jesus go first, and we follow Him.
If
you can I keep this order in mind, it will clear most of confusion about life.
We will seldom become depressed or anxious about why God doesn’t do things our
way. We won’t expect Him to. And we will seldom wonder why God hasn’t blessed our
plans, when we’ve gone to all the trouble of making them and then asking Him to
bless. As the servants of Jesus we will have sought His will first–and then do
our very best to follow closely where he leads.
So
enjoy the Abbot and Costello routine when you hear it.
But don’t let yourself
be confused about who’s on first in the Christian life, and who follows.
Margaret Thatcher
Ideally,
when Christians meet, as Christians, to take counsel together, the purpose is
not–or should not be–to ascertain what is the mind of the majority but what is
the mind of the Holy Spirit–something which may be quite different.
Taken from, The Daily Devotional Commentary
by Lawrence O. Richards
