Piecing together the mystery of god
Scripture reading: Ephesians 3:1-9. Text: “Beyond all question, the mystery godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.’ New International Version. “Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in Glory.’ New Revised Standard Version. 1 Timothy 3:16. With next Sunday, we will enter the holiday season, Thanksgiving Day, Advent, Christmas, the end of the old year and the beginning of the New Year. Let this message serve as an introduction to these important events.
In our Scripture reading, we find the word mystery four times, in the third, fourth, sixth and ninth verses, and in our text, we learn that our godliness or religion has a great mystery. Apostle Paul must have had a reason to mention mystery so many times.
Implicit, puzzle, enigma, secret, mystery.
The late Winston Spencer Churchill, who was well known for his witty statements, had said, “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.’ Broadcast, Oct. 1, 1939. From “Familiar Quotations’ by John Bartlett.
Let us try to set up an escalating line in such a way that when we will reach the top the mystery will become less enigmatic. Probably you have not paid much attention to the differences among meanings of these words, however, after closer examination, we will find how one concept will lead to another.
Implicit is opposite to explicit and explicit means “clearly stated and leaving nothing implied.’ Webster New World College Dictionary. The best example is Thanksgiving Day. When we give thanks for this year’ harvest and crop to whom do we present our gratitude? Is not God implicitly behind our bounty with his blessing? Please read Deuteronomy 8:17-18, if possible please read from the first verse.
Puzzle. The best example is the crossword puzzle. Only after all the pieces are put together in the right way will the picture become clear. When the pieces are in disarray, they are nothing else but a puzzle, namely, who knows what do they portray? Enigma. According to the Webster Dictionary, this word means “a perplexing, usually ambiguous, statement, riddle.’ Since we are logically thinking people who like to find out the truth and search for the reasons and connections the world around us is becoming less enigmatic. We look for explanation if something is not clear to us. We are indebted to the scientists for their research and discoveries.
These words, implicit, puzzle and enigma (enigmatic) are not in the Bible but riddle is. The authors of the Holy Scriptures presented their message to rather common people millenniums ago who had not had high school or college diplomas. However, secret and mystery occur several times in the Bible and we know their roots because secret comes from the Greek word kryptos, which is secret, hidden, private, inward, and our English cryptic, word means basically the same. Mystery comes from mysterion and its biblical meaning is unknown but now revealed.
Secret. The main feature of secret is that some people know the secret and some do not, like the magicians entertain us with their magic secrets. Magic is a secret to many; or secret is what the government does not want its citizens to know.
Mystery reaches behind the realm of human knowledge. The universe is more a mystery than a secret. Miracle is a mystery. We are waiting for the revelation to understand miracles and mysteries as well as the spiritual and the eternal.
At Thanksgiving Day, we find God implicitly mentioned behind our praises and meals and at Christmas the divine mystery is revealed as “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,’ John 1:14. Incarnation, that Christ is taking upon himself our human form, please read Philippians 2:5-7, is divine love made visible. This world is full of enigmas (chiefly due to our shortcomings) but at Christmas the mysterious miracle is manifested after which our salvation is not enigmatic anymore: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.’ Titus 2:11. Please also read our text the familiar biblical verse of John 3:16.
The Rev. Alexander Jalso is a retired United Presbyterian minister living in Brownsville.